Antarctica Marathon:  Runners get a grip on snow and ice on Collins Glacier during the 26.2 mile race.

Book Excerpt

Credit:  David McGonigal

Great Races, Incredible Place

100+ Fantastic Runs Around the World

Because It's There

“George Mallory, the British mountaineer, made this phrase famous when questioned why he attempted the daunting feat of climbing Mount Everest. (It took another 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary made the first successful summit in 1953.) You may find yourself uttering the same response when asked what in the world inspired you to run one of the races described in this section.

Whether you are sailing through the most turbulent body of water in the world, fending off hypothermia in subzero temperatures, or scaling rocks above tree lines, these races will test your endurance. Although they sound exhilarating, don’t take these adventures lightly. They require serious training to perform your best and help avoid disasters.

Competitors preparing for adventure races have gone to extremes, both in effort and creativity, to simulate course conditions that they’ll be encountering. For subfreezing marathons, contenders have gone as far as putting treadmills in industrial walk-in meat lockers. Waterlogged courses have inspired people to train by running through streams.”

ANTARCTICA MARATHON & HALF-MARATHON
The Lost Continent

“How do you get to the bottom of the world to run the Antarctica Marathon? It’s not easy. First, you fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to Ushuaia, on the tip of South America. Ushuaia’s claim to fame is that it’s the southernmost city in the world, although it more closely resembles a large town. Here you board refitted ships, ice class rated and reinforced with steel hulls to dodge icebergs. Once used for Polar research, now the vessels accommodate adventurous runners setting sail for a three-day journey across Drake Passage, the most turbulent body of water in the world.

Pray for tolerable swells. Waves have swept over the deck on rough days, rocking and rolling the boat, so that no amount of Dramamine® could provide relief from the inevitable seasickness. One participant lamented that had he known how brutal the return trip would be, he would have stayed on the “lost continent.” The small ship is home for the next week and a half because there’s no place to stay or eat in Antarctica. Thousands of miles from civilization, the mainland has no hotels, restaurants, or stores.”

Once you arrive, stepping onto land where only a tiny fraction of the world’s population has left a footprint is breathtaking. The unique feeling is much like holding a newborn child.”

“Course adjustments occur every year depending on weather and surface conditions. Even the location on King George Island can change since it’s subject to written permission from local research stations and science foundations. The race usually requires a wind-chilled climb up Collins Glacier, which is streaked with serrated ice and a thin layer of snow. Runners have slipped and fallen, twisting ankles and breaking ribs. One even hit his head hard enough to result in a concussion. If you have trepidations about running on ice, it’s worth considering stabilizers. They are membranes that fit over the soles of your sneakers, dotted with metal studs for increased traction.

Elsewhere on the course, glacial runoffs create small streams. If water is running deep enough to douse ankles, it’s bridged with wood planks. Feet plunged in icy cold water will stay in your sneakers the rest of the race. Not only is it uncomfortable, but extremities exposed to freezing temperatures are vulnerable to frostbite and promote hypothermia, a drop in body temperature that endangers metabolism and bodily functions. Warm, dry feet and hands are essential in cold-weather marathons. You may also discover a few new body parts, such as earlobes, that you wish to keep warm and never worried about in previous races.

Mud is the biggest course hazard because daytime temperatures average just above freezing during the Antarctic summer. Dirt roads connecting the research stations absorb water from melting snow and ice. The mixture swallows your sneakers, as the female front-runner found out the year I ran. Her foot came right out of her sneaker and plunged straight into the mud.

Don’t run this race if you need cheering crowds to finish. Antarctica is sparsely populated with government- approved researchers and support personnel. The only onlookers I saw were three parka-clad Chileans, singing and clenching a bottle of vodka, who offered me a cigarette.”

(C) KP Communications, LLC