Polish ‘Forrest Gump’ Runs 50 Marathons in 49 Days, Breaking a 20-Year-Old Record

A 27-year-old Polish ultrarunner has run 50 marathons across 50 American states in 49 days, finishing one day ahead of schedule and breaking a record that had stood since 2006.

Tomasz Sobania, nicknamed the “Polish Forrest Gump,” crossed his final finish line in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday, June 27, according to TVP World. He had originally planned to complete the challenge in 50 days to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence. Instead, he shaved a day off the previous benchmark held by American ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes, who covered the same 50-state distance over 50 days in 2006.

“He did it!” a post on Sobania’s Instagram account read, alongside a video of him crossing the line. “We made history! Now it’s time to recover.”

A Coast-To-Coast Run

Sobania started the challenge on May 10, running 42 kilometers from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. From there, his route zigzagged across the country, with one marathon logged in each of the 50 states. To beat the record, he ran two marathons in his final 24 hours, the first in New Jersey and the second in New York.

The runner was supported by a six-person team that included a physiotherapist, camera operators, drivers, and a social media manager. The crew helped manage the logistics of moving between states, treating the constant load on his legs, and documenting the attempt for his audience.

Runners following the attempt know what these numbers mean in practice. A single marathon leaves most amateur athletes sore for days, and doing one again the next morning, then the morning after that, for seven straight weeks, places enormous strain on the muscles, tendons, and joints. It demands disciplined recovery, nutrition, and sleep between efforts. Sobania’s project sits in the same conversation as other modern transcontinental efforts, including British runner William Goodge’s planned 50-marathons-in-20-days run.

Why He Did It

Sobania described the challenge on his website as an attempt to “create a project of historic scale and symbolically leave a Polish footprint in this story,” tying his run to the United States’ semiquincentennial.

Karnazes’ 2006 attempt, later chronicled in his book “50/50,” became one of the better-known endurance projects of its era and helped popularize the idea that the marathon distance could be repeated daily by a trained athlete. He remains a fixture on lists of the world’s top ultramarathon runners and of the sport’s most recognizable names. Sobania’s 49-day mark, first reported by TVP World, now resets that ceiling and adds another line to the growing log of running records.

For Sobania, the immediate task is rest. The longer question, familiar to anyone who has finished a big race, is what comes next. Followers of the sport’s toughest endurance events will be watching.