Article

Space Marathons, the First and the Most Famous of Space Sports

Space marathons are repeat events with Major Tim Peake’s space-run of the London Marathon 11 years after Captain Williams’ space-run in the Boston Marathon.

Space Marathons Are Already Famous As Space Sports Space marathons are among the competitive space sports whose practitioners include astronauts and cosmonauts during their tours on the International Space Station or during their walks in space or on the moon. Audio-visual contact with the International Space Station brings Earthlings news of Timothy Nigel Peake, European Space Agency astronaut from Chichester, Sussex, England, completing a space marathon. Major Peake’s successful competition April 24, 2016, in the 42.195-kilometer (26.219-mile), 36th London Marathon counts as the second space-based participation in a world-famous long-distance running event. Sunita Lyn Williams of Euclid, Ohio, deserves honors as the first space-based marathoner during a 1998 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Group-selected membership of Expedition 14. United States Navy Captain Williams’ pioneer run April 16, 2007, endows the 111th Boston Marathon with the status of first long-distance race with a space-based participant.

River Thames winds through London, with Buckingham Palace (center; left of Thames) in Whitehall district.

Credits ESA/NASA — Tim Peake @astro_timpeake, via Twitter April 24, 2016, at 12:07 AM

Space Marathons Bring Beloved Competitive Sports to Space

The London Marathon website furnishes completion times of 2:03:05 to men’s elite race champion Eliud Kipchoge and of 2:22:58 to women’s elite race champion Jemima Sumgong. It gives respective wheelchair race times of 1:35:19 and of 1:44:14 to Marcel Hug and Tatyana McFadden, 120th Boston Marathon wheelchair race winners six days earlier.

An article by Amy Willis for Associated Newspapers’ Metro newspaper online has longest finish-time predictions of 4 hours and 58 minutes for an 11:22-minute, slowest-run mile. It includes a range of predictions, with a run time of 3 hours and 30 minutes’ averaging an 8-minute mile close to Major Peake’s estimated pace.

British Broadcasting Corporation and European Space Agency tweets join RunSocial apps to transmit respectively Major Peake’s 3:35.21-timed marathon and a “digital version of the London Marathon.”

The 2016 London Marathon, held Sunday, April 24, numbered as the 36th running of the annual marathon.

Tim Peake began the London Marathon over the Pacific Ocean. — International Space Station @Space_Station, via Twitter April 24, 2016, at 1:43 PM

Space Marathons Claim Two Astronauts in Nine Years

International Space Station-related archives on space sports keep longer completion times in space marathons 200 miles (321.869 kilometers) above-ground for Captain Williams than for Major Peake. They list 4:23:10, equivalent to a 10:18-minute mile, as the 2007 Boston Marathon finish time for Captain Williams, 2012 Nautica Malibu Triathlon space-based finisher in 1:48:33.

Records for the 2007 Boston Marathon mention a total of 20,338 official finishers, in contrast to an estimated 38,000 official participants in the 2016 London Marathon. They note official run times of 2:14:13 for men’s 2007 race top finisher Robert Cheruiyot and of 2:29:18 for women’s 2007 race top finisher Lidiya Grigoryeva.

Major Peake offers in one of his pre- and post-event long-distance run-related tweets the share of having participated April 18, 1999, in the 19th London Marathon.

First space marathoner: Flight Engineer Sunita "Suni" Williams, with electronically transmitted marathon bib number 14,000, runs 2007 Boston Marathon on International Space station treadmill.

NASA TV screenshot, April 16, 2007 — Generally not subject to copyright in the United States, via NASA

Space Marathons Demand Abilities to Run in Place

Astronauts and cosmonauts rarely practice space sports since International Space Station daily routines require two exercise hours against weightlessness’s impact on bone density and muscle mass.

The Peake and Williams runs qualify as space marathons because of long-distance mileage (kilometrage) runs in place on a treadmill, not round a space station tract. Major Peake reveals that daily runs and space marathons on the station treadmill require donning harnesses that weigh astronauts and cosmonauts down like rucksacks and spacesuits. He says that preparation and realization are more difficult and more uncomfortable, but cooling-down and recovery less painful and less protracted, in space than on Earth.

Space marathons turn out to be unsurprising choices as the first space sports since International Space Station orbits complete marathon-equivalent distances just about every two minutes.

"Tim Peake completes the London Marathon from space" (1:24)

Uploaded April 24, 2016, by ODN to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMuibwPqqgg

Tim Peake completes the London Marathon from space

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image Credits

River Thames winds through London, with Buckingham Palace (center; left of Thames) in Whitehall district.
Credits ESA/NASA: Tim Peake @astro_timpeake, via Twitter April 24, 2016, at 12:07 AM, @ https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/status/724132568371744768

The 2016 London Marathon, held Sunday, April 24, numbered as the 36th running of the annual marathon.
As first male to compete in a marathon from space, British astronaut finished in three hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds.
Tim Peake began the London Marathon over the Pacific Ocean.: International Space Station @Space_Station, via Twitter April 24, 2016, at 1:43 PM, @ https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/724337995025801216

First space marathoner: Flight Engineer Sunita "Suni" Williams, with electronically transmitted marathon bib number 14,000, runs 2007 Boston Marathon on International Space station treadmill.
As first astronaut to compete in a marathon from space, Needham, Massachusetts-born Sunita Williams finished the 111th annual marathon event in four hours 23 minutes and 10 seconds.
NASA TV screenshot, April 16, 2007: Public Domain, via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_boston_marathon.html

"Tim Peake completes the London Marathon from space" (1:24)
Uploaded April 24, 2016, by ODN to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMuibwPqqgg

Tim Peake arrived December 15, 2015, as the International Space Station's (ISS) first British astronaut.
Tim Peake participated in ISS Expeditions 46 and 47.: Tim Peake @astro_timpeake, via Twitter December 19, 2015, at 4:19 AM, @ https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/status/678187962505568256

First British astronaut Tim Peake donned ordinary running clothes for running his space-based London Marathon on board the International Space Station (ISS).
Libby Jackson, UK Space Agency's Space Exploration Manager, and Jonathan Scott, Medical Projects and Technology Team lead for Space Medicine Office at ESA's European Astronaut Center participated as Team Astronaut in the Earth-based London Marathon.
Team Astronaut wore replicas of Sokol suit, worn by Russian astronauts in trips to and from ISS via Soyuz capsule.: Tim Peake @astro_timpeake, CC BY 2.0, via Twitter April 23, 2016, at 11:55 AM, @ https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/status/723948406041915393

Tim Peake arrived December 15, 2015, as the International Space Station's (ISS) first British astronaut.

Tim Peake participated in ISS Expeditions 46 and 47. — Tim Peake @astro_timpeake, via Twitter December 19, 2015, at 4:19 AM

Sources Consulted

Baker, David. 1 February 2016. International Space Station: An Insight Into the History, Development, Collaboration, Production and Role of the Permanently Manned Earth-Orbiting Complex. Owners' Workshop Manual. Reprint edition. Haynes Publishing, Sparkford UK.

Beutel, Allard; and Hartsfield, James. 29 March 2007. “NASA Astronaut to Run Boston Marathon in Space.” NASA News Releases > Release: 07-78.

Available@ http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/mar/HQ_07078_Williams_Boston_Marathon.html

Kennedy, Merrit. 24 April 2016. “Astronaut Completes London Marathon from the International Space Station.” National Public Radio > Sections > The Two-Way Breaking News from NPR > Must Reads.

Available @ http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/24/475490920/astronaut-completes-london-marathon-from-the-international-space-station

Schwartz, Nick. 24 April 2016. “Astronaut Runs Marathon Aboard the International Space Station.” The Buzzer.

Available @ http://www.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/astronaut-tim-peake-runs-marathon-in-space-042416

Willis, Amy. 14 April 2016. “London Marathon 2016: Date, Start Time and Everything You Need to Know.” Metro.co.uk > News > UK.

Available @ http://metro.co.uk/2016/04/14/london-marathon-2016-date-route-start-time-and-where-to-watch-5814741/

First British astronaut Tim Peake donned ordinary running clothes for running his space-based London Marathon on board the International Space Station (ISS).

Team Astronaut wore replicas of Sokol suit, worn by Russian astronauts in trips to and from ISS via Soyuz capsule. — Tim Peake @astro_timpeake, via Twitter April 23, 2016, at 11:55 AM

the end which is also the beginning — OpenClips, Public Domain, via Pixabay

International Space Station: An insight into the history, development, collaboration, production and role of the permanently manned earth-orbiting complex (Owners' Workshop Manual) by David Baker ~ Available via Amazon

International Space Station

Me and my purrfectly purrfect Maine coon kittycat, Augusta "Gusty" Sunshine

Updated September 11, 2026

Comments

DerdriuMarriner24d ago

For those asking about sweaty sports on the space station, yes, those who are marathon or treadmill runners are sweating!

DerdriuMarriner29d ago

For those asking about anti-gravity gyms, there are such 100% centers on our Blue Marble.

Online sources configure as 20 to 90% such an anti-gravity -- not a weightless -- achievement as possible with the following:

AntiGravity Fitness;
Yowza GravityGym;
Zero‑Gravity Therapy systems.

DerdriuMarrinerSep 8, 2022

Thank you for stopping by and sharing your insights!

Stephen Hawking commented about hoping to be able to experience gravity-free situations aboard the space station. He did get to experience them by Earth-based simulation.

Dr. Hawking did not get to do any exercising or running even as weightlessness would have made it possible for him to do so in gravity-free environments.

It's a bit unsettling that despite exercises, such as running, American astronauts all have required assists in walking from the returned space capsule.

Additionally, Scott Kelly, who spent almost one year on the International Space Station and 520 days in space, indicated that all that time altered his DNA. Scientists know the latter for a fact because Scott's DNA has been compared to his twin brother's and found changed.

It intrigues me now about how much if any calories are burned and whether running is what spacelings need. Down on Earth, it's actually easier on the body to walk than to run, particularly with the scary problems that can develop with one's knees.

A gravity-free gym sounds like a great invention for us all down here if it really works!

WriterArtistSep 8, 2022

I guess, it must be thrilling to run in space free of gravity. How many calories are burn and whether they are really fitness exercises good for humans venturing space is a question only NASA can answer. If it is really good for fitness, we can have such spaces in gym on earth too.

DerdriuMarrinerFeb 19, 2020

Tolovaj, Thank you for stopping by and valuing what I've shared about space marathons.
Me too, I agree with the mindset that one has to have to run in a confined, almost gravity-free space. I'd rather run in actual marathons, which I've done, than work out the equivalent on a treadmill, which I've done but not 26 miles in just one session. Although come to think of it, I've run the equivalent of a marathon on an indoor track, which I didn't mind because of the floor-to-ceiling window views outside.

TolovajFeb 19, 2020

This is very fascinating. It's hard to imagine how you can run a marathon in a closed space, with almost no gravity, alone, ... I guess it takes completely different approach in runner's mind. Thanks for interesting article!

DerdriuMarrinerMar 6, 2017

sandyspider, It's impressive how astronauts and cosmonauts do what they need to do -- they have quite a busy daily schedule -- and still take time to do something truly remarkable, like running marathons with Earthlings!

sandyspiderMar 4, 2017

This would be fun and different to do.