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Slowtwitch Forums: Triathlon Forum:
$15000 marathon in antarctica?

daveinmammoth

Dec 2, 08 10:47

Post #1 of 16 (441 views)

$15000 marathon in antarctica?	Can't Post

This race is coming up in the next 2 weeks....some highlights:

1) 15K entry fee
2) -20 C average windchill
3) winning times in the >10 min/mile range
4) You can also run an ultra/100K! 20 hours in -20 C?????

Can you say crazy?

What kind of shoes so you wear???? Do they make polar racing flats?

Dave

jess!

Dec 2, 08 10:50

Post #2 of 16 (437 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [daveinmammoth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I have a friend who did this although I think he may have done a different one because I believe it was in April and I don't think it cost $15k. He finished in the top 5 with like a 4:07.
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P2SLowry

Dec 2, 08 10:54

Post #3 of 16 (427 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [daveinmammoth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

What kind of shoes so you wear????

Snow?

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"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." Vince Lombardi

matti58

Dec 2, 08 10:57

Post #4 of 16 (416 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [daveinmammoth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

They also had a marathon in Antarctica where you'd float in on a cruise ship of sorts, then run xx laps around the deck until you completed 26.2.

Dubsey

Dec 2, 08 10:58

Post #5 of 16 (412 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [daveinmammoth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

If I was goign to travel that far for a marathon I'd do this one http://www.great-wall-marathon.com/ . I just think running along the great wall would be a lot more memorable then losing a toe to frost bite, well maybe not as memorable but a better kind of memorable

jess!

Dec 2, 08 11:14

Post #6 of 16 (385 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [P2SLowry] [In reply to]	Can't Post

My buddy who did it wore Icebugs that he got at REI. Same friend also did the North Pole marathon and for that race he had to wear special running snow shoes.
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Tom Demerly

Dec 2, 08 11:19

Post #7 of 16 (377 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [daveinmammoth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did the race and followed it up with an ultra distance race a few weeks later in the Sahara called the Marathon Des Sables.

"The Last Marathon" as it was called when I did it was a cool event that ran along the Antarctic coast near a Soviet air facility and crossed borders between Soviet, Argentinean and I seem to recall Equadorian controlled segments of Antarctica. These countries and other divide the continent into pie shaped segments as part of the Internatonal Antarctic Treaty Organization (IATO). As such, we got passport stamps from each of the countries for participating in the event. Very fun.

We also did a hefty amount of whale watching and general cavorting around in the areas where it was environmentally acceptable for us to be, including an island so covered with penguins the pooh smell extended about four miles out to sea. Stinky.

The penguins, whales and elephant seals (awful looking things) were very friendly as few of them, if any, had ever seen a person before.

We also survived one of the most incredible storms I've ever been iin that I wrote about here, a few paragraphs down:

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/...orials/0000088.shtml

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/
(NOTE: This poster owns a retail business selling triathlon related products).

jess!

Dec 2, 08 13:13

Post #8 of 16 (296 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [Tom Demerly] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Tom, what year did you do it?
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Tom Demerly

Dec 2, 08 13:14

Post #9 of 16 (287 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [jess!] [In reply to]	Can't Post

1999.

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/
(NOTE: This poster owns a retail business selling triathlon related products).

cervelorider

Dec 2, 08 13:35

Post #10 of 16 (254 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [matti58] [In reply to]	Can't Post

That was a marathon tours gig a few years ago when they got down there it to rough to take the runers ashore in the inflateables and so they ran on the deck. I think that would tottaly blow. Tim

invinciblejj

Dec 2, 08 14:53

Post #11 of 16 (206 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [daveinmammoth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Crazy? If I had the disposable income to do it, I would! I love that "crazy" stuff though.

JJ

Tom Demerly

Dec 2, 08 15:13

Post #12 of 16 (188 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [cervelorider] [In reply to]	Can't Post

We had a fellow on our ship who ran laps around the deck when the weather permitted for training. He won the race.

Obviously, ours was not done on the ship. Part of the run we did was on a glacier. It was kind of mushy. The Russian fellows thought the entire affair was great fun. Part of the run course was on the runway of an airfield the Russians had built.

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/
(NOTE: This poster owns a retail business selling triathlon related products).

JenHS

Dec 2, 08 15:19

Post #13 of 16 (176 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [invinciblejj] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'd do it in a heartbeat. Not thrilled about actually getting there as I hate flying and would probably be seasick but still, it would be pretty friggin cool. Great wall doesn't hold the same appeal for me. I'm all about experiencing different environments more than different cultures.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jen - Me | The Boss | Ultraman Canada Relay 2009!

cervelorider

Dec 2, 08 15:27

Post #14 of 16 (164 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [Tom Demerly] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Tom:
On October 28, 2002 I ran the Dublin marathon on the actual day of my 50th birthday. I can't remember the womans name who was our trip leader (from Marathon Tours), but she was a nurse and she had been on the Russian ship when it was to rough to land the runners via inflatable boats. Tim

Tom Demerly

Dec 2, 08 16:02

Post #15 of 16 (141 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [cervelorider] [In reply to]	Can't Post

The weather when we did the event in 1999 with Marathon Tours was about what you see in the photo below: Overcast, a few flurries. Truth be told, it wasn't any worse than what you'd encounter on a typical training run here in Michigan in February, except for crossing the glacier, which was tough. Even the zodiac ride to shore for the race was fun.

This is me on the deck of Academik Ioffe on the way down to Antarctica for the race:

Here I am at the Marathon Des Sables in Morocco a few weeks after the Antarctic Marathon.

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/
(NOTE: This poster owns a retail business selling triathlon related products).

Tom Demerly

Dec 2, 08 16:06

Post #16 of 16 (139 views)

Re: $15000 marathon in antarctica? [jenhs] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I told myself I would not get seasick. Big mistake. People were wearing those bracelets and taking Dramamine and I was just saying, "Oh, I don't get seasick..."

The night the storm came up I got pretty sick then bummed some Dramamine off other passengers. I was fine after that but the stuff is said to work better taken before you get seasick. Lesson learned.

Somewhat interstingly I have been prone to motion sickness ever since that event.

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/
(NOTE: This poster owns a retail business selling triathlon related products).