And now....The North Pole Marathon

I just got this:

"GREAT NEWS FOR NORTH POLE MARATHONERS - the tractor worked. from the web March29,200 Barneo starts!Ice runway of Barneo airdrome is ready + accepts several technical flights today. First landed on floe at 1 p.m. MST.Construction of camp started immediately + after several hours there was a roomy mess tent built where the team can take a snack and warm themselves during their work.Temperature is -39°C "

Sounds great until the last little sentance.... -39 degrees celsius???? WTH? How can you start a paragraph with "Great News" and end with "Temperature is -39 degrees Celsius"
(for those who don't have their conversion tables handy, -39c is almost the same as -39f. Though something tells me at least 3 of the TrailNerds knew that without me telling them)

So, that's what I have to look forward to. I leave Friday - back the following Friday. In between I will travel from KC to Newark to Oslo, Norway, to Longyearbyen, Norway (an island off the Northern coast) then off to the North Pole itself. Spend one to two days at the pole, run the marathon and return... lather, rinse, repeat.... sounds like fun doesn't it?

Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

Since the pictures are really what everyone wants to see......

That would be a leopard seal getting lunch....

The Humpback whales were friendly
VERY FRIENDLY!

Dinner time for a Gentoo penguin chic

It is called the 'blue' continent - can you see why?

See the part of the iceberg that is under water

The juvenile penguins were very curious

More blue

It was hard to figure out what NOT to take pics of

The icebergs are amazing

A juvenile fur seal showing off for the ladies

The ladies are not interested

The Marathon

The marathon was set for a start of 9am, considering the body was in about three different time zones I did not know if that was a late start or early start. A 9am start meant a 6am wake up call, 6:30 breakfast, first trip ashore at 8:15am. To get from the ship we stayed on to the shore on a normal excursion was a interesting enough process with layers and layers topped with wet gear, life jacket and a bumby open ocean ride; add the fun of gathering your runnig gear...made for a fun and frantic morning.

The pic is right before we headed down the gangway to make the trip to shore. Not your usual running attire. oh yeah, that's my sister with me.

So, down the gangway to the zodiacs, across some choppy ocean with a bit of spray in the face to wake you up and onto shore. (the next pic is an overhead shot of loading a zodiac)

Once on shore it was hurry up and take off the wet gear, the knee high boots, put on the running gear, shoes, etc, pack your waist belt or jacket and get ready to run. The temperature was almost warm - about 32 degrees, but the wind was blowing a bit. 3-2-1 go and the race was on. The course was primarily dirt with patches of snow and a couple trips up a glacier. The warm weather was welcome at first as jackets were unzipped and the worst fears of Antarctica were unfounded. The downside of the warmer weather was that where there would normally be frozen ground, there was mud and muck. the kind that rips the shoes from the feet and saps the energy from the legs. And lots of it.

The course was a double out back x 2. Run from one end where the Argentinian research station was, through the Russian station and to the Chinese station - which to our suprise had set up a water stop. they had water, coke and BEER! Don't ever underestimate the Chinese. They stood outside all day welcoming the runners, offering drinks and posing for pictures. After about an hour into the run it was almost to a point of ditching the jacket, thank god I did not. If you think the weather in the midwest changes fast, try it in Antarctica. The nice warm weather was quickly replaced by 30 mph winds and fog/snow that reduced visibility to 50 feet.

Towards the last part of the marathon I started getting a little light headed from lack of any food/gu/etc and graciously accepted a coke at the Chinese station (and some beer of course) The cold was starting to get into me and I was having a hard time keeping the hands warm. I walked the uphills - did I mention there really is no flat part of the entire course? Yeah, failed to mention that - and ruan the downs. Alas the finish, i was closer than I thought but with the visibility i had no idea where I was on the course. Finished in 5:01:43....two minutes slowwer than last time, but I'm six years older, so I'll take it.
I had left my sister about an hour into the run, but had seen her several times and she was doing great. She came in about 43 minutes behind me. Like a good brother I waited. Froze my a..... off, but it was great to see her finish.
Afterwards, no chute to go through, no blanket, no food. Strip off the running gear, put on the other clothes, on with the wet gear, the boots, the life jackets, etc.... take a nice 1/4 stroll to the beach, get in the zodiacs, off the ship, up the gangway (ouch) scrub the boots in case of anything that might have gotten on the boots, off with the boots, wet gear, lifejackets, down the hall, into the shower....

Home Sweet Home....for 16 days.

I made it back to Kansas City after a marathon of travel so to speak. The boat made the turn away from Antarctica at 5:30pm Saturday, March 14 and headed for Cape Horn at the tip of South America. We arrived in port around 6am on Monday, March 16 after 36 hours of pretty rough water with some ghale force winds. Debarking from the ship at 8:30am, I started the last four legs of the journey home. From the port town of Ushuaia, Argentina a three hour flight to Buenos Aires. Four hour layover and then to Miami, Florida. Three hours in Miami and then off to Dallas. Three more hours in Dallas and then finally home to Kansas City at 2:35pm. Just short of 36 hours from leaving the ship to being home - the clothes I was wearing started to show/smell a bit of the travel. But it was worth it.

The trip to Antarctica is like no other. A once in a lifetime trip most say; so I did it twice.

At the reception dinner in Buenos Aires, the owner of Marathon Tours tells all in attendance that the marathon is just a very small part of the whole trip. Most laughed this off as nonsense as the marathon WAS the reason for the trip. At the end, I would be willing to bet 99% of those who made the journey would agree with him. While the marathon was the reason for the trip, it paled in comparison to everything else. maybe because running a marathon was the only familiar thing for us. We knew what to do, how to do it and somewhat of what to expect. Sure the terrain and conditions may be different, but the objective was the same. As for the rest of the trip - everything was different. How do you prepare for living on a very small ship for 10 days? Not a cruise ship, but a Russian scientific research vessel not designed for luxury. How do you prepare for twice-a-day calls to suit up in three layers of warm clothes covered by waterproof clothes, knee high rubber boots, life jackets, backpacks, etc...then down the gangway to an awaiting zodiac (rubber boat with motor) and off to play with the whales or onto land to play with thousands of penguins? And what do you take pictures of? What don't you take pictures of? Every second of everyday is worth taking a picture. The whole trip was one big photo-moment. It's hard to explain.

whew - gonna take a breather and post some pics. More later.

I survived phase 1

Well, I survived the marathon. Two minutes slower than last time, but I didn´t train well, so I am ok with that. More mud than snow, quicksand to be more exact, sucked shoes right off the feet. The rest of the trip was amazing as predicted. Penguins, seals, whale and beautiful ice.
More to follow when I get to the states.

Bob

Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina!

I love this city. This is my third time down here and I enjoy it more everytime. The people, the food, (the wine) and the laid back feeling are wonderful. If anyone ever gets the chance and wants a great vacation spot, even for a short trip - I recommend Buenos Aires.

The group for the first ship left this morning. They will e a day ahead of us the whole trip. We will meet up on race day and then two days later for a BBQ and awards. We leave at 4am Saturday morning (1am KC time)

We found out that the race almost didn't happen. As late as last Friday, all the countries involved on the course, had not signed off on the marathon. A lot of politics and posturing went on this year to be able to hold the race. I feel soon that they will be unable to have the marathon in the same place they have had it for years.

Not much to post or to follow yet; and when I am on the ship there is no communication so there will be no posting. But I will be back with pics and stories.

Enjoy the weekend!!!

-Bob

It starts tomorrow

Time is up - time to leave (almost)

6:00am flight tomorrow morning is gonna come really quick and early. Up at 4am, to the airport around 5am and on the plane at 6am. From KC - Dallas - Miami - Buenos Aires...2 days in Buenos Aires and then fly to Ushuaia and then onto the ship..... whew.