It’s not every day that one ventures to Antarctica, but to run a marathon? On March 16 and 17, two hundred runners will tackle a challenging 26.2 mile or 13.1 mile course on King George’s Island.
Clark Lake’s Sheri Bush’s two week adventure begins in Buenos Aires before continuing on to Ushuaia to board one of the Russian polar vessels that will be home for the 10-day expedition to the last continent. This journey requires rigorous training as well as being properly prepared for the varying elements.
Sheri Bush at a Junior soul2sole 5K Run at Clark Lake. She was the inspiration for this event involving local school kids.
Sheri Bush ran the Detroit marathon, October 2008, where she qualified for the Boston marathon with a time of 3:59:19. She traveled to Boston with her husband in April 2009, where she re-qualified for the Boston marathon! During this time, Sheri learned of the 5 World Marathon Majors (WMM), which is the series of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world in which the top male and female marathoners complete in a one year cycle to earn and equal share of a one million dollar prize. The 5 World Marathon Majors are Boston, Chicago, New York, London and Berlin.
The New York City marathon entry is based on a lottery system, so Sheri quickly applied to the lottery in the hopes of entry for the New York City marathon 2010. Entry was granted and Sheri was able to run all three of the 5 World Marathon Majors that are in the USA in the same year of 2010: Boston in April, Chicago in October, and New York City in November. London was the host city of the Olympics in 2012 which Sheri hoped to run. The entry into the London marathon was granted to Sheri as a charity runner of the Whizz-Kidz organization which supplies motorized wheelchairs for mobility-disabled children. Clark Lake’s community made it possible to easily raise the required dollar amount for this wonderful cause. The completion of the 5 WMM marathon quest was Berlin in September, 2012. Her lifelong friend, Tina, traveled with her, and Sheri once again re-qualified for Boston. As Sheri was checking the World Marathon Majors website for her completion certificate and her name to be added to the 5 Star Finishers List, a bold red message was on the website: “Tokyo marathon added as the newly devised 6 World Marathon Majors beginning February 2013!” While this was exciting news for Asia to be represented as a World Marathon Major, Sheri knew that it was nearly impossible to save the money to pay for registration and travel expenses to Tokyo in a mere four months. Disheartened, Sheri expressed her disappointment to the right people. Her lifelong friend from the Beach Bar, Mary Johns, and a restaurant manager put together a “Send Sheri to Tokyo Progressive Dinner” in which tickets were sold for an evening of fun and food provided by The Pointe Bar & Grille, Clark Lake Golf Course and The Beach Bar. Sheri was granted entry for the Tokyo 2013 marathon through Marathon Tours and Travel.
Sheri with famed marathoner Bill Rodgers and Kristy Allen
Sheri became the 1st American female to complete and receive a medal for the new 6 World Marathon Majors! In finish order:
1. Clara Hoffman Raveloson – France – 4:05:22
2. Sheri Bush – Michigan, USA – 4:14:18
3. Katarina Benedik – Slovic Republic – 4:31:51
4. Cindy Bishop – Florida, USA – 4:57:12
The 6 WMM circuit is run on three continents. The quest then became, the Seven Continents Club (SCC). Sheri ran her first ultramarathon with Two Oceans 56K in Cape Town, South Africa in April 2015. Sheri and Cindy Bishop have become running friends and registered and ran the next Olympic host city of Rio de Janeiro marathon May 2016. Sheri’s friend and local running partner, Kristy Allen, ran the Rio marathon with them. Sheri and Kristy are members of the Fifty States Marathon Club which requires running a marathon in ten states to become a member. Sheri and Cindy then traveled to New Zealand to run the Queenstown marathon November 2016. Sheri and Cindy will once again travel together to run the Antarctica Marathon March 2018!
The Antarctica event was first created to enable runners to set and reach the once unthinkable goal of finishing a marathon or half-marathon on all seven continents. Sheri Bush, a current member of the Seven Continents Club (SCC) is on the mission to complete this goal. This will be her 7th continent to successfully finish a marathon. Sheri hopes to join more than 600 SCC members who have earned their Seven Continents Finishers medal!
