From the Arctic and Antarctic to Loch Ness: Baxters Loch Ness Marathon to be 69th marathon for Gary Bell

The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon on 1st October 2023 will be the 69th marathon for Belfast native Gary Bell, who has completed marathons on all seven continents.

A member of the prestigious 7 Continents Marathon Club after completing a marathon on a ship in the Antarctic, 58-year-old Gary will be taking on the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon for the first time as he works towards his goal of completing 100 marathons.

“I’m an average runner,” explains Gary. “I enjoy going out running, meeting new people and visiting new places, so I’ve combined them all and travelled to every continent to take part in marathons.”

Gary Bell at the Antarctica Marathon

Gary took part in his first marathon aged 17, having been turned down aged 16 when he was too young to take part in the first Belfast Marathon in 1982.

Gary continues: “I’ve certainly made up for missing the first Belfast Marathon and have completed every one since – that’s 40 Belfast Marathons.”

Gary has completed all six World Marathon Majors: Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and the 100th Boston Marathon, as well as the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland in the Arctic. In the early 2000s, Gary set off for the Antarctic to complete his biggest challenge yet.

As part of his bid to join the 7 Continents Marathon Club, Gary was due to take part in the Antarctica Marathon. However, bad weather scuppered the plans of competitors who had travelled there by ship from all over the world.

Gary Bell

“On the morning of the Antarctica Marathon, 120 of us were ready to go but high winds made it unsafe for us to go onshore. We tried again the next day, but conditions were just as bad. The crew scrambled and came up with a plan – to run the marathon on the ship!

“The tour organiser and the captain did some sums and worked out that the 26.2 miles would be 324 laps of the lower deck of the ship or 422 laps of the upper deck. Friends and family members who had come along acted as markers and counted down our laps. It was the most bizarre race, we ran half inside and half outside where we saw icebergs, sea lions and penguins.”

And now Gary will be looking out for a different type of beast as he runs along the shores of Loch Ness.

“A family member recently looked into our family tree and found some Scottish ancestry so I thought it would be great to head to the Highlands for the first time and tick off the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon as my 69th marathon. It looks like a fantastic route so I can’t wait to get going and maybe even spot Nessie along the way!”