Meet the first man to run a marathon in every country in the world

Nick Butter, a 30-year-old British man, has created a new record of being the first person to run a marathon in every country in the world. Following his completion of the Athens Classic Marathon in Greece recently, he said that he felt ‘reborn’ after creating the world record of running in all 196 countries recognised by the United Nations.

The 30-year-old former banker, who hails from Dorset in the south of England, started this journey all the way back on January 6, 2018. It took him almost two years to achieve this target. The idea was conceptualised when Butter met a man, named Kevin Webber at a race in the Sahara Desert; Webber had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. His determination inspired Nick Butter to plan this epic mission, to see the world and raise money to fight against prostate cancer while doing so.
Butter was joined by Webber in Greece to run the marathon, which both completed together. After crossing the finishing line, elated Butter stated that the feeling of crossing that finish line was like many other finish lines, however, the feeling of finishing the run with Kevin and everyone else behind him was just so amazing.

Even though his journey officially started with a race in Canada in 2018, he actually spent two years beforehand planning the logistics with a team of 30 people. And, apart from the physically gruelling task of running 26.2 miles, Butter also had to deal with tricky-to-obtain visas situations, unnerving foreign interactions, and, of course, injuries.
Over the course of this incredible journey, he had to file for 10 passports and had to return to the United Kingdom, which is his home, just to pick up a new visa. While talking about his hardships he had to endure during this time, he said he was bitten by a dog, robbed at knifepoint, was mugged, and was put in a cell.

When asked about his future plans, he stated that he will take a couple of days off, he is also feeling kind of itchy to get running again.