OC marathoner completes dream of competing on all 7 continents

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- Beth Sanden washed the hand cycle that helped her trek through rock and ice, past penguins and seals, until she hit the finish line 26 miles later in the Antarctic Marathon.

The 60-year-old finished in just under 11 hours, which was all part of a quest she started four years ago. Now it's finally complete.

"It was hard. It was definitely hard. We had boulders that we had to go over, that were iced over as big as basketballs. I tipped over twice. People were going by and saying, 'Oh, do you need help?' and I said, 'No, don't touch me. Don't touch me 'cause I want to break this record,'" she said.

She competed in a marathon on each of the seven continents. That's more than 112,000 miles traveled.

"I'm the first female challenged athlete to do all seven continents, and it's going to be going into the Guinness Book of World Records," she said.

PHOTOS: Partially paralyzed marathoner competes on all 7 continents

She has raised $70,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a group that helped her after a cycling accident that left her partially paralyzed in 2002. She was told she would never walk again.

But that did not stop her. Sanden's mission began in 2011 after she finished the Boston Marathon. She then went on to the Great Wall of China Marathon, where she used a walker and a strap to move her left leg up the steep terrain.

Then she went on to Africa, Australia, South America and Europe.

She added that she worked long and hard to achieve this milestone in her life.

"The reason why I wanted to do it was because I wanted to inspire the kids and the people that I coach that are disabled. You can set a goal and achieve them if you just keep your mind straight on that goal," Sanden said.