Me at the finish line of the Antarctica Marathon! I am holding six fingers up for Continent #6!
Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to go to Antarctica. I never really explored the idea until I started running marathons in 2015. When I decided to try to become a member of the seven continents club, I realized that if I achieve that goal, I would have to travel to the White Continent.
Overall Thoughts
The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that Mother Nature rules down here. You MUST have an open mind and you must go with the flow. If you are a person who likes everything to be structured, you will have a difficult time with this entire trip
Marathon Tours
There are two options for running a marathon in Antarctica: one through Marathon Tours and the Antarctica Ice Marathon. Neither race is cheap by any means, but the Antarctica Ice marathon is significantly more expensive. I had traveled with Marathon Tours on four other occasions (London Marathon, Tokyo Marathon, Berlin Marathon, and the Rio de Janeiro marathon) and have had no issues whatsoever. They do a GREAT job, so I decided to go with them. I signed up after I ran the Tokyo Marathon in 2017 and began my wait. Five years later, I finally made it (the waitlist is typically three years, and the 2020 and 2021 versions of the race were canceled due to COVID). As always, the Marathon Tours staff was superb. This trip was particularly difficult due to all of the uncertainty about traveling internationally with COVID. They communicated EVERYTHING and NAILED every part of the trip. If you are reading this blog post and are wondering whether to use Marathon Tours for ANY trip (not just the Antarctica Marathon), I HIGHLY recommend them (I am not an employee, nor do I get anything for my opinion). Shoot, on the way back, Jeff (the president of the company) shelled out of his own pocket for a guided hiking tour in Tiera del Fuego National Park for the nine people who were not on the charter flight back to Buenos Aires. Talk about a class act. Every trip has been top-notch!
The Ship
We voyaged on the Ocean Victory, which is owned by Albatross Adventures. This ship was commissioned last October, so it has only been voyaging for a few months. It is a smaller cruise ship, supposedly holding about 200 people. Its cabins were VERY spacious and the ship was very clean. The Albatross Adventures staff were extremely friendly and helpful. The food was DELICIOUS and there was a good variety for every meal.
The Antarctica Marathon & Half Marathon
On a typical race day, you would start a Bellingshausen (Russian) station, run to Artigas (Uruguyan) Station, back to Bellingshausen Station (4+ miles), continue past Bellingshausen Station, and out to the Great Wall (Chinese) station. There you would turn around and head back to Bellingshausen Station for one loop of 8+ miles. Repeat this three times and you have your marathon! This year, the Chinese were not receptive to the runners (for whatever reason), so we ended up doing SIX out and back laps between Bellingshausen and Artigas. The half marathon did three laps.
The next thing to be aware of is that there is ABSOLUTELY NO on-course support. Do you want it? Then you have to take it yourself. This includes all energy gels fluids, change of clothes, etc. (more on this in a minute)
Due to international treaties, there can only be 100 people on land at once. The day started with all half marathoners and the slower full marathoners with a projected time of 5 hours 30 minutes or more starting in wave 1. To get to the starting line, you go from your cabin to the mudroom, and change into your waterproof garments, life jacket, rubber boots, gloves, hat, sunglasses, etc. You must carry your running gear in a dry pack. When you have all of your waterproof gear on, you board a zodiac for a 10-minute ride ashore. This is pretty neat in itself. What other race do you have to sail TWO days on a boat, then hop on another zodiac to get to the starting line?
The Couse Setup
Once on shore, you have to change into your race gear. They put down several tarps that you can sit on. Oh, and you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. When I arrived, there was a light rain and a slight breeze (not too bad). They do set up two “honey pots”, which consist of a small standing tent and a camping-style toilet in each one. One was for “poo” and one was for “pee”. You should make every effort to expel any and all waste from your body before you leave the ship. I typically drink about 100 ounces of fluids in a typical marathon. I brought THREE 32 ounce Nalgene bottles (two Gatorade and one water) along with an extra 20-ounce bottle of water. There is a water drop spot 1 mile into the course, so on the first lap, you carry a water bottle and drop it there and you still have fluids at the start line. That way, you never run more than about 2 miles without having access to something to drink.
As for energy gels/food, you must carry your own, however, there is a small twist. You CANNOT bring any plastic wrappers ashore. If you were to drop an empty gu packet and wildlife ate it, the consequences could be catastrophic. I bought two Gu flasks and carried them in my pocket. Each Gu flask held 5 Gu packets. I also brought Cliff Bloks, cut up cliff bars, and put them in my pocket (without any plastic bags or wrappers). The variety worked for me.
The course itself is a dirt road that connects the various research stations. The first half mile (toward Artigas) was a slow gentle uphill. Then we were greeted with one of the steepest hills that I have had to run up – and it was a good 400 meters long. There is one other hill just after the water drop point that might be a little bit steeper, but it is VERY short. Overall, the 2.18 miles out to the Artigas turnaround is fairly hilly. I ran the marathon on Feb 6, 2022, which is their summer. The temperature was 36 on this day, so the entire course was MUD. You will NOT be able to keep the mud off yourself. Be prepared if you run this race and the temperature is above 32 degrees. Lastly, as you approach Artigas, you will have some amazing views and scenery. However, you are fairly exposed and any sort of wind seems to be magnified. On my first two laps, a small squall/front pushed through and we had sustained 40 MPH (75 KPH) winds to navigate. After the first two laps, the wind died and it was very pleasant weather to run in.
My runner-to-runner advice would be to take the first lap slow, learn what you are in for, and plan your next laps accordingly.
This was BY FAR the hardest marathon that I have ever run. I live in Connecticut where there are plenty of hills – and I trained on plenty of them. But I could not have imagined what I was getting myself into.
The cutoff time for the full marathon is 6:30:00. If weather conditions permit, they will extend that time until you finish. On my trip, they gave finishing times up to 7:00:00. After that time, you got an “FNT”, which is “Finished No Time”. If you get an FNT, you still get credit for the race and you still get a finisher medal/certificate. Be warned though, that if the weather conditions deteriorate, they can and will cut the race short. This is NOT the decision of the race director, it is the decision of the ship captain. He has an obligation to ensure everybody’s safety. This scenario happened one year and numerous people were not able to finish the race 🙁
Antarctica
As for Antarctica itself, I was not sure what to expect, but it blew away every expectation I THOUGHT that I MIGHT have. The sheer beauty of Mother Nature and her blue glaciers hanging over the ocean and watching them calve is breathtaking. Seeing seals effortlessly swim through the water and watching them waddle on the beach is amazing. Watching minke and humpback whales crest close to your zodiac is awe-inspiring. Walking on land among the fearless penguins will make you smile. How can it not?
Nobody enjoyed the race, and that evening everybody complained about how difficult it was. However, after we made our first landing to see penguins, I don’t think there was one more word spoken about it. Nature has that effect on you.
Remember, that Mother Nature rules down here. We had to cancel TWO of our excursions due to inclement weather / poor landing conditions. The captain is in charge and passenger safety is paramount.
Where on earth will you ever get to walk on an active volcanic island? Watching a penguin walk in front of you and not being afraid of you is priceless. So is watching a seal pop up from the ocean and walking on the beach while looking at you all curious. The same goes for doing a polar plunge in Antarctica (talk about bragging rights among your friends – people are absolutely floored when I tell them I did that). The scenery is stunning.
There is absolutely NO WAY to describe what it is like to watch penguins 20 feet away from you and have a glacier calving in the background.
It makes you think twice when your Starbucks coffee is wrong.
It is something that you have to experience.
I HIGHLY recommend it.
It is life-changing.
Best of luck if you decide to tackle this race. You will NOT regret it.