journalist of the belmont citizen herald and wicked local belmont dot com i'm really thrilled to have with me as today's guests mother and daughter back p c and taylor neal becca is a two time world marathon champion and world record breaker she grew up in belmont she's half greek for those of you who may not know she was a track star belmont high she owns her own daycare here in belmont she works at mousie's as a manager and she runs the belmont truck club which meets five am every morning and all whether at the belmont high school track taylor is a fourth grader at the wellington elementary school and she loves gymnastics and dance and soccer and she's her mom's number one fan so welcome taylor and i can't i can't believe you recently returned from a seven day journey and this is your second time running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days you crossed sixteen time zones you finished in six days eight hours and twelve minutes averaging four hours four minutes and thirty nine seconds per math on did i get that right you got that right i mean the first time you did this becca nobody thought it could be done i mean everyone heard about it was like seven marathons seven days on seven continents and we knew you i mean we know you're a good runner you know you're going to be running your eighteenth boston marathon you've run you basically run all the time  running is what you love but then to do it again so why would you do it a second time i this is my favorite race from the home world i absolutely love it i love to travel and i love to run and when i heard that the locations changed nice airplanes right tell us about those of those they're playing we were on v a p the air bus three forty and i was absolutely beautiful and the food was great we were in way flat beds down comforters down as it was it was huge difference and what we did before right but there was one airplane away to get into where she went and how it was for each one but there was one airplane that wasn't so good that was that was the one going from antarctica to south africa and you actually were laying on the florida so that was a russian which was quite the experience in itself it is a beautiful plane but its military base and you're in bucket seats and that was seven hours from  cape town africa to antarctica and back all that we took to land and antarctica and i had done that before two years ago so i knew what i was getting myself into but it is no point it's really pretty it's really different different and  so food food is different you would know want to do that for seven now and i was quite the experience when i interviewed you before this second world marathon challenge did you ever think you would be the champion again i was hoping when i go into events like this i'd like to set the bar high and make our town and community proud and you had a lot more competition this time than the first time the first time there were fifteen total runners this time there were fifty five and tell me about some of the female runners you  against this was this competition was hard one girl was an amazing race one girl was survivor and one girl was on the usa track and field triathlon team so i knew that they would be pushing me to work harder at what point though did you realize i can do this like you you won that first marathon in antarctica and when did you say i know i can do this right away i knew that i had the experience under my belt which no other nobody else had so i thought you already have this experience you've already been through this it's like having a second child it's like running a second marathon you have done it before how can you do a better yeah you want to tell us  out i was coming off ten marathons last year so i was i was fresh off ten marathons one was the berlin marathon in another country and then the other one was fenway park marathon one hundred sixteen times around a warning trap with track which was the repetitive and amazing he said so i knew you have be the base to get this done i teamed up with t v twelve tom brady's company and because i had a calf situation my calf was locked in tight so when i walked in there and i just fully trust in their training and knew that they would get me to the finish line healthy and to finish this the series of seven events without an injury was very different from the first time when i read it and i tore my gorean so right you  groin the first world marathon challenge what race was a marathon six miles this six marathon mile two and you still managed to win that marathon plus the yeah seven finishing is never an option for me so whatever it takes and you have to go into these series with that mentality well i thought i thought i would be good to go taylor i want to ask you because how does it feel to have a mom who made history two times it's pretty cool because everyone in my school is like supports me and always asks about my mom and what she's doing next so it's pretty cool you go to the school your mom went to  well into and what do you doing for those seven days at your mom was gone before you reunited with her well what was it that you were doing at the wellington with your fellow students and teachers to so like before it kind yeah before the race started mean one of my teachers we built a bulletin board so it had a map of the races and we had like a wild card and we had like a get to face time and skype mom throughout yes i did that's so great for her so back to how does how does it feel to be sitting here today as a two time world marathon champion and world record where that i'm really you know it's it's always such an honor to represent our country in our state and especially my city about one town about a lot and and i'm really proud of how i did over the seven days and i worked really hard you know the highs of this race are incredibly highs the lowest part is missing my daughter so much so for viewers notice that she still has a little bit of sun for winburn so why don't we talk about a continent by continent tell me your memories from each marathon we'll start with the first one in antarctica tell us what was challenging about that marathon and i guess for me is really intimidating you're dropped off on a glacier which is so beautiful but in the middle of nowhere so it's not that it was much colder than it was in boston because at the time when i left it was freezing temperatures here but the wind is fierce and the sun is absolutely blinding so i always said just get t antarctica and then focus on the next six you never going to have to deal with the winds and the weather here but i always feel so lucky to be in antarctica because it's absolutely beautiful and i'm running i love to run and and then i feel so happy to be leaving and i like it because it is so intimidating to be there running in the middle of nowhere how do you grease wasn't this was about zero degrees the wind chill factors was in the negative so that's the problem so colder than anything you've experienced around here montreal i go to montreal's my training for the world marathon challenge so that's very similar to to what they are the temperatures are like god and you knew what to do to protect yourself from that that whole like what did you have to do did you have hand warm warmers i had both him and foot warmers and gargoyles sunglasses which protect me from the sun and fog and covered head to toe which is different for me because the sun will beat off the ice and and give you a little blisters on your face and so you're running head to toe covered so which is very different and but not much colder than it is here and i want it in january in the for the first marathon you didn't you didn't do in dark to go right africa tell tell me what that was like me went from drastic drastic change in temperature that you know the next day was about eighty five degrees in cape town africa i loved it i thought it was absolutely beautiful we ran along the water which would be a lot like the charles river and the people were so friendly and i loved i thought the cape town africa was absolutely beautiful palm trees and was well like miami feel even with the weather and  i was sad to leave cape town i thought it was beautiful that one of your favorite one of my favorites and the spectators were amazing and cheering us on by first name go back you know on all continents actually which i hope for a fortunate to have the support there what did you do  in between races to to rest and refuel what did you have to do i had a tb twelve folk vibrating foam roller which i think saved my butt because i used it and there was a sign up mind to use it to go in the back of the plane everybody's rowing out everything that they have and start you have to keep your guard up for seven days because any little move that you make can endure and then your cycle so you have to just be stretching and foam rolling and hydrating eating the proper foods so at what point during these seven marathons did you realize you could become the champion again if you could actually win all of them at the starting line it was so i just said do your best you know give  hundred percent and i got lucky this time and i never go into anything you know for this i know i can win and i know if i just run my race and don't focus on anything else and that i can do it and this is sounds impossible and people will tell you so many times why why it's impossible why i can't do it and you have to prove them wrong but you can never not believe in yourself it's so so important to believe that you can do it and if that's half  one for all of them taylor sent me a message and africa which is marathon to mum you're going to win she has more faith in me than anybody and i i said i'm going to do my best and i just you know it's it's important to finish the race but it was important for me to win it and make her proud and that you did know so from south africa you went to australia what was that marathon like what do you remember about that her fast really it was one of the many marathons that were  that night so you try you travel all the way to get you to vocation and you know you get to see not really anything because it is pitch dark and at night but my my favorite spectators are always in australia they are so friendly and fun and come on do it for two or run hard for taylor and i don't know them and they don't know me but they know enough to know that i have a daughter that i'm working hard for out there and they they were great on the course and i felt like at that point marathon three i was still very organized dubai was my revenge run that was the exact course and location where i tore my going oh you know so i knew that i was going to have a good run and i thought this is your chance to get back on dubai this is what i was thinking about for the last two years and that was i struggled so hard to years ago and i so to be running a good race and in feeling strong was really excited and i said get through this and you more than halfway there and i remember thinking hitting the exact point where i was halfway there in thinking you're halfway there you're so lucky to be feeling so good and strong and healthy and after every single marathon i would skype with my family so my husband have everybody on skype after which was which was really  fun you know the first time you said you did everything right but you still somehow got that injury so that's that's very scary when you don't know how it happened yeah i don't know what was harder the fear going into it knowing at some point my body's going to break down and hope that i dubai you went to lisbon was then was awesome my uncle you're going to be there and to have him there and in the alumni actually the first female to ever on the seven seven seven marianna she was there to have her there i so much thanks to her because she was there for me answering any questions that i had the first time around and still to this day and having her there was so awesome and she's such a huge inspiration to me and it was great to see her smiling face there the alumni from the previous years a couple of the guys came out and in cheering us on and it was really fun to have them there another location that was run at nine o'clock at night so but on the water which was beautiful and i think having these car to colombia and you told me that that was extremely humid tell tell us about how hot it was and what was challenging about the current guardian of columbia was ninety degrees ninety percent humidity and that struggle was real i was so blindsided by it and and so lucky to have my training partner jenny there for me running with me and that was tough to get through that one because it was so humid and so hot and i was so fatigued and they just said stay positive get through this night and your family will take you home to the finish line tomorrow and so i never thought that i would be blindsided like that with with the weather but yeah that was so hot and i just i was just not really there mentally as as i usually am so i just thought shake this off in and get fight through it and you'll be home free with the last one well something did go wrong because you didn't you didn't finish that one first what was it that when i got out i got lost and discombobulated and i think it was just not paying attention and i don't know if i still don't know if i ran by a sign that that was in english and i couldn't read it or if i just took a wrong turn or so when i got back to find my way back to carnahan the center of town we just ran circles and my g p s was fumbling and not picking up a single signal well you know so when it rains it pours and i one you know just don't even shake it off don't even think about it that's life things are never going to go your way and in so i was lucky enough to finish without injury still to just yes be there and not have that injury and use but then he was with you and he was with me and you know she she says was was so such a good friend to me and running by my side and we got this don't think about it shake it off don't think anything negatively and it was so good to have her there  at what point did you realize you were you took a wrong turn somewhere around mile for where nothing looks familiar and i didn't know where i was how did you find your way back i ran into another runner and said i don't know where i am do you know where you are  and said no so you kind of just because the two of us we all kind of were a little lost and we found our way back and that was off it was a lot like running in harvard square just kind of running in this gloomy cool location but there was a lot of foot traffic there and there were coursing carriage and it was it was my favorite location because it was so beautiful so rich in color and history but it was unfortunate that we had that major hurdle because it was just so confusing and it it was a blur to this day but and also running at night doesn't help because you really don't know where you are and i'm really glad you feel anyway that we do so the final race was miami and right before you started some something went wrong in miami you want to tell us about that my phone i don't know what it went missing i don't know if it was stolen i don't know if it was i don't know what happened and right away that the keyboard he was tracking it was changed to russian and i was so bummed out because the photos from the last six days meant the world to me you know and and i just thought just focus on miami deal with the phone later my mom was like you can use my phone don't worry about it and you know it was the photos that i'm mostly bummed out about missing in these distractions come in and you know you think you know it's such a bummer you know and i don't know it happened somewhere between columbia and in miami and i noticed it in miami and i just thought it's ok and all the runners pooled their photos of me and sent them my way and it just meant so much to me you know and goes to show you how caring they are and what an awesome group of runners and but you know i don't i'm so bummed out to miss those photos but their photos you know so you're taking photos throughout your other marathon and you realized it was missing right pretty much right before the dawn hour before the start so how were you able to you know get over that and fo i knew that if i started thinking my phone pictures and i would not be where i needed to be mentally and physically so i just put it behind me and thought maybe somebody will just send it to me maybe somebody will find it and feel bad that they took it or something you know and  just knew that wasn't going to happen with a keyboard was changed to russian but right you know and and so but it's ok you know and i got a new phone my i'm running the marathon of my husband's out at best buy getting me into a new phone and charging it so that i would have something to come home to you know plan have a photo and taylor was helping and so you know but it was you know it's just a phone when you think about it you know just the photos that were unfortunate because i don't get those back and the wall glad everybody share come that's because taylor handed me my groom and she handed me my electric lights and my water so that was really helpful and she was giving me high fives on each one of the backs and so having her the you i mean i know you had told me when i interviewed you before that this was what you were looking forward to most that final hundred yards crossing the finish line with taylor and your whole family there waiting for you and meant so much me to have my family there and friends of mine the course and cheer me on and fifty years ago women were told they couldn't run marathons fast forward fifty years and there i am making history for the second time with my daughter and friends and front of my friends and family and just there  words it just meant so much to me to have been there and watch that musing and you endured so much running more than one hundred eighty three miles seven days in a row i mean how did how did you feel m bumped up a size so i have my seven and a half size sneaker and then i brought in eight because in an event like this your feet swell so no you have to make sure that you're not cutting off circulation and but i i felt really good the whole seven days i got very lucky so cross the finish line without an injury and did you soak your feet or massage your absence all that every day yeah on the airplane you could do that no we had hotels ok so there was hotel yeah there were hotels and that just kind of meant like maybe a check in at eight pm and you leave it to in the morning or you check in to so you know you know you know leave it checking in at five pm and leaving it in and the next day you're it's just for five hours mostly sometimes longer stretches depending upon where we are going but you're running for four hours to six hours in the you know you're flying always about eight hours in then hotel for the rest or you know do yours pop at all of these  and no i slept really well too i have just about seven hours a night yeah so that was good for me i was happy with that isn't it enough to take anything to help nothing i know because people said how do you sleep on planes when we were so tired we did a marathon so we were able to sleep on a plane no problem on the plane she didn't have any issues with turbulence or bad i think you know we got very lucky no delays nothing like that yeah that is that is very lucky and i know that you also running with the boston marathon race director dave  huge fan of him he is such an awesome guy i mean he's just so boston strong you know he's you know having him there meant the world to me and he had a lot of fun yeah yeah that's you got we have pictures of you  it as well and i know you know when you got back this time you wanted to keep it low key you didn't want to parade the first time around you had a big parade that you know was he did go along this time was much more low key so what is life been like since you returned i love just being a mom again to my daughter and watching her to amass ticks and managing mousie's i love so much i have the ice cream flavor named after me the back of seven with seven ingredients it's the smores flavor and my daycare you know and that's what i want to be doing i want to be owning my daycare managing movies playing with my daughter and we i'm still doing a lot of media stuff so i can be so taylor what did you miss what do you love doing with your mom what's your favorite thing to do with mom we are going to gymnastics c n n and we love playing we love playing games with each other but you tell tell me about your gymnastics you're doing really well with that had a few competitions this year and i've done really well and my first one in my whole team got second place overall i've had an incredible time doing the fifty states it's a lot of fun and in the u s it's pretty amazing so you've run in thirty one states and your goal is to do all fifty of the next two years that's amazing and taylor what's your biggest  be in the olympics stakes that i hope you by help you achieve that dream that what's your advice to someone who says i don't think i can do it believe in yourself you know dream big take chances and believe in yourself and i think if you do those three things you can go so far in life it's ironic that in card to hand when you got lost the super bowl yeah there if you had lost that same day right with a tough day for boston fourth quarter i just couldn't pull it together and patriots wost and that was a bummer that i said it's not why you got lost and nobody can blame them no but it was you know you just regroup and you figure it out and next year they're going to win the you know i think that we are just about out of time i'm so glad i had you on the show i want i want to have you back thanks for having if you think you'll do you know do you think you'll do a third third time's a charm i think i will i think i'm sure that questions coming out a lot yeah i think i have unfinished business i think i can lower my overall time i just have to work hard and figure out and see if they change the locations again which is always really