Antarctica Marathon Race Report

Here we go....!

The final mile marker, tantilizingly displayed at the opening welcome ceremony.

The first task of race prep was scrubbing clean our running shoes in the biocide trays on the ship. Everything that touches Antarctica has to be clean of organic material from other places.

My race kit, ready to go for early wake-up call on race day, March 10. No plastic wrappers are allowed on shore, so I kept a mini dry bag in my pocket filled with unwrapped Clif Bloks. (No nutrition with seeds or egg products was allowed either.)

A windy, wet Zodiak ride got us from ship to shore for the race. Here, everyone is unpacking their race bags and stripping out of their red wetskins before the start.

Water bottles half-buried in the gravel before the race.

A cold, windy wait at the start line. Later that day Sophie told me the winds were 30 knots, about 35 mph. (Others said there were gusts up to 40 knots.)

Here comes the pack, first pass at the race course.

The race course was this dirt road that connect three countries' research bases, Russia, Chile and China. We ran from Russia, through Chile to China and back six times.

All Antarctic Treaty System rules for encountering wildlife were still in effect: if we encountered penguins, we had to stop running to let them pass. (I really, really wish this had happened to me, but alas....)

Church at the Chilean base. Arriving in the Zodiak, someone asked, "Is that a cross over there?" The guide answered, "Yeah, it's where we put the dead the runners."

Antarctic moonscape on King George Island.

The race was an out-and-back that we ran six times, which sounds dreadful but each time the landscape looked totally different to me. (The first time I passed this lake I didn't even notice it was there.)

Entrance to the Chinese research station.

Whale bones and distance markers at the Russian research base. ("Uglich, 15675 km.")

Some of the beach gravel and pebbles we ran on. (Every time I got to this location, I read this sign as, "China: Turn Around!")

This part of the course is sheltered from the howling wind coming off the water. Other stretches were totally exposed and seriously exhausting.

Long stretches of mud filled the roadway.

I threw out these shoes after the race.

6 hours 15 minutes later....

Crossing the finish line!

Total relief and elation as I get my medal. Every time Emma and I passed each other on the course she chanted to me, "I want my medal! I want my medal!"

Ta-da! Done!

Finisher's certificate. Awww.

Photo disclaimer: Many of these photos were taken and shared by others on my trip; the credits are unknown except where watermarked.