Warm DRY clothes. Hot SALTY Cup o’ Noodles; Ramen never tasted sooo good. Huddled an hour with Support Staff inside our Prep tent, before joining Lin for her final 2 short laps. Lady ran in SLEET last year, day’s multiple White Continent finisher. STRONG!
3 to a tent (Antarctica on a Budget). Overnight’d with 2 other Americans, Jeff & Dave. Quiet, respectful, neither snored & THIN. Three guys sharin’ a two-man tent; body size is KEY. We could maximize space (they decided): 2 campers positioned north-south, 3rd runner sleeping opposite direction. Yep, middle passenger. Short straw drawn.
Head at the open flap (tent/broken zipper). Wore EVERY piece of dry clothing packed. Those items I couldn’t physically peel on, I tucked over my head.
Grumble, grumble? long rambling rant? Heck no. I’m SNOW CAMPING in ANTARCTICA. Unbelievable. No words BIG ENOUGH for this life-imprint.
PRECIP blew in after midnite. Half-asleep, remember our flap blowing wildly & what I thought was rain. One eye open, wrapped a shoe ‘round the whipping tent appendage (quick MacGyver fix), shook the snow off my head-covers. FULL Antarctica EXPERIENCE! Cold, SUPER TIRED. Why the heck did my tent mate need a light?! Notta flashlight.
3 A.M. ☼ DAYBREAK. Tap tap tap of sleet, Antarctic summer wonderland.
Good a time as any for a ‘white pot’ moment. Urine emptied into the appropriate can (full-on glamping folks/no hand sanitizer either/don’t be jealous). Staggered back to my sleep mat. Zipped in/secure, DRY belongings piled high, cat-napped 2 hours more.
CAMP frosted white, morning in Antarctica.
Generator blaring, strong smell of petrol. Breakfast brewing. Opted for a walk-about (‘nuff Ramen yesterday).
More than I could have ever imagined. And C-O-L-D ❄️🐧❤️
-
- CAMP overlook
-
- 3 strangers; two-man tent
-
- 2 hours nightfall
-
- SNOW camping ❄️
-
- DAYBREAK
-
- 3 A.M. ☼
-
- White Continent morn
-
- Antarctica SUMMER
Antarctica CAMP
Deplane, hike, set-up camp – and MARATHON. All within an hour-half window, 30 minutes behind our RD’s intention. He also needed to measure an alternate course, assuring 62 runners who started White Continent would complete their intended distances.
Last January, registered for the event’s 50K. Had only completed 6 ultra runs IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. So why here, why Antarctica? Too many stories from runners past of events that measured short – Alaska 3 years ago, Reykjavik August 2018. Antarctica would be a one-n-done travel destination. Not arriving home to find I’d missed my bottom-of-the-World marathon by a tenth or two-tenths a mile. All in today. 50K.
No water bottles, no electrolytes, no worry. Hydration vest ready. What I did need? A urinal. 8 miles into today’s run, begged a paper cup outta Support Staff. Filled it twice, diligently emptied both times into the community O’rine can. Notta best case but did my eco- part. Bit jealous of our chinstrap spectators – never saw them use the community can.
Half-marathon, marathon, 50K. 9 laps plus two short loops to the Chinese Research Station. Last minute instructions re: today’s impromptu course. Lined up, ready – FLOOD of pics. 60 Antarctica dreams realized. Chilly/ready to run, but no begrudging runners their Start photos – marathoning bottom of the GLOBE, epic.
75 minutes ago, I was backpacking clothes & sleep essentials. No chance to mentally psych myself out. NO idea what internal clock my body was running. Garmin said I pushed forward 4 hours, iPhone still read Chilean time. Either way, generous time cutoff – finish before midnite Cinderella, start of the Island’s 2 hours nightfall. TWO hours, that’s it (almost never summer-dark), white dusky overcast the other 22. (Aside from toileting) most difficult aspect of camping. Messes with your biorhythm/inner gut, the lack of darkness.
Race Start. Went out fast, no surprise there. Settled in after finally thankfully emptying my bladder (quick paper cup aim & disposal). Would get a chance to complete the task 4 miles later in our proper piss pot. Blog preview: NEVER used the black pot. NEVER more than the Ramen provided at tonite’s finish. NO way, NOT happening, NO way – beware the black pot with a bag! Ick.
Couple inclines to Bellinghausen (Russian Station), one BIG hill. Course reverse back to Camp, flat mile to China’s Great Wall Station AND repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Lotta laps. Generally notta FAN. Today, LOVE LOVED seeing my RUN FAMILY. iPod shuffle stuck on John Denver. 15 songs over ‘n over ‘n over (sad but true). Dropped the buds 18 miles in, downed a peach (Punta mercado import), then kicked it STEADY.
Loose rock, snow melt on the flats, still maintained a 10 min/pace. Power walked UP all hills after lap 2. Not a lazy meander – arms pumping, UP with purpose. Colorado trail ran the path back to Camp. Fast fly. Worst I could do is FALL HARD. Trail miracle – no scraps, no blood, no bruises. Not my norm – top 10 clumsy, generally wear a lotta dirt.
Stayed just ahead of Seth, ‘nother American Maniac. Push, push, push. Guy NEVER stops. Lack of aid stations. No GU, no electrolytes. Cold & hilly. My kind of race – where ‘back of the pack’ runners who NEVER time-benefit from race fuel, we SUCCEED. Only marathon win EVER, during a blizzard (Jan 2016). Fitting I’d finish 2nd in Antarctica.
Upbeat, high five attitude. Didn’t mentally go dark ‘til the 2 short laps at the end. 50K winner Silviu stayed & encouraged (waved his Romanian flag); my White Continent bestie, Katya ran alongside/paced the final mile. Thanks friend 🙂
6-hour FINISH, sixth continent COMPLETED. My 2nd best ultra, a 2nd place FINISH.
Hung around & walked-in Lin, nite’s 50K women’s winner. Folks were there for me – LOVE passed forward.
Special THANKS to my tent mate Jeff. I finished super cold/physically shaking. Couldn’t hold my hot Ramen reward. Dude helped me strip down, handover fresh DRY clothes. Lot to ask of a complete stranger. Super appreciative, thanks man.
Marathon finished, strike that. ULTRA-marathon’d Antarctica tonite. Absolutely ANYTHING is POSSIBLE!
White Continent 50k, Marathon & 1/2 Marathon®
King George Island, AntarcticaJanuary 15, 2019
Place Finisher City/State Country Event Time
M1 Silviu Ursu, Iasi Romania 50 Kilometers 5:33:32
M2 Keenan Haga, Louisville, CO U.S.A. 50 Kilometers 6:06:39
M3 Seth Kramer, Wilton Manors, FL U.S.A. 50 Kilometers 6:23:03
-
- White Continent SMILES
-
- push, PUSH, push
-
- mercado import – YUM!
-
- Bellinghausen (Russia)
-
- Great Wall Station
-
- chinstrap SPECTATORS
-
- one to GO
-
- D-O-N-E
-
- post-race CONGRATS
-
- 6th continent SUCCESS!
-
- bottom of the World
-
- 2nd place FINISH
So remote, so FAN-TAS-TICAL, a modern day Jules Verne novella – HELLO from the bottom of the World 😊
Two days past I boated open-water & ranger-walked a Chilean penguin reserve. Today, chinstrap penguins observed ME – a trail of foreign runners trekking to a makeshift camp two miles distance. Beyond my wildest dreams. I was here.
Diego de Almagro hotel lobby. One carry-on, one checked bag. ‘do not Disturb‘ tagged my door, room rented for a week. Sixty+ on-time travelers, ready/all accounted for.
Passports collected, boarding passes distributed, every seat sold. Solid buzz of timber. Voice arcs of language, loud laughter, buzz-buzz-buzz. No ONE dominate conversation, a happy mix of shares. ANTARCTICA DREAM realized – multiplied 60.
3 hour flight. Cloud cover obscured all window-touristing. Propeller buzz, the new constant. Static comforting drone of sound. Lost in individual thought, wrapped inside our own Private Idaho. Quiet anticipation. 20 minutes out, descending. Hum change.
Ocean, white caps. First LOOK. NO, not white caps – ICEBERGS.
Snow scattered LAND below. Holy moly – WOW WOW WOW! First PASS. Plane tipped left, UP, circled twice. Now confidentially approaching, 2nd descent. Peninsula littered with Research Modulars painted red – Russia, Chile, Korea, China.
Close, close, closer…TOUCHDOWN. CHEERS from the Team. Job WELL done.
Imminent immediate Photo Tourette’s. You know, same pic 20x – absolutely no difference. Can’t be helped. Sensory overwhelm.
Disembark. Bag retrieval. Two-mile hike to camp, three groups of 20.
barren, LUNAR…
& PENGUINS. Welcome to Antarctica! 🐧❄️❤️
KGI (Isla Rey Jorge) Webcam: https://www.aipchile.gob.cl/camara_ubicacion/show/designador/SCRM
-
- Antarctic Airways 🙂
-
- driest, windiest & highest continent of the PLANET
-
- ICEBERG approach
-
- TOUCHDOWN
-
- ecosystem requirement
-
- White Continent selfie
-
- 2 mile hike to Camp
-
- 7495 miles from HOME
-
- chinstrap penguins
-
- pitching Camp
-
- 50K Start, 30 minutes
Antarctica TOUCHDOWN
