During the 2007 Boston Marathon, Indian-American astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams ran the first marathon in space, clocking four hours and 24 minutes on a treadmill at the International Space Station (ISS). On Tuesday, Williams and fellow astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore touched down on Earth for the first time in nine months, after an expedition that was supposed to last for a mere eight days.
Williams and Wilmore’s trip home lasted 17 hours; NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov, who joined them at the ISS in the fall, were also on board. After re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, their SpaceX capsule landed safely by parachute in the Gulf of Mexico, near the Florida coast. The pair spent 286 days in orbit after technical difficulties arose in their spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner, which extended their trip by 278 days.
During the expedition, Williams, who is 59, spent more than 62 hours outside the ISS, breaking the record for most time spent spacewalking by a female astronaut.
2007 Boston Marathon
Williams qualified for the 2007 Boston Marathon with a 3:29:57 performance at the 2006 Houston Marathon. On April 16, 2007, during her first mission to the ISS, she began the race at the same time the actual marathon kicked off in Boston. Williams, who was 42 at the time, taped her race bib to the front of her treadmill, which was equipped with a harness to counteract the lack of gravity.
During that expedition, Williams spent 192 days in orbit. In 2008, she participated in the Boston Marathon again, this time on Earth. The astronaut went on to complete the 2012 Nautica Malibu Triathlon in 1:48.33, while aboard the ISS, using a treadmill, stationary bike and advanced resistive exercise device (ARED) to simulate swimming.
British astronaut Tim Peake later became the first man to complete a marathon in space, running aboard the ISS in conjunction with the 2016 London Marathon. He clocked three hours and 35 minutes.
