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His dad was less worried but still 
apprehensive, mainly wondering 
how his son would manage his time 
between school, training and the 
race. 
“You naturally have some con-
cerns as a parent, but I felt like this 
was a huge growth and develop-
ment opportunity, not just from the 
running perspective, but to be sur-
rounded by a very diverse group of 
like-minded people. I thought it was 
an excellent opportunity for him to 
develop on so many levels,
” he says. 
Chernett knew the race would 
be hard but didn’t expect it to be as 
challenging as it was. For example, 
the course in Antarctica consisted 
of four snow-covered loops. Half of 
the loop had the sun hitting them 
directly, making the temperature a 
balmy 50 degrees. The other half was 
the polar opposite; windchills dipped 
between -20 and -30 degrees without 
the sun.
The temperature variations made 
it tricky, according to Chernett, 
because they would sweat in the 
sunshine, and then the sweat would 
freeze. Almost everyone, including 
him, got frostbite on their lips. 
The Cartagena marathon, the 
sixth of the seven races, was also 

brutal. With a heat index of 105 
degrees, 100% humidity and no 
shade, he and many runners experi-
enced some degree of heat stroke. 
Part of what kept him going 
throughout the week was knowing 
the challenges of the other race par-
ticipants. 
“Everyone has these crazy stories 
of what they’ve been through, what 
they’re going through and what 
they’ve overcome. It’s really inspir-
ing,
” Chernett says. “You have a guy 
there who’s got terminal brain cancer 
and less than a year to live. You have 
a guy who’s got one lung and has 
had cancer three times. They’re out 
there running with you, and you see 
they’re doing it and not complaining. 
That motivated me to keep pushing 
forward whenever I struggled.
”
Australia, he says, was the prettiest 
of the 26.2-mile courses. That race 
began at 6 p.m., and watching the 
sunset and experiencing the area at 
night was breathtaking. 
Istanbul, on the European side, 
was his favorite. Not only was the 
view incredible, but the weather, in 
his opinion, was perfect. It was 55 
degrees and raining, but Chernett 
loved running in those conditions. 
Finishing at 4:04, it turned out to be 
his best race. 
His parents and brothers Brevin, 
20, and Jonah, 17, were in Miami 
to cheer him on during the seventh 
marathon. At that point, his feet 
and ankles were so swollen that he 
had to run in shoes that were a size 
bigger than what he typically wears. 
He expected swelling and brought 
four pairs of running shoes. What he 
didn’t expect were the hairline frac-
tures in his feet. 
When his family met the other 
race participants, they kept hearing 
about what a great kid Merrick was. 
They listened to stories about how 
he helped carry luggage for some of 
the older participants, and because 
of that, they nicknamed him The 
Sherpa. 
“We were thanking them for look-
ing out for Merrick, and they were 
thanking us for Merrick looking out 
for them,
” says his dad. 

Merrick after finishing 
the last race in Miami

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