Antarctica, the bottom of the earth, is a continent most people only read about in books. Michael Wardian, an ultrarunner and pickleball player who has set both feet on every continent in the world, described it as a remote, peaceful, vast, frozen, alien landscape.
Wardian doesn’t boast or brag. He has set world records, qualified, and participated in three Olympic marathon trials, yet he is humble and approachable—a kind man who loves connecting with others.
Wardian graduated from Michigan State, where he played lacrosse. He switched to running after graduating in what he described as a seminal moment.
“I was at my friend’s house. I had finished playing lacrosse maybe a couple of weeks before. His mother had just completed the Boston Marathon, and I was taken by the medal and the space blanket she had. I said, ‘It’s amazing that you did this. Is there any way you could guide me to do it, too?’ And it was like a moment that changed my life because she said, ‘Sure, I would be happy to help you.’ She gave me a pamphlet about how to run your first marathon, and I followed that to a T,” he said.
If the pamphlet’s instructions required him to run 6 miles that day, he did it, whether it was raining, snowing, hot, or cold. He was obsessed with every recommendation and every detail. He worked his way up to his first marathon, and many more would follow.
Wardian won numerous races and received many accolades. He also has multiple sponsorships as a runner and continues to accomplish personal and professional goals he sets for himself.
In 2017, he set a new world record for completing the World Marathon Challenge faster than any runner before. He ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. In 2020, Wardian won the Quarantine Backyard Ultra, running 263 miles over 63 hours without sleeping. He recently finished running across the USA, a journey that spanned 3,234 miles ahead of his goal, which was 75 days. He did it in 62 and realized something.
“If I had to run another day or another week, I could have. When I finished, I felt like I could have done that type of running for the rest of my life. I was so in tune with my body, and our team was so dialed in it was just like, yeah, okay, another 52 or 100 mile day, whatever, I’m fine.”
The 48-year-old’s commitment and work ethic are vehement, which has resulted in success. After friends invited him to try pickleball he has now added it to his goal list, playing whenever he can.
“It’s funny because I have a little sheet of goals for 2023. Run a fast marathon, a fast half marathon, three long runs on the Appalachian Trail, some Guinness World Records, and win a 4.0 pickleball singles and double tournament. I got second in a double’s tournament a couple of months ago and then got smoked at the PPA tournament in D.C. a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
Wardian is aware of the learning curve in his new sport. It frustrates him at times that he isn’t getting better faster, but he realizes mastering a sport requires incredible stamina and patience. He is frequently drilling and working with training partners and has analyzed the value and benefits of both sports in conjunction with each other.
“I think pickleball is a lifetime sport, and running is a lifetime sport. I realize running is helpful for pickleball. I can get to most balls, and I can play a lot of games. Pickleball can help my running, it keeps me active without a lot of impact, and it has me moving in a different direction than when you are running,” he said.
When Wardian races, he moves as efficiently as possible in a straight line. In pickleball, he runs forward, backward, and side to side. Pickleball often requires moving in a lot of dynamic, diverse ways.
Joola sees the value in Wardian and has chosen to sponsor him on his pickleball journey. The sponsorship resulted from what Wardian called a lucky conversation with Eric White, a senior professional pickleball player already working with Joola when they were both playing in Delaware.
“I got really lucky. I just got talking to him and told him how passionate I was, and he said, hey, I’m working with this company called Joola, and we’re just kind of getting into pickleball. We have some big names like Ben Johns,” he said.
By the time Wardian returned from his USA run, he felt like everyone had switched to Joola products and was thrilled to be part of it. It sparks his drive to take the sport to the next level.
Wardian is also an avid chess player, participating in tournaments. He studies the game and recognizes when there is opportunity and when he must sacrifice for the eventual payoff.
He is one of the partners at Potomac Maritime, an international ship brokerage, arranging charters and cargo space. He started with the company in high school, making photocopies, answering phones, and getting sandwiches in the summers. He would return the following summer and gain more responsibility, and he continued to work his way up.
“I studied international relations at school, and I had my foot in the door and worked my way up from the secretary, basically, to one of the company’s partners,” he said.
Wardian chartered the cargo on the Maersk, Alabama, when it was hijacked in April 2009. He was running a race in Morocco and had a lot to deal with when he returned. When his friends told him his ship was hijacked, he didn’t believe them.
“It was a big problem. We got through it. But it was a real problem. And now there’s a cool movie, Captain Phillips, about it. It’s a pretty good flick, and it’s pretty accurate. They recreated the vessel with a sister vessel. They even had the same pens on it, paper and the ship’s log and all that kind of stuff,” he said.
Whether lost cargo on a ship, a challenging race in a faraway destination or sacrificing what few hours he has left to continue to progress at pickleball, Wardian feels lucky. He is living his dream life, and alongside him is his family.
He married Jennifer in 2004. She went to school at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. His brother also attended the school and Wardian met her at a fraternity party. They have two sons, Pierce, who is 16, and Grant, 13. The family joins him often, and they have a passion for travel. Pierce is starting to show an interest in running.
Wardian’s brother and sister keep tabs on him and offer support. His mother is one of his biggest fans, and his dad is part of his team, following him worldwide.
“My parents are a huge part of this. They follow my pickleball as much as my running and chess. They’ve been supportive of every activity I’ve done my entire life, so I’ve always felt supported. They would be at the game, the chess match, or whatever. And now they support our kids, which is great. They come to all their games. I feel it’s fortunate that they’re still in our lives, and everyone still gets along, which is hard for some families,” he said.
“The kids have been to 23 or 24 countries and 6 of the 7 continents. The only one they are missing is Antarctica,” he said.
Wardian credits his wife as the backbone of the household.
“She just makes life better. She is a stay at home mom and a homemaker. She does the majority of the shopping, takes care of the home, and makes sure our lives are better, and it is awesome. I feel lucky we have the flexibility to do that,” he said.
She also encourages her husband’s endeavors, aware that he isn’t one to try something and then stop. Everything he does is a process, and he learns along the way. She is happy to be an integral part of that. In the past few years, beyond running and pickleball, he has also taken on the task of the beekeeper.
“Well, failed beekeeper is more like it. I’ve had bees for about three years, and none have ever made it through. It has been bad luck every time so far. So I’m hoping that I can start again next year and get some bees that make it the entire time,” he said.
His mentor, a beekeeper from Cherry Blossom Honey, has been working with him. This past year, he decided to buy bees and have them delivered.
“You just pick them up, or they get delivered to your house, which is crazy. I’ve tried a couple of different ways and I think just being away for a lot of the summer is hard. They were doing great. I just don’t know what happened,” he said.
He is determined to figure out what’s going wrong. He deduced that in the last couple of years, another swarm of bees from around the area robbed the hive, took all the honey, and killed everyone.
“Maybe I need to put it in a different place. You can put them in some of the community gardens, so maybe I don’t need them at my house anymore or where they are at my house. I’m trying to figure it out, but right now, I think maybe I need to take a beekeeping class rather than the online classes through Penn State. Perhaps I need something more in person or just to have someone come over now and then to make sure that I’m doing everything right,” he said.
He knows that small moves make a huge impact. He also has many fans to turn to, which he finds invigorating.
“I pinch myself all the time and don’t take it for granted. It’s a really amazing life that we have, and we feel super lucky that it’s worked out so far, and hopefully, it’ll continue to go as well as possible,” he said.
His 50,000 Instagram followers keep up with his progress in life as a runner and a humanitarian. He works hard to interact with them.
“On the run across the country, we raised over 100,000 dollars for clean water projects around the world. I’ve worked with World Vision and have done projects with St. Jude. And something cool is doing pacing and guiding for adaptive athletes. People that are visually impaired or, like, one of the guys I work with is a double amputee. I love working with them on their athletic goals and helping them get across the finish line and have that sense of accomplishment that I love so much,” he said.
Wardian analyzes everything when he is racing. He worries about whether he has eaten enough. He focuses on who’s running near him. He asks himself questions in his mind.
“How am I feeling? Am I too hot? Am I too cold? Do I have any hills coming up? What’s the course look like? Is bad weather coming in? You have to focus on whether you are holding the right pace. Am I going to be able to hold this pace the entire race? Do I need to slow down? Is it a time for me to try to go faster, to break somebody?” he said.
Beyond the questions and the intense work, he still knows when he does something few others will ever have a chance to accomplish. He knows how to clasp onto a moment.
He has been to the end of the world and back as a runner. He will continue that journey, but along the way, as he races along with the beauty of Antarctica or the scenic Appalachian trail, he will also keep an eye out for pickleball courts.
