Bloomfield Hills High School alumnus completes Great World Race

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — In just seven days, Bloomfield Hills High School alumnus Merrick Chernett ran seven marathons in seven continents. At the age of 18, Chernett is the youngest person to complete the Great World Race.

 

What is the Great World Race?
The Great World Race provides the challenge of running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. 

The series of races, held Nov. 14-20, kicked off in Wolf’s Fang, Antarctica. He then traveled to Cape Town in Africa, Perth in Australia, Istanbul in Asia, Istanbul in Europe, Cartagena in South America and Miami in North America to compete in the remainder of the races. 

The race is organized by Ice Cap Adventures Ltd. and partners with experts from the race venues in each continent. This year, there were 60 runners from all over the world including those from Canada, Ireland, Australia and Italy. 

 

The commitment 
To complete a feat such as the Great World Race, rigorous training is necessary. Chernett was running 100 miles a week to prepare, reaching the point of running 20 miles a day for six consecutive days. 

In order to travel from continent to continent, the racers all rode together on the Rolling Stones’ old tour plane. Racers ate meals on the plane in between races, and for Chernett, he spent some of his time in between races on schoolwork. 

Chernett is now a student at the University of Michigan. He is a freshman studying business at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. 

While some of his work was excused during the two weeks he was away from school for the race, not every professor gave him the time off. After the Istanbul, Asia, marathon and before the South America marathon, he was up all night finishing an assignment from a professor who required him to do classwork while he was away. 

Throughout the Great World Race, runners endured extreme temperatures and weather conditions as they ran around the world. All in one week, Chernett experienced frostbite on his lips from running in Antarctica, stress fractures in his feet and heatstroke. 

Chernett said he was continuously inspired by his fellow runners in the race, who came from all over the world. He said he looked up to the dedication of Greg Gerardy, a 53-year-old battling cancer and asthma, and Sean Swarner, a two-time cancer survivor and the first cancer survivor to summit Mount Everest. 

“The coolest thing I saw was, honestly, just meeting some of the other people in the race and hearing their stories and what they’ve been through,” Chernett said.

 

The experience 
Throughout the seven races, Chernett’s times naturally varied. His fastest time was in Istanbul in Europe, where he ran the marathon in 4 hours, 4 minutes. However, that doesn’t mean the race was easy.

Various factors led to the race being delayed by a couple hours. During the race, it was cold and pouring rain. Chernett said it was his fourth race, and he didn’t feel his best, but he found the will within himself to embrace the conditions and power through them. 

“It was cold, it was wet, but I was smiling and I loved every moment of it. It really pushed me forward to go even harder,” Chernett said.

The most challenging race for Chernett was the sixth race, in South America. It was 90 degrees outside with high humidity and zero shade. He said the extreme heat created worse running conditions than the extreme cold he experienced in Antarctica. 

Chernett said that even though it was the race he was the freshest for, the Antarctica race took a lot of energy out of him. In addition to the extreme cold temperatures, the sun in Antarctica is very strong, and runners had to run through snow, which Chernett compared to running in sand. 

Surprisingly, he said everyone was sweating during the Antarctica race when the sun was hitting them. They were in so much gear that even a temperature as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit felt hot. However, the gear was much needed in the areas where they were not in direct sunlight. 

 

A BHHS alumnus
Chernett was in the graduating class of 2024 at Bloomfield Hills High School. While he was in high school, he was on the tennis team and was involved with student leadership. 

Instructional coach and English teacher Krista Laliberte taught him throughout his entire high school experience in student leadership and Advanced Placement English Language and Composition.

Laliberte remembers him to be always very positive and dedicated in everything that he did. She recalls a time in class when Chernett was reading a David Goggins memoir that he seemed to show a lot of interest in. 

“I hope that Merrick can be the person that comes back and tells his story so kids go on and do amazing, great things, just like the people that inspired him,” Laliberte said.