Terms & conditions

1The organizer

Seven Wonders Marathons™ is organized by Runbuk Inc. ("we", "us", "the organizer"). By paying a deposit you enter into a contract with us on these terms, on behalf of yourself and everyone in your booking.

2Booking and payment

A deposit of US$15,000 per person reserves a place. The deposit is fully refundable for thirty days from the date of payment and non-refundable thereafter. The balance is due 180 days before departure; if it is not received we may treat the booking as cancelled by you under clause 6. Places are allocated in order of deposit received. We may decline any application without giving a reason.

3Entry requirements and fitness

Runners must have completed at least two marathons in the previous twenty-four months, at least one of them in under six hours thirty minutes, and must provide a physician's clearance dated within six months of departure, together with a completed medical questionnaire. You must tell us about any medical condition, medication or injury that could affect your participation, and must update us if anything changes before departure.

We may refuse or withdraw participation at any point, including during the event, where in the reasonable opinion of our medical team you are not fit to start or to continue. No refund is due in that case. This is a safety provision and we will not use it lightly.

4The itinerary

The published itinerary sets out the programme we intend to deliver. It is not a guarantee of specific dates, places, times or suppliers.

We reserve the right to alter the route, the wonders visited, the order of the stops, the courses, the start times, the race distances, the aircraft and aircraft type, the airports, the hotels, the ground arrangements and the duration of the journey, where in our reasonable judgement this is necessary or advisable. Reasons include but are not limited to: weather and ground conditions; air traffic, airspace or airport restrictions; the refusal, withdrawal or alteration of any permit or licence by any authority; the closure of a site or a change to its opening hours or access rules; aircraft availability, technical failure or operational limitations; flight crew duty limitations; supplier failure; public health measures; strikes; civil unrest or security advice; and the safety of participants, staff or the public.

Where a change is necessary we will substitute an alternative of comparable standing wherever it is reasonably possible to do so, and we will notify participants as soon as practicable. Changes made under this clause do not entitle you to a refund, in whole or in part, and do not entitle you to compensation for any consequential cost such as changed flights or accommodation outside the programme.

This clause does not permit us to reduce the event below five marathons. If fewer than five marathons take place, clause 8 applies instead.

5Prices and surcharges

All prices are in US dollars. The price is fixed once the balance is paid, with one exception: where our aviation fuel cost rises by more than five per cent between the date of your booking and the date of departure, we may pass that increase on as an itemized and evidenced surcharge. We will absorb the first five per cent. If a surcharge would exceed eight per cent of your total price you may cancel and receive a full refund, provided you tell us within fourteen days of being notified.

6If you cancel

Cancellation must be in writing. More than 180 days before departure: fifty per cent of the total price is refunded. Within 180 days: no refund is due. You may transfer your place to another person who meets the entry requirements up to sixty days before departure, subject to an administration fee and any supplier costs we cannot recover. Given the sums involved and the length of the lead time, cancellation insurance is strongly recommended and is your responsibility to arrange.

7If we cancel

We may cancel the edition if the minimum number of participants is not reached. If we do, we will tell you no later than 120 days before departure and refund everything you have paid us. We may also cancel for reasons outside our reasonable control, in which case we will refund all sums other than those already irrecoverably committed to suppliers on your behalf, and we will account to you for those.

In neither case are we liable for your own flights to Rome or from Rio, visa fees, medical or training costs, equipment, lost earnings, or any other indirect or consequential loss.

8If the event is cut short

If fewer than five marathons are held for reasons outside our reasonable control, we will offer a pro-rata credit against a future edition rather than a cash refund. If the event is abandoned for reasons within our control, a pro-rata cash refund applies. Completing the journey without completing every marathon — whether because of a course closure, a medical withdrawal or a change under clause 4 — is not grounds for a refund.

9Your own travel, visas and insurance

You are responsible for your flights to Rome and home from Rio, and for obtaining every visa and travel authorisation the route requires. The journey enters eight countries — Italy, Egypt, Jordan, India, China, the United States, Mexico and Brazil — and the United States stop is an overnight, not a technical transit, so a US visa or authorisation is required for almost all nationalities. We provide invitation letters, itineraries and confirmations, and we begin that support the day you register, but visa refusal or delay is not grounds for a refund.

Travel insurance and medical insurance including emergency evacuation and repatriation are mandatory conditions of participation. Cover must be valid for marathon running in every country on the route. We will send the minimum specification with your registration pack and may ask to see your policy before departure.

10Risk

Running seven marathons in twelve days, across seven climates and thirteen time zones, carries real risk — including but not limited to musculoskeletal injury, heat illness, dehydration, hyponatraemia, gastrointestinal illness, rhabdomyolysis, cardiac events and death. Courses run on public roads, desert tracks, jungle roads and, at Mutianyu, uneven historic stone steps. You take part voluntarily and accept these risks. You will sign a separate waiver and assumption-of-risk agreement before the first start line.

11Racing, timing and results

There is no cut-off time at any wonder. Courses do close at published times, and any participant still on course at that point will be transported to the finish; their day is recorded as completed outside the course window, and they start the next marathon as normal. We recognise both completion of all seven marathons and completion of the journey. Race distances are measured but are not certified for record purposes.

12Photography and media

We photograph and film the event and may use those images and recordings for promotional purposes in any medium, without further consent or payment. Tell us in writing before departure if you wish to be excluded, and we will do our best to accommodate it. You may take your own photographs, but the heritage sites on this route set their own rules about commercial photography and drones, and those rules apply to you.

13Conduct and the sites

Access to Petra, Giza, the Taj Mahal, Mutianyu and Chichén Itzá is granted to us under conditions set by national authorities, and those conditions are what makes this event possible. We may remove any participant whose conduct endangers others, damages or disrespects a heritage site, breaches the law of any country on the route, or puts our permits at risk. No refund is due and onward travel is at that participant's own cost.

14Liability

We accept liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence and for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded. Otherwise our total liability to you is limited to the amount you have paid us. We are not liable for the acts or omissions of independent suppliers, for your own flights to and from the event, or for loss or damage to personal property.

15Complaints

If something goes wrong during the event, tell the race director at the time so that we have a chance to put it right. Anything unresolved should be sent to us in writing within twenty-eight days of the end of the journey.

16Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of [jurisdiction] and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of its courts.