A marathon in Antarctica quickly inspired her to lace up her sneakers again, because she was fascinated by the continent since childhood after seeing icebergs on the cover of National Geographic Magazine.  There Kimi learned that a man had completed a marathon on every continent of the world, but a woman had yet to achieve that feat. Determined to become that woman, she raced around the world, achieved her goal, and was published in the Guinness World Book of Records.

    Combining a love of travel and running took her to adventurous and exotic places.      The Mount Everest Marathon included a 3-week trek to the starting line at 17,007 feet. Wine from the best French chateaux was served every 3 miles to runners during the Marathon du Medoc, near Bordeaux.  She even found a course completely run on the Great Wall in China, a 1,000 year old structure, with 60,000 steps of all shapes and sizes. 

    Sharing these races and her incredible experiences with runners was the inspiration for writing “Great Races, Incredible Places - 100+ Fantastic Runs Around the World”.   The book describes runs, ranging from several miles to ultra-marathons, found both close to home and half-way around the world.

Kimi currently works as a journalist and lives in New York City with her yellow lab,  Beethoven.  Her adventure racing stories have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and other media.

Kimi Puntillo stands at 18,192 feet by the world’s highest mountain at the Mount Everest Marathon.