Inside the Record-Breaking Marathon Taking Place in Total Darkness

If the sweltering summer heat is making your runs feel unbearable, imagine trading the blazing sun for the pitch-black tunnels of a deep underground mine.

Last week in Alabama, my ten-mile run felt more like training in a sauna.

That’s why the idea of racing in a cool, subterranean environment sounds strangely tempting right now.

This October 26, a truly unique race will take place far beneath the Earth’s surface.

BecomingX, a learning and development company co-founded by adventurer Bear Grylls, has teamed up with the International Council for Mining and Metals to host the world’s deepest marathon inside Sweden’s Garpenberg zinc mine.

The course sits roughly 4,300 feet underground. Sixty participants will wear climbing helmets, safety glasses, high-visibility clothing, and headlamps as they run multiple laps through the mine’s vast tunnels completely surrounded by silence and darkness.

Beyond aiming for a Guinness World Record, the event also seeks to raise at least $1 million for two causes: the canine welfare charity Wild at Heart and the BecomingX Foundation, which supports disadvantaged students in underserved African communities.

Garpenberg isn’t just any mine it’s one of the most advanced and productive in the world, supplying about 1% of the planet’s zinc concentrate along with silver, lead, gold, and copper.

Mining on the site dates back to at least 350 B.C.E., making it both historically significant and technologically cutting-edge.

While underground marathons aren’t entirely new Germany’s Untertage Sparkassen Marathon was run in a salt mine from 2002 to 2014, and a UK bunker hosted one just last year nothing quite compares to Garpenberg’s depth.

The record for the deepest underground half-marathon belongs to Ecuadorian runner Millán Ludeña, who in 2017 completed the distance 11,676 feet underground in South Africa.

This Swedish race, however, is invite-only.

The 60 chosen runners, from at least 17 countries, are mainly from the mining and metals industry and related organizations and most have never completed a marathon before.

If a runner drops out, there’s a slim chance to snag a spot, but you’d need to raise $30,000 in charity funds to enter.

Conditions won’t be easy.

Depending on the weather above, mine temperatures will range from 75 to 86°F, and the underground environment can pose health risks reduced oxygen levels, elevated humidity, buildup of pollutants, and even radon exposure.

As a 2020 study in Frontiers in Public Health notes, these factors can put extra strain on the lungs and body.

So, would you lace up for 26.2 miles in total darkness, deep in the Earth’s belly, with nothing but the beam of your headlamp to guide you?

For 60 daring runners this October, the answer is yes.