2016 Anarctica Marathon Recap

This is race recap for the Antarctica Marathon & Half Marathon along with a trip recap.

The Race
The original course for this was supposed to be 3 laps going out and back with the start/finish in the middle on King George Island around research stations.  You run on a road/trail connecting the research stations for various countries (Chile, China and Russia).   Unfortunately in one direction the trail was washed out too bad on the steep parts so they had to make it 6 laps in just one direction.  There are two boats (we were on a boat for this whole trip) full of runners so a day before us the other boat ran and they had good conditions, on the day my boat ran we were supposed to have good weather but it did not turn out that way.

The weather was supposed to be a chance of rain/snow, mild temps (20-30) and low winds and that is what we started in.  The trail was rocky, wet in spots and even had parts with soft gravel.  It wasn't bad running as long as you dodged the numerous puddles but it got progressively windier, colder and with heavier precipitation.  The first 4 laps were not hard and I took off my sunglasses and changed gloves at the turn which would turn out to be a bad decision.  The wind really picked up in lap 5 and the snow was coming in sideways and blinding me (because I had no sunglasses).  I got through lap 5 and got my sunglasses back from my wife (she wasn't running but volunteered to help out with the race and by the end they really needed the help).  The last lap started off with me getting hamstring cramps and it took awhile but I was able to work them out and was able to finish.  I can honestly say the last lap was some of the toughest conditions I have ever run in.  By the end of the race my hands and feet were soaked and numb.  My hands were so numb that I could not turn off my Garmin until I had changed and was on the way back to the boat.

As soon as you finished the volunteers would get you out of your shoes and into your wet skin (basically a waterproof parka) and boots because you had to get on a zodiac (inflatable boat with a rigid bottom) to get back to the boat.  The wind had picked up so much the waves were getting pretty high but I got back where more volunteers helped you into the boat and your cabin (I stood in the shower for 20+ minutes trying to thaw my hands and feet). 

Early in the race (I know this because I am still smiling)

 

Later in the race

Finish line (I am just glad to be done here)

During the time all of this was going on the captain of the boat had contacted the race director and said the waves were getting too high and people had to get back to the boat because it kept getting windier (we got an estimate of 45 knots which is about 40 mph).  The race director called the race because he was legitimately worried about people getting hypothermia and in the end he has to answer to the boat captain. There were some marathoners on our boat that they would not let finish and they were upset (understandable, some could have continued, others it was for their own good).   Some of the people who didn't finish were after their 7th continent (running a marathon on all 7 continents).

In the confusion of the the horrible weather there was nobody counting the last laps for the race because they pulled the volunteers and race people from the course.  There were several runners who claimed to have finished and it turns out they did not.  The race officials looked into this afterwords and figured out they had given some age group awards to people who did not even run 6 laps. It had to be embarrassing to the race organizers (Marathon Tours & Travel) that during the awards ceremony they tried to award 1st place in the female 60-69 age group to an incredible woman I met named Kathy (an article about her:  http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20160315/peorian-kathy-jones-runs-marathon-on-her-seventh-continent ) who stood up and said "That isn't right I didn't finish".  There were others that did not have as much integrity and accepted awards even they they didn't tun the full distance.  I guess I always expect a bit more out of runners because most are good people. In the end I believe the race officials did correct the situation somehow because on unofficial results we had 127 finishers between both boats and later the official results had 124 finishers.

Pros
If you like nature and want a tough challenge this is an awesome experience!
It is a long trip (15 days) but to me it was worth it.

Cons
They need to tighten up the race to prevent the people claiming to finish when they did not.
If you are prone to seasickness you are going to hate the 2 days on the way there and back on a boat through the Drake Passage.  It is extremely rough waters and things fly off of tables all the time as you are making the trip.



The race is only part of the story, the rest of the time we were off on zodiac excursions to various islands and the continent itself.



The rest of the trip in pictures

Penguins and seals

Chinstrap penguin

In front of penguin colony

This one came right up to me and pecked on my boot

Fur seal - don't let the look fool you the adults can be aggressive and chase you and they move pretty fast on land!

Fur Seals - the aggressive ones will chase you but if you turn and yell at them they usually stop

If you sit still long enough penguins will even come sit on top of you while checking you out.

Glaciers and iceberg formations

A seal hanging out on a floating iceberg

Neat looking iceberg

Yes it is very clean ice, people picked up ice chunks and used it to make drinks in the bar on the boat.

A hike to overlook a glacier

Polar Plunge

Some of us did the ultimate polar plunge by jumping off a rock on the continent into the water.  The hardest part was getting out of the water because the rocks were slippery. Then you had to dry off and put your clothes back so on before you took a zodiac to get back to the boat.