A Baltimore Ravens employee with just two marathons to his name is about to attempt seven of them, on seven continents, in seven consecutive days. Dave Lang, the team's Senior Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation, is taking on the World Marathon Challenge with a fundraising goal of $100,000 for the Brigance Brigade Foundation, honoring the late O.J. Brigance and raising awareness for ALS.
Lang has run just two marathons in his life, according to the Ravens' official website. Now he's preparing to complete the World Marathon Challenge, which as CBS News describes it, includes seven marathons in seven consecutive days on seven different continents. He has two goals: cross all seven finish lines and raise the full $100,000 for the foundation.
The rules of the event are demanding. Runners get eight hours to finish each marathon and 168 hours total to complete the full circuit, per the Ravens' report. Lang hopes to finish each leg in under five hours — maybe four, he says — but the same account notes his real priority is simply finishing.
An Itinerary That Spans the Globe
The planned route starts on the ice in Antarctica before moving to Cape Town, Perth, Dubai, Madrid, Fortaleza and finally Miami, covering Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and North America in turn, the team's website reports. For context on how brutal the pace can be, last year's World Marathon Challenge winner, ultramarathoner Michael Wardian, averaged 3 hours, 4 minutes and 56 seconds per marathon across the week, according to the same Ravens account.
The challenge itself isn't new. The World Marathon Challenge has run nine editions since it was established in 2015, according to the event's own site, with a 10th edition scheduled for January or February 2027. As of Feb. 6, 2026, the event's so-called Intercontinental Marathon Club counted 292 finishers — 207 men and 85 women — who have completed all seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.
Running in Honor of a Ravens Legend
Lang was hired by the Ravens in 2007, just weeks after Brigance was diagnosed with ALS that same year, CBS News reports. Brigance and his wife, Chanda, went on to create the Brigance Brigade Foundation, which provides people living with ALS with access to support services, needed equipment and resource guidance, according to the foundation's website. ALS eventually affected Brigance's ability to walk and speak verbally, per CBS News, which describes him as a beloved figure within the Ravens organization.
Brigance's death has been reported with two different dates. The Brigance Brigade Foundation states that he passed away quietly on Aug. 17, 2026, surrounded by his family, while a separate CBS News report says Brigance died at age 56 on Aug. 18 following a 19-year battle with ALS. Either way, he had lived with the disease for nearly two decades by the time of his death.
Motivation Beyond the Finish Line
Lang has been candid about the grind of ultra-distance training. “I don't know how much I actually enjoy it,” he told CBS News, but he's said running keeps him in shape so he can stay active with his three daughters. He's also expressed confidence that he'll cross all seven finish lines, telling the outlet that ordinary people are capable of achieving extraordinary things.
Chanda Brigance, who co-founded the foundation with her late husband, has said people genuinely care about and support the Brigance family, according to CBS News. Anyone can donate to the Brigance Brigade Foundation or support Lang's fundraising effort directly as he prepares to take on the seven-continent challenge in her husband's memory.
