The marathon man

His 6 World Marathon Majors 2024 Challenge will see Ross raise money for charity. – Photos: Courtesy of Jeff Ross

RUNNING a marathon may seem like an arduous goal for some. But to complete six in one calendar year sounds downright impossible. That, however, isn’t stopping Jeff Ross from attempting the feat. According to Ross, the idea was sparked in 2022 during the pandemic, when he set out to raise money for charity to help Malaysian flood victims.

“Back in 2022, I did a total of 22 marathons, and that was kind of my first attempt in doing sort of a crazy challenge here in Malaysia,” he says. Although completing the task, Ross admits that it was hard but enjoyable, which then paved the way forward to attempt another challenge.

He explains that the marathon majors are akin to the Holy Grail for many long distance runners. “It’s a goal for some to do it once or all of them in their lifetime. But there have only been a few that have managed to do all of them in one calendar year.”

Spurred on by this idea, he began researching and planning before eventually committing to the challenge . “I have always had my eye on attempting them, and I decided to go for it,” he states. “It’s a combination of both personal ambition and wanting to use this as a platform to raise money for charity.”

First steps

As the general manager of Fresh Events Asia, Ross is accustomed to putting together large scale running events. But the goal of running the six majors itself provided a whole new set of challenges. Logistics, he says, was one of the primary obstacles. Elaborating further, he explains that getting entries into the six marathon majors was nearly an impossible task.

“You have to qualify for most of them or you have to get lucky in a ballot or beg or plead your way into them.” Ross reveals that he managed to qualify for most of them with a sponsor coming in to pass him an entry as well. Another aspect Ross had to face was the physical aspect of the marathons. “You have to be smart with your training, and there’s also the financial aspect of running the challenge, which is pretty significant.”

Ross admits that there is a potential high risk of injury involved when attempting the six majors within a short time frame. “Trying to do six in a year is not a normal thing to do and you have to really plan on how to approach that,” he states. “It is basically impossible to run all six events at a high level, as such, it is about balancing and maximising the performance in the time.”

Ross’ 6 World Marathon Majors 2024 Challenge is divided into two blocks of three events each. The first block took place in March and April, while the next block is scheduled for September, October and November.

“They are quite close together with about a four month gap in between,” he adds. “Frankly, the gap’s pretty useful but the two blocks are pretty challenging and I have had to train specifically with pretty high mileage in the months leading up to those races and then just active recovery between the marathons.”

All in good stride

Ross explains that he pivoted towards running after giving up squash. “I was getting older and getting injured, so I started running for a bit, got back into it and eventually entered a few races in Malaysia where I started to position upfront,” he reveals. “That motivated me to win races and now I am addicted to it. What I do love most about it is that it is also easy to do – you just need a pair of shoes and you’re off.”

Running is not merely a passion for Ross, but it is also an integral part of his career. As the general manager of Fresh Events Asia, he has been at the forefront of several large mass participation sports events in Malaysia and South-East Asia. The company’s key brands include The Music Run, Powerman Malaysia and RedLine Fitness Games.

According to Ross, he remains encouraged to see how active people are and excited to do events especially after Covid. “Like most industries, it was incredibly hard for us – we made zero revenue across those two years,” he reveals. But he opines that a huge positive was that people have now become more health conscious with events offering an outlet for participants to train towards something with their family and friends.

“There is a great appetite for events in Malaysia and I am very proud to be part of that by offering high quality events that people enjoy. Elaborating further, Ross explains that The Music Run, which is typically held at the end of the year, is a fun run for 20,000 people with a concert right after, offering a unique experience.

“We also have Powerman, which is a duathlon – a run-bike-run, and the RedLine Fitness Games, which is aimed at the gym market. That’s an indoor race through 12 workout stations, and it can be quite intense but also great fun. It also features team events that you can do with friends, making it a bit more accessible.”

Halfway there

Ross’ challenge is already at the halfway mark with Tokyo, Boston and London already in the books with Berlin, Chicago and New York next on the cards. Although similar in gap with three marathons in six weeks compared to three in seven weeks in the second block, he admits that time differences as well as travel time will pose a hurdle.

“It was a six day gap between getting to the London start line after Boston, and it was pretty brutal,” explains Ross. “Although there is a two week gap in the second block, allowing me an extra week of recovery between Berlin and Chicago, I’ve also learnt a lot.” According to the runner, one of the main challenges is just getting to the start line.

“There are typically 40,000 to 70,000 people in the race so it can be incredibly complex and also quite mentally tiring navigating all of this in a new city and in a different time zone on your own. All this adds to the pressure. Actually you could argue that running the race is the easy bit!,” he jokes.

Ross is quick to add though that running the first three races also mentally prepared him to tackle the different routes and terrains. He admits that he is personally excited for Berlin as he has a bit more time. “It’s a flat race and one of the fastest in the world – like Chicago – so I am excited to take that on. But again it’s a long way from Malaysia and in a different time zone, so it won’t be easy.”

The 6 World Marathon Majors 2024 Challenge will see Ross raise funds for Charity Water as well as local charities. He explains that Charity Water resonates with him personally. “Water is just an obvious theme to me. Malaysia is a hot country and you can get clean water easily but not everyone in this world is fortunate as that. That inspired me and I wanted to do something with that.”

He adds, “The great thing about Charity Water is that when you raise US$10,000 you get to own the project.” And he intends to do just that with a project location for a school in South-East Asia, so that that they will have clean water forever. Ross will also raise funds for Suka Society and Home of Hope here in Malaysia as part of his challenge.

This article first appeared in Star Biz7 weekly edition.