Becca Pizzi, of the United States, gets set to cross the finish line to win the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) - Two American endurance athletes have just redefined the meaning of the term "globetrotter."
Daniel Cartica, of Chicago, and Becca Pizzi, of Belmont, Massachusetts, won the World Marathon Challenge on Friday, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents.
Each did it in world-record time and became the first U.S. competitors to win the strength-sapping event.
Cartica, a U.S. Marine Corps captain, and Pizzi, a day care center operator, finished with a marathon in Sydney. They and 13 others began Jan. 23 with a marathon in Antarctica and on consecutive days ran the 26.2-mile distance in Chile, Miami, Spain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
They now join a club more elite than those who have voyaged into space or scaled Mount Everest.
"We just made history," Pizzi told The Associated Press. "I believed in myself since the moment I signed up for it. I went for it and got it done. When you believe in yourself, anything is possible."
Competitors squeezed the seven marathons in a span of 168 hours - 59 of those spent trying to recover aboard the charter flight that shuttled them 23,560 miles to all the continents.
Along the way, they had to cope with extreme cold and heat as well as wildly varying running surfaces: snow in Antarctica, sand in the Sahara.
Cartica, 27, who grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, dedicated his run to the four Marines and sailor killed in July when a gunman attacked a U.S. Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Pizzi, 35, was the first woman across the finish line in all seven races.
Her highs? "Antarctica and running on glaciers."
Her lows? "Antarctica and the cold. It was my favorite place and my least favorite place."
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This story has been corrected to show Cartica now lives in Chicago, not New York.
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Online: http://www.worldmarathonchallenge.com
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Associated Press photographer Rob Griffith contributed to this report from Sydney. Follow Bill Kole on Twitter at https://twitter.com/billkole .
Daniel Cartica, left, and Calum Ramm, both from the United States, cross the finish line in the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Cartica, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y, and Becca Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi of the United States, holds an American flag after winning the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi of the United States, holds up her trophy after winning the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs along Manly Beach during seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs along Manly Beach during seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs along Manly Beach during the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi of the United States, smiles a she looks at her trophy after winning the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, crosses the finish line to win the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Daniel Cartica, left, and Calum Ramm, both from the United States, run along Manly Beach during the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Cartica, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y, and Becca Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs along Manly Beach during the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs along Manly Beach during the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs along Manly Beach during the seventh and final leg of the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press
Becca Pizzi, of the United States, runs past supporters as she nears the finish line in the seventh and final leg of the the World Marathon Challenge, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, in Sydney, Australia. Pizzi, from Belmont, Mass., and Daniel Cartica, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, won the World Marathon Challenge, completing seven marathons in seven days on all seven continents. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Associated Press