Ice Marathon will be held in the Antarctic

Ice Marathon will be held in the Antarctic

On November 30, 2011 near the Ellsworth mountain range at an altitude of 700 meters will begin one of the most unusual sports events on the planet - Ice Marathon. The main feature of this competition is the place - Antarctica - only a few hundred kilometers from the South Pole of the planet. Therefore, the full name of the marathon is Antarctic Ice Marathon, which will be held for the 9th time.

The organizer of this extreme race is an American company Polar Running Adventures, which is owned by Richard Donovan. For the first time he held a marathon at the South Pole in February 2002, but two months later he alone ran the marathon at the North Pole in 3:48:12 and became the first marathoner in the world, who conquered both poles of the planet. Two years later, thanks to his own enthusiasm and support of the like-minded, he founded the Polar Running Adventures, which over the years organized participation of 127 people from 25 countries in the Antarctic Ice Marathon. Although participation in such an event is not cheap (€12 000 per person last year), the number of participants is increasing each year, and this year the participants will be delivered in two phases.

Antarctic Ice Marathon 2011 will be slightly different from the previous versions. Firstly, except for the standard distances (42195 m, 21090m and 10000m) the competition program will include new distance - Arctic Mile. It was introduced especially for those, who because of the physical state cannot be involved in hard physical activities, as well as for the athletes participating in the competition with their children. Secondly, in 2011 will be exactly 100 years since the first expedition reached the South Pole. The organizers of the Antarctic Ice Marathon suggest a significant increase in participants and prepare for them various cultural and entertainment events.

Ilya Kozlovskiy

Date: 18/11/2011