Exclusive | I ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days we raced on snow in Antarctica and in 103-degree heat in Colombia

We’ve all been there.You’re running late, scrambling to find that perfect pair of shoes before you head out the door. Now, imagine this: You’re on your fourth continent, about to run your fourth marathon in as many days — and the only alternative to your running sneakers is a pair of Birkenstocks.That’s exactly what happened to Ashley Paulson, an ultrarunner who recently tackled The Great World Race — a grueling challenge where athletes have to complete seven marathons in seven days across seven continents.“That was probably my most panicked race up to that point,” Paulson, 43, told The Post, recalling the nail-biting moment she faced in Istanbul, Turkey.Spoiler: She found her sneakers in the nick of time — and then did the unthinkable.

Kicking off her Birkenstocks, Paulson completed the marathon in 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 2 seconds, shattering the previous world record by nearly 30 minutes. Sound hard? Try doing it in freezing temperatures. Paulson’s jaw-dropping adventure kicked off on one of the coldest, most desolate places on Earth: Antarctica.The first leg of the Great World Race took place on the bone-chilling Wolf’s Fang runway, a groomed, looped course carved into the icy, inhospitable wilderness of the world’s coldest continent.Even crazier? It was Paulson’s favorite race of the entire trip.“I didn’t know what it was going to feel like.You can’t train for that,” said Paulson, a seasoned professional athlete, coach, and trainer from St.

George, Utah, a desert city that averages over 300 sunny days a year.In Antarctica, the window of opportunity for a marathon is razor-thin.Paulson’s race was actually moved up 24 hours when an incoming storm threatened to derail the entire challenge.“From the time we landed to the time we took off, there was an eight-hour window where the weather was good,” she said. So, with little time to spare, she prepped her usual race fuel: a bag of Jelly Belly Sports Beans for a quick do...