We dropped off Thom (race director and owner of Marathon Tours) and his team to set up the course on King George Island, while we went on an excursion to Robert Point (to see our first colony of Penguins...and) to stretch our legs! You can only imagine how happy 100 runners were to get off the boat and be able to move around!
After a fun afternoon with the penguins, it was back on the ship for our pre-race dinner (lots of pasta and carbs, of course). Everyone was wondering and anticipating what we would learn from the team setting up the race.
After dinner, we were handed out our bib numbers and then we assembled so that Thom could brief us on the Marathon course and the schedule for the next day.
There were a total of 100 runners on board (the maximum they were allowed to take ashore). 89 registered for the full marathon and 11 for the half marathon. The race was scheduled to start at 9am (sharp). Thom gave us a run down of the course. We would start near the Russian base and run about 2.2miles towards the Uruguay base. Then turn around, run back to the start/finish area and another 2.2miles passed the Chilean base and out towards the China base. Then back to the start/finish area again. And repeat that exact same course 2 more times.
The map of the course they showed us at the briefing (along with the elevation of half the course):
I wasn't too excited about seeing all the spikes in the elevation chart. I know they warned of hills....but that doesn't change the fact that I hate running them. Thom warned us that the course would be tough - and promised that no one would come in under 3 hours. And if anyone could break 3 hours (which has yet to be done) that he would buy all their beer the night of the race.
After the briefing....Camille and I got our gear ready. We needed to bring 3 bottles of water that we would drop at various points on the course (start, and then half way to the Uruguay base, and half way to the China base). We also couldn't take anything that could potentially blow away...So my GU chomps went in an altoid box! We stretched and used the stick and foam roller to loosen up our legs as much as possible and made sure to get to bed early the night before the race. We were nervous...but excited for the next day!
Just like every other morming, we woke up to Andy's (the OneOcean Expedition Leader) voice over the intercom with a "Good Morning, Good Morning. It's 6am in the morning. Breakfast will be served at 6:30." And he probably told us how great a day it was going to be for a marathon. Camille and I eventually rolled out of bed, got some breakfast, put on our gear, stretched a little..and then headed down to the gangway to line up for a Zodiac to get to shore.
I think they told us the temperature was about 30-35F degrees...but it was SO incredibly windy that it felt much, much colder. I didn't want to take off my red suit...but we had to get our shoes on and get organized.
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| Emily, Me, and Camille - Taking a pre-race picture! |
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| Gathering at the start....waiting for Thom to say "3...2....1....GO!" |
The video I took at the start of the race of everyone excited to get going:
Everyone always asks me, "how do you even run in Antarctica?...Are you running on a big sheet of ice?" Nope. Not ice. Not even snow. They used to run on a glacier...but they can't run on it anymore. It's apparently unstable. Instead, we get to run on lots and LOTS of mud and even some rocks. Awesome [I think I'd prefer snow].
Despite the grey, muddy look in all these pictures - the view is actually quite scenic.
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| Even chickens [aka: Stirling the Aussie] run in Antarctica
The course was HARD. Really hard. Mostly because of the weather. Also because of the mud. And the hills didn't help any. It has to be up there as one of the hardest things I've ever done! The winds were the worst. They were just brutal. They estimated that the winds were somewhere between 40 and 50 mph. You know when you are running and your right foot almost knocks into your left foot because of the wind....and you nearly trip yourself....that it is pretty dang strong.
As mentioned above, you go out and back 3 times on each side of the start/finish. So, thankfully for about half the race you have the wind at your back. But man, when that wind was against you...it was so miserable. Walking against the wind was miserable...never mind running. And walking uphill against the wind...well, that sometimes felt nearly impossible.
The first (and 3rd, and 5th) part of the race out to the Uruguay base was the hardest part. Lots of hills and very muddy. Muddy like this:
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And it just got worse the more everyone ran over it. By the third leg... the mud was acting like a suction. There was momment I thought my shoe was going to come off. It didn't, thankfully.
The hills, by some standards, weren't that high...The highest the elevation ever got was about 225feet. BUT there were a LOT of ups and downs...and some of those short hills were SO steep. Ugh..I hate hills. This is the elevation chart from someone's Garmin watch during the race:
The windchill also made it SO much colder. Probably feeling more like 5f to 10f degrees. My gear held up well though. Only my hands and face got cold. Thankfully I had stuck some hand warmers in my fuel belt that I put inside my gloves to warm up my hands. They were a lifesaver.
At one point it started snowing. And because it was so windy, the snow was just whipping across you. All I wanted to do was bury my chin into my chest...but then I couldn't see where I was going. That just wasn't very fun. Thankfully it didn't last for too long - maybe a mile or 2 of the race? I was happy when it stopped.
The sign we saw as we approached the Uruguay base and realized you had to turn around and do the hardest part of the course again but this time against the wind!!
Moss! About the only green thing you find in Antarctica.
Some people smile when they see the camera on the course....I just wave my arms around like a crazy person and make weird faces. Clearly, I have the best reactions to cameras. I'm so photogenic.
When I tell people about the out and back course that is repeated 3 times - I can tell by people's reactions that they are thinking that they would get bored of doing the same thing over and over... and over again. But I actually really liked the course this way. For 2 reasons:
1 - you could break it up into shorter runs in your mind. And it really helped make the race not feel as long. When you tell yourself "just 4 more miles....I can do 4 more miles". It makes it not as daunting. And....
2 - It was great that you are continually passing the runners on the course because everyone was cheering for each other. You felt like you had a lot of support and people cheering you on. I loved that!
I was so happy to see this sign. Even happier to see mile 25 and 26.
Near the China base....
Thom was right... no one would finish under 3 hours. But Terence (from Australia) finished in an amazing 3:07. I was actualy right there when he finished. But I had a whole 13.1 more miles to go!! I was just a tad bit jealous of him being done...
And my girl Camille also rocked it. She came in second place in the womens finishing in 4:40! [And guess what her longest training run was? A 10-miler! Amazing.]
Crossing that finish line was a good feeling (if you couldn't tell from the huge smile on my face)!!! After nearly 4 years on a waitlist...I had finally crossed it. I was so happy to just finish! It took me a whopping 6:40! But I didn't care.
I was really worried the days leading up to the race that I wouldn't be able to do it. I've read from previous years runners that you need to add an hour to an hour and a half to your usual marathon time. I'm a slow runner so I knew I would be cutting it close. I made it to the halfway point at 3:07 [The cutoff was 3:10 give or take] and decided I would go until they kicked me off [luckily that never had to happen]. Fifteen people that were signed up for the full ended up changing to the half during the race either because it was harder than they thought and chose not to go on or because they didn't make the halfway cutoff in time. It was really a tough race...and everyone there did an amazing job!
I got a little dirty......
We worked hard for this piece of hardware......
Shortly after crossing the finish line, we were on a zodiac and headed back to the boat. I very quickly got cold. So, the first thing I did when I got back to the boat was take a HOT shower. It felt so good. The second thing I did was eat.
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| Getting one last picture of the finish area before getting on the zodiac back to the boat. |
Everyone's shoes on the boat after the race...
Running this marathon was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It really is hard to describe the feeling you get when you cross the finish line. It feels better than you can ever imagine. Everyone I met on this trip had a reason for being there...whether it was to run their last marathon on their last continent, or maybe cause their friend convinced them to do something crazy, or to run their first ever marathon in the most remote place they could think of or maybe cause they just wanted a fun adventure. Whatever the reason...I guarantee that everyone that crossed that finished line was happy they did it and was proud of their accomplishment! I sure was!
A big congratulations to all 100 runners! And thank you to Thom and Marathon Tours for making such an amazing experience even possible!! Best. Experience. Ever. Can I please go back?
A big congratulations to all 100 runners! And thank you to Thom and Marathon Tours for making such an amazing experience even possible!! Best. Experience. Ever. Can I please go back?
