Antarctic craziness: marathons at 80S

As I say in my blog description (orange box at the top of the sidebar):

You'd be surprised how many crazy souls are out there...

You don't get much crazier than this: running a marathon and/or a 100km trail at 80S. These marathon runs are aimed exclusively at adventure runners who can shell out the $15k registration price to participate in the only foot-races on the Antarctic continent. They can choose between a 26-mile marathon or an 100km (62 mile) ultra race over snow and ice, at an altitude of 3000ft, with an average temperature (including windchill) of -20°C, and the possibility of strong Katabatic winds. Not for the feint of heart (and definitely not for me!).

The 3rd edition of these races was held on December 20th. The marathon was won by Marc de Keyser from Belgium, in a record breaking time (4h, 42min, 32sec). Only two out of the ten runners who had entered for the 100km ultra race completed the run. Cristian Schiester from Austria took the title in just under 20 hours, while Susan Holliday from Great Britain became the first woman to complete the distance in Antarctica in just over 22 hours. You can find all the results and more information on the races on the Antarctic Ice Marathon website.