Arlington’s Michael Wardian takes his running to extremes, in terms of speed, conditions, distance and frequency. Running anything from one-mile races up to 150-mile stage races, he once held the record for fastest marathon time while pushing a stroller (2:42:21) and has also held the record for fastest marathon time on a treadmill (2:23:28). Once, while dressed as Spiderman, he clinched the world record for the fastest marathon run while dressed as a superhero. Last year, during a shoe sponsor’s sales meeting, he ran 50K on a treadmill in 2:59:49, beating his personal record. He has also qualified for three U.S. Olympic Trials marathons and has a personal best of 2:17:49 for the 26.2-mile distance.
Wardian’s endurance races have included the Marathon Des Sables, a 250K self-sufficient race in the Sahara Desert, the UVU North Pole marathon with temperatures reaching below negative 40 degrees Celsius, and the Ultra Trail du Mount Blanc, which runs for approximately 100 miles and climbs 28,000 vertical feet on its route through France, Italy and Switzerland. When he’s not running, Michael Wardian works as an international shipbroker and chartered the cargo that was taken hostage during the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking.