The North Pole Marathon is listed in the Guinness World Records as the northernmost marathon in the world.
In 2011, it gathered 26 participants bundled up from head to toe, who had the courage to embark on this extraordinary adventure, as well as the money, since if you want to participate, the registration will cost you about €12,000.
People from all countries around the world are invited. Although a minimum of training is necessary, there's no need to have run a marathon before, nor to have experienced extreme weather conditions.
A bit of history:
The first edition of this extreme race took place in 2002, when a runner named Richard Donovan decided to undertake this endeavour... alone! This Irishman is fearless as this isn't his only feat: in 2009, he ran 7 marathons on 7 continents, all within 6 days for a humanitarian cause.
In 2003, word of a marathon at the North Pole had spread, which gathered 10 people.
Since then, the event has been repeated each year with an increasing number of participants, and Richard Donovan as race director. The 2012 North Pole Marathon will therefore be the 11th edition. So far, 215 people from 34 different countries have undertaken this challenge since its creation.
The race:
Just over 42 km to cover, in extreme temperatures that largely depend on the weather conditions on the day. They can vary, but generally hover around -25°C to -30°C. In the race's history, the coldest temperature was recorded in 2009 at -37°C!
The most astonishing thing is that this race takes place on frozen water. There is no land, just a marked path on a large ice floe, where a camp is established that drifts with the ocean currents.
Throughout the race, this piece of ice will move in a translational motion, impossible to notice for the extreme runners, who are completely safe during the entire adventure.
Doctors are of course present on site, along with heated tents placed at regular intervals along the route and armed operators who keep watch for polar bears. These precautions are more preventive than anything else, as to date, no major incidents have occurred during the race, nor any polar bears.
We remain impressed nonetheless, as much by the merit of these extreme runners as by the poetry of the concept and the beauty of these northern landscapes.
A wonderful story that will leave participants with the unforgettable memory of an extreme adventure, the kind of thing one would love to tell their grandchildren!
And if you too have a great story to tell, share it with the Yumping community!
