Becca Pizzi

Becca Pizzi in Moozy's, the ice cream shop she manages, in 2016.

Rebecca Pizzi (born 1980) She finished each race well ahead of all the other four women runners, and ahead of nine of the eleven men competitors. In 2018, she became the first woman to complete the World Marathon Challenge twice, again winning the women's overall race, and six of the seven individual marathons.

Starting running at age six with her father, Pizzi ran her first race that year and her first Boston Marathon at age seventeen. She had run it fifteen times by 2015, as well as 45 marathons in 27 states. After college, she started the Belmont Track Club.

Early and professional life Pizzi credits her father, who ran competitively for the University of Massachusetts, for her running inspiration. She started running with him at the age of six, completing her first race that same year. She graduated Belmont High School in 1998, and Mars Hill College in 2002, competing in track and field and cross country running in both institutions. Her 2000 Mars Hill cross country team was the first such team from Mars Hill to compete at the NCAA National Championship meet. She was part of a South Atlantic Conference championship team for each of four years, serving as the team captain during her senior year. After college, she was a coach for the Team In Training leukemia fundraising marathon program.

She ran her first Boston Marathon at the age of 17, her longest race before college, and had run it 15 times by 2015. Her running goal is to run a marathon in every state, and she had run 45 marathons in 27 states by 2015. Before the World Marathon Challenge, she had never had an injury in 30 years of running. Pizzi works two jobs, owning a day care and managing an ice cream parlor. She was a single mother of a young daughter (she continued to run while pregnant, until 2 days before giving birth).

In preparation, which she started January 1, 2015, By the time of competition, she got more sleep on the plane flights during the challenge (seven hours per night), than during her preparation (five hours). Her race preparation received national and international coverage. The entry fee was $36,000. Pizzi had to ask for additional time in order to find sponsors to help cover the cost. Ultima Replenisher, a maker of electrolyte-replacement drinks, Dr. Cool ice wraps, and Lyon-Waugh Auto group, a local car dealership, together covered 75% of the cost. The first two also provided their products to help her run. A Belmont bank hosted an autograph signing session for her departure, donated money in her name to the Belmont Food Pantry, and followed her progress via its website. Her standard running partner, a Boston attorney, ran with her in Chile. She completed the race, though running her slowest time of the seven marathons. By the time her plane landed in Sydney for the final marathon, her groin was black and blue and swollen to the size of a softball. She still completed the last race and her boyfriend greeted her at the finish line.

Pizzi finished an average of an hour ahead of all four of the other women competitors in all seven races. Her cumulative time of 27:26:15 hours (an average time of 3:55:11 hours) was declared a world record for the event. A fellow American, Daniel Cartica, a U.S. Marine Corps captain from Chicago, won the men's marathon, also in world record time; only he and another U.S. Marine finished faster than Pizzi.

Post marathon When Pizzi returned home, Belmont held a parade in her honor, and declared February 4 "Becca Pizzi Day". She received certificates of accomplishment from the Massachusetts House, Senate, and Governor. U. S. Representative Katherine Clark read a tribute to her into the Congressional Record. The "Becca Pizzi Family Fun Run", a 5K run, was named after her, and first run in Belmont on April 10, 2016, by 200 people. The ice cream parlor she manages named a flavor after her, "Becca 7", with seven ingredients. She was awarded a "Globie" New England sports award by the Boston Globe. Mars Hill University named her one of two alumni of the year for 2016.

Pizzi continued her 100-mile per week training pace for the 2016 Boston Marathon. Before the marathon, Pizzi was honored along with Boston Marathon legends Bobbi Gibb and Meb Keflezighi by the Boston Athletic Association. On April 17, 2016, the Boston Red Sox let her throw out the ceremonial first pitch, but before she did so, her boyfriend of five years made her the first woman proposed to on the Fenway Park pitcher's mound; Pizzi accepted.

In 2017, Pizzi ran 10 marathons, including pushing with Team Hoyt in the Fenway Park Marathon in September, and running the Volcano Marathon in Chile at 14,000 feet in November 2017.

2018 World Marathon Challenge

In 2018, Pizzi became the first woman to run the World Marathon Challenge twice. She was the fastest female racer in six of the seven marathons, and in the overall race, and set a new overall time record.

On December 14, 2022, Pizzi returned to Antarctica for a third time to run the Antarctic Ice Marathon, winning the women's race with a time of 4:24:15.

On April 17, 2023, Pizzi coached former Boston Bruins hockey captain Zdeno Chára in running the 2023 Boston Marathon, his first marathon. They ran the race together, finishing hand-in-hand in 3:38:23. In November 2023, Chára and Pizzi ran the Feaster Five Road Race, with Chára as the official race starter.

On May 13, 2023, Pizzi, with Chára encouraging her, ran her first ultramarathon, the Watuppa 50 kilometer race, in Fall River, Massachusetts. She won the race in 3:59:11, beating the women's course record by 35 minutes.

Pizzi completed her goal of running a marathon in all 50 US states on September 24, 2023, by running, and winning, the Jackson Hole Marathon in Wyoming. She brought a support crew of 50 people for her 50th state marathon, including her husband and daughter, and finished in 3:15:41 as the fastest female, and the 10th fastest overall, out of 601 runners.