My Blog

Today, we had the normal drill of waking up, sticking a swab up our nose, then eating breakfast.  If our captain took us to the correct spot, we would arrive at Deception Island today, doing a landing, then going to Half Moon Island in the afternoon.

The captain delivered on his navigation skills and we approached Deception Island later in the morning.  Deception Island is an active volcano, which last erupted in 1970, and it does so about every 50 years.  That means that an eruption is due ANY TIME NOW.  Hopefully, it will hold off until we are done playing.  The island is about 9 miles wide, has formed a caldera, and is the only volcano in the world that you can sail into.  There is only one way to get into the caldera (Whaler’s Bay), which is through Neptune’s Bellows.

As we approached Neptune Bellows, everybody went outside to get pictures of the stunning views.  Soon we were in Whaler’s Bay and anchored outside an abandoned British whaling station.

The staff started to call everybody by their color group to go to the mudroom and prepare for the landing.  I was called, got dressed up, boarded the zodiac, and was off to the beach. It sounds weird calling our landing places “beaches” because I don’t know about you, but I think of a Bahamas kind of weather when I think “beach”.

When we landed, I noticed a few things.  The first was that the water was not as deep as the other landings we did.  The second was that the rocks were much finer here than on other beaches.  Lastly, if you looked across the beach, you could see infrared/heat waves rising from the ground.  I suppose this was to be expected as we were standing on an active volcano!

A guide met us as we disembarked from the zodiac and gave us one of two options.  We could go left with a guide to the abandoned British whaling station, or we could venture out on our own to the right where there were a few Norwegian ruins.  Left looked quite a bit more interesting, so off with guide David I went.

[[Picture of Antarctica fur seal]]

As we walked toward the ruins, I spied a couple of Antarctic fur seals lounging on the heated beach rocks.  They looked very content and really paid no attention to us as we marched by them in awe.  As we neared the dilapidated structures, David pointed out furnaces where the whale blubber was processed, tanks where the processed blubber was stored, the office building where all of the accounting took place, and an old airplane hangar.  The hangar was quite large.  He explained that there was a dirt airstrip off in the distance that was used for information-gathering flights over the mainland.

After getting pictures of the airplane hangar, we walked up to the summit of a large lava flow.  It was about half a mile long and it was quite narrow and steep.  Once at the top, the views were incredible!  After hanging out there in the wind for a little bit, I descended and started walking back to the zodiacs.  Which brings me to another sub-plot I have not been telling you about. . .

Antarctica POLAR PLUNGE

Jeff Adams is a little bit competitive.  The first boat running of the marathon had 102 runners partake in a polar plunge.  Make no mistake about it, Jeff wanted to beat them and encouraged EVERYBODY to do it so that we would have bragging rights.  We had to sign a waiver to do the plunge, but nobody had ever been hurt in the process.  I took one and intended to do the plunge.  However, when I got up this morning, I was not feeling it.  We were supposed to wear a swimsuit under whatever clothes we wore for the landing.  At the end of the landing, you would undress to your swimsuit, do the polar plunge, dry off with a towel, and then be taken back to the ship IMMEDIATELY.  Since I was not feeling it, I did not put on my swimsuit and I just wore my regular running tights (much like spandex/compression shorts, but they go all the way down to my ankles).

As I descended from the summit of the lava flow, I have to admit – I was having remorse at wearing my swimsuit or bringing the waiver.  I was TOTALLY feeling left out.  I walked back to where the zodiacs were taking people back to the ship.  I decided to walk over to the polar plunging people to root people on.  Several of my newfound friends asked me if I was going in.  Dejectedly, I told them that I did not bring my waiver.  They all expressed their disappointment, and my remorse level went through the roof.  I saw Paul, and he asked if I was doing the plunge.  I told him that I did not bring my waiver.  He smiled and said, “That’s alright, we have extras just for people like you.  Just go see Karen over there and she will take care of you.”

Joy ran through my body, and I think I actually RAN to her to get signed up.  I did not have a swimsuit, but I would pull my tights up to my thighs and plunge that way!  I was ecstatic as were all my friends.  I took all of my clothes off (save for the tights) and up to the water I went.  off I went.  The only requirement for a polar plunge is that you had to get your hair wet.  I ran into the 35-degree water expecting the worst.  As the water got up to my shins, I said to myself, this is COLD!  When the water got up to my knees, I just dove in.  I remember hitting the bottom with my chest/stomach and I swam a few seconds underwater, then popped back up.  “That was not TOO bad”, I thought.  I was SO excited to have just done a polar plunge – in ANTARCTICA!  Talk about some major bragging rights 🙂  I got out of the water and got my picture taken with an Antarctica Marathon finisher medal.  The wind was blowing somewhat, so I grabbed a towel.  Once I was dried off, the temperature was not actually that bad.  I kind of stood there enjoying the breeze and thinking how “nice” out it was.  I definitely overhyped the plunge in my mind.

As soon as I got reclothed, a seal actually swam out of the ocean, stood on the beach, and watched us.  He looked bewildered as to why we would be going INTO the water and not staying out of it.  He would hop several steps, and look at us again.  Perhaps he wanted to join the party.  Here he is observing us.

[[Pic/Video of seal watching on polar plunge]]

When it was all said and done, we had 109 people do the polar plunge!  We beat the first boat!

Half Moon Island

Back on the ship, we set course for Half Moon Island and had lunch.  Half Moon Island has a colony of chinstrap penguins and many seals.  I was excited about this because I had only seen one chinstrap penguin this far in our journey.

Not long after lunch, we were called to the mudroom to prepare for the landing at Half Moon Island.  When I landed, I noticed there were five fur seals, a bunch of chinstrap penguins, and a boat that was abandoned in 1968).  It was a pretty cool sight with all three things in one frame.

I made my way to the chinstrap penguin colony and got some good pictures and videos.  Chinstraps are closely related to gentoo penguins and often live together.  After getting pictures/videos, I walked along the beach toward the rendezvous point.  There were a bunch of adolescent fur seals chillaxing on the beach.  They played a little bit.

I made my way SLOWLY back to the zodiac because I knew that this was my last adventure on any kind of land in Antarctica.  I took it all in and sadly boarded the zodiac.

 

After Cierva Cove we set course for an overnight ride to Neko Harbor (pronounced:  KNEE-co).  There are no actual harbors in Antarctica, but there are many places that are named “harbor”.  I do not get this, other than perhaps, it is easy to land there.

I awoke at 6:30 am for our daily COVID tests.  All passengers and staff were negative, however, three crew members tested positive.  They were quarantined on the ship and we continued our business.

I had the daily breakfast, and at 8:30 my group was called to the mudroom for our next expedition.  I packed up my Antarctica Marathon medal, GoPro, phone, and made my way to the mudroom.  We were at Neko Harbor to visit a gentoo penguin colony on MAINLAND Antarctica!  We are not dealing with any small-talk island in the South Shetland Islands, but MAINLAND Antarctica!  I was getting goosebumps.

I boarded the zodiac, and we were swept off to the mainland.  Upon arrival, I noticed the foul stench emanating from the island.  It was penguin poo, and it was pretty rank.  The second thing I noticed was that there was a pretty large and steep “mountain”.  There were penguins all the way at the top.  “How the heck do penguins climb mountains?” I thought.

I disembarked the zodiac, started the GoPro, and followed the crowd of people.  On the ship, we were educated on penguin highways and that they use them to go get from one place to another.  They can be quite deep because as the snow falls and the penguins continue to use the highway, the snow gets packed down.  When crossing a penguin highway, you must look to ensure that there are no penguins coming up OR down.  Penguins have no natural predators on land (far from the reality in the water), so they are not afraid of humans.  They are curious little ones and will walk right by you and not even think twice.  The number one rule when in Antarctica is that we are in THEIR home, and they have the right of way.  You must stay about 15 feet away from them, and if they are on a course to cross your path, you MUST STOP and let them do their thing.  If they go around you, then let them.  If they hop next to you, you let them hop next to you.  Do not make any sudden moves to frighten them and all is good.

I saw people walking up the backside of the mountain, so I started to slowly make my way over there.  Twice, I was stopped by a gentoo penguin crossing my path.  I got a cool video of this penguin crossing my path and I had to wait for it to pass by.  There seemed to be quite a few penguins here.  Currently, Antarctica is in the late summer, and you can see penguins in all stages of growth:  Eggs not yet hatched, newborns, adolescents, and penguins molting.

As I walked up the backside of the mountain, I could hear what sounded like a low-flying airplane (or a freight train).  I heard this several times, looked skyward, but never saw anything.  Finally, I got the idea that it might be the sound of the ice breaking/cracking on the glaciers.  I asked one of the guides, and they confirmed my suspicion.  I saw two small avalanches in the distance and a glacier calving a bunch of ice into the open sea.

I continued up the hill and was at the top in short order.  I stood there and took everything in.  To my left was the harbor and the Ocean Victory (with glacier-covered mountains in the background), straight in front of me was a gentoo penguin colony, and to my right was a massive glacier hanging over the ocean.  I pondered just how I was going to describe this to everybody at home.  The result was that there were no words to describe it – you MUST experience it for yourself, and that is the honest truth.

 

I took out my medal and asked Liz to take my picture in front of the penguins.  She screamed and said, “You actually brought your medal?  What a GREAT idea!”  She gladly took my picture and then asked if she could borrow my medal for a picture.  Of course, I did, and I took some pictures of her.  At this point, EVERYBODY wanted to borrow my medal for a similar pose/shot.  People were offering to pay me to use the medal, but I told them just to pay it forward and do a good deed for somebody.  One lady offered to buy me how many ever drinks I wanted back on the ship.  I told her that I was a cheap date and that all I drank was water.

After spending what seemed like an eternity at the top, I made my way back down, only to be stopped by three more penguin crossings.  I made my way back to awaiting zodiac.  Before going back to the ship, we went for a small ride out in the harbor, where we saw a crabeater seal chillaxing on an ice floe.  A minke and humpback whale also surfaced.  That led to the question, “how deep is the water right here”.  The guide said it was about 300 meters deep, even though we were not too far from land!

After our small zodiac tour, we were taken back to the ship, where I went up to the 8th-floor observation deck and saw several more humpback whale surfacings.

Lunch on this day was going to be a BBQ on the deck.  However, katabatic winds swept in and the winds went from 8mph to 70mph in a mere 90 seconds!  I have NEVER seen anything like this.  One minute I was standing on the deck watching for whales, and LITERALLY the next minute I was fighting to stand on my feet!  WOW!  The outside BBQ was canceled and we ate inside.

We departed Neko Harbor and set course for Cuverville Island.  Cuverville hosts a very large gentoo penguin colony with 4500 pairs of breeding penguins.  9000+ penguins in one spot!  This should be pretty wild.  We arrived there a few hours later, but the katabatic winds were still whipping at 70mph, so there was no opportunity to make a landing.  BOOOOOOO!

The captain plotted a course for Deception Island.  I sat in the library and read my new book String Theory for Dummies.

After dinner, my new friend Bai and I played cards in the 8th-floor observation deck.  We are both very interested in astronomy and we both wanted to see the southern sky.  We planned to stay up to see what time it got dark.  We played crazy 8s until about 11:30 pm when all of a sudden the winds picked back up.  The 8th-floor observation deck has a bar (although it was unattended).  Throughout the evening, people put their empty coffee cups and wine glasses on the bar.  When 70 mph winds pick and rock the ship violently back and forth, guess what happens?  You guessed it!  The observation deck resembled a yard sale with all kinds of broken glass.  Bai and I left and told reception of the problems they had upstairs.  They said they would send somebody to clean it up.

I retired to my cabin where Tom was lying in bed.  We went to bed, but the ship was rocking pretty badly.  At one point, Tom was thrown off his bed and into the wall!  Luckily he was alright and had no injuries.  Most people did not sleep well that night.  Me?  Well, I just shut my eyes and went to sleep despite the rocking.  The next morning, Tom said that he was up all night and could not understand how I could sleep through such a terrible thing!

 

I woke up this morning and had no idea what time it was.  For some reason, my cell phone, computer, and Garmin GPS watch all had different times.  The cell phone uses the time of whatever signal it picks up, and all of the research bases use the time of their homeland.  Since there was a Chinese signal at King George Island, my cell phone put me on China time.  As for the Garmin, it was trying to keep be on the appropriate timezone, but since longitude lines get closer down here, I think it was having trouble determining exactly what timezone it was in.  The laptop?  Who knows!

Unable to sleep, I went up on the deck to whale watch.  The first thing that I noticed was the sheer number of icebergs/ice floes.  There were small ones the size of basketballs and there were ones that were the size of small buildings – and remember, you cannot see most of an iceberg as it is submerged underwater.  I saw some penguins swimming and surfacing on the water, but no whales.

Soon, it was COVID testing and breakfast time.  As I finished my test and walked around the corner, I heard a commotion back at the testing station.  Apparently, some person was upset at having to take a COVID test every day.  The person swore at one of the sample collectors.  Nadine, the director of testing, got on the intercom and scolded everybody (it was MEANT for this one person, but she had to deliver it in a general way).  They are just doing their jobs, why do you have to vent on them?  Most cruises (and almost everything to Antarctica) have been canceled; you should feel lucky to be here.  Anyway, all of the tests were negative!

For our morning excursion, we were slated to go to Mikkelson Harbor on Trinity Island.  However, due to the high winds that we were experiencing, the captain pulled the plug on this expedition.  We were supposed to see Gentoo penguins and Weddell seals.  I was disappointed, along with everybody else, because penguins were the main attraction.  We set course for our second stop of the day, Cierva Cove.  I settled into the library to hang out and read my new book “String Theory for Dummies“.  I talked shop (and about the marathon of course) to just about everybody.

Soon, it was lunchtime.  My cabin mate, Tom, was dining with Linda, who was in the cabin across from us.  I wandered to an unoccupied table in front of a window.  I ate by myself, reflecting on everything.  I peered out and looked at an ice floe off in the distance that had a dark spot on it.  I watched it like a hawk, wondering if that was a seal.  After a while, I saw it move and it was indeed a seal!  It was too far away to figure out what kind, but it was definitely a seal.

We arrived at Cierva Cove, but there was no planned landing.  We were going to take a 90-minute zodiac cruise around the bay.  For whatever reason, I was the last person to board a zodiac.  Earlier in the day, we were given a fun presentation about superstitions while on a ship.  Three of them were:

1. Women on a ship are bad luck
2. Red-headed people on a ship are bad luck
3. People with tattoos bring good luck

On this zodiac were five women (one of whom had very red hair) and two men (plus a male driver and a male guide).  I promptly pointed this out and one of the women, Liz, spoke up and said that tattoos were good luck and that she was covered in them.  Hmmm, now sure how this will all shake out, but I was willing to wait and see.

We set out, and again, I noticed how much ice was floating in the water.  Thousands upon thousands of ice floes.  We made our way to the largest iceberg that had a circular cutout.  I am not sure what geological processes were at work there, but it was beyond cool.  The ice was blue and it was beautiful.  I asked the zodiac driver if he could drive through it.  David, our Scottish guide, scolded me and said that he did not need any encouragement and would probably do so if encouraged.

After taking bunches of pictures of that iceberg, we made our way to the Argentine Primavera Base.  Up to this point, we had not seen any penguins close up, but there were hundreds of them around the base.  I spotted mostly gentoo penguins, but also saw a chinstrap or two.  At one point, I got a video of some penguins jumping into the water, then 30 seconds later (I do not know if it was the same bunch), got a video of them popping out.  It was pretty cool as they swam through the water and popped upright on their feet on land.  When they landed, they waddled around.

A call came over the radio that our driver took interest in. He pulled back from Base Primavera and drove the zodiac with a purpose.  About ten minutes later, we arrived at a spot where a leopard seal was splashing in the water.  Quickly, we noticed that he had a penguin and was preparing it for dinner.  The penguin was not quite dead but had very little energy left.  The seal kept throwing the penguin in the air and letting it hit the water.  He would also grab the penguin and smack it on the water with quite a bit of force.  Over the next 10 minutes, he would repeat these actions, and he even chased us three times because he felt we were getting too close.

When you are out on a zodiac, you sit on the inflated edge and put your feet onto the floor of the boat.  Each time the seal charged us, David made us get off the side and sit on the floor, while not dangling any hands or arms over the side.  In his words, he did not want to give the leopard seal any reason to attack us.  At some point, the seal grabbed the penguin in his mouth and chomped him.  You could see the water turn red and run down the seal’s face.  About a minute later, you could smell the blood in the air.  Snow eagles started swirling around the area looking for scraps.  I asked David if he has ever seen this happen in real life.  His response was that in all his years of coming to Antarctica, he has seen this only one time before, and it was from quite a distance.  This was the closest he had ever been to such an event, and we were pretty darn lucky.

When I got back to my cabin, I had asked everybody about their trip.  Numerous zodiacs had not even seen a penguin, let alone a leopard seal taking down a penguin.  The five women, one with red hair, and the woman with tattoos were definitely good luck today!

Well, today is race day.  Nothing has changed in terms of Chinese cooperation, so the route is definitely out to the Uruguayan Artigas Base and back six times.  I put all of my race stuff in my dry pack:  trail shoes, Gu/Cliff shots in the Gu flask, three 32 ounce Nalgene water bottles (64 ounces Gatorade, 32 ounces water), NYC Marathon jacket, GoPro, sunglasses, Geelong Cats hat, and extra beanies.

I made my way to the mudroom to get changed.  I had already put on my snow pants but needed to change into the boots that were given to us for landings.  I got down there, assembled myself, put on my life jacket, and was whisked away to the zodiac.  There were 8 people per trip, and the trip took about 5-7 minutes to get to Bellingshausen Station.

I de-boarded the zodiac and walked up the “beach” to the staging area.  Tarps served as our “changing stations”.   As I got to the tarps, Jeff informed us that we were a little over 10 minutes to race start (12 to be exact).  I hurriedly took off my boots and put on my trail shoes and swapped my nice waterproof parka for my NYC marathon running jacket.  It was lightly raining and I decided that I had to go pee before we started.  We had makeshift “bathrooms” in two tents.  I was instructed that “pee” was on the right, and “poo” was on the left.  I went right and peed into a bucket.

Emerging from the small tent, I grabbed my water bottle and made my way to the start line.  There was absolutely NO support on the course, and if we wanted any fluids, we had to carry them to the water drop station, which was one mile out.  This water bottle had 32 ounces of orange Gatorade.  Wave one consisted of all of the half marathoners and the slower marathoners like myself.  The unofficial cutoff time to be in the first wave was 5 hours.  If you were faster than 5 hours, you were relegated to wave 2.  Jeff gave us one bit of advice and that was to take the first lap slowly to learn what you have to do to navigate the terrain.  Soon, we all joined in the counting down to the start from 15 seconds, and then we were off.  My plan was to GoPro the first lap, do a 4:1 minute walk/run interval, and walk any obnoxious hill (if there were any).  I wanted to finish before the cutoff of 6:30:00.

Lap 1:

So, the absolute FIRST thing that I notices was the mud.  LOTS of mud.  The temperature was about 36 degrees so water is a liquid at that temperature,  Oh. did I mention there was mud?  Check out the picture above.  LOTS of running water and did I mention how much mud there was?

The first half mile was muddy (I think I forgot to say how much mud there was) with a slight incline.  This was nothing too bad, as I had trained for these kinds of hills/inclines in Connecticut.  I was keeping up with the leaders of the slow-wave.  I passed a glacial runoff stream and several areas in the dirt road where large puddles had formed.  “This is not too bad,” I thought.

Apparently, I jinxed myself and upset the running gods because at about 1/2 mile in came one of the steepest hills I have ever had to run up.  I ran for a LITTLE bit, then, like everybody else, decided to walk to the top.  Several minutes later, I was STILL looking for the top.  WTF?  I have to do this hill FIVE more times?  FINALLY, I made it to the top.  My legs were BURNING after WALKING up this hill.  Oi!  What did I get myself into here?  Breathe Bob, breathe.  I took some extra walking time to recoup from that horrible experience.

After I caught my breath and the burning left my legs, it was back to running.  I thought to myself, “Alright, I read about that hill, and that has to be the hardest part.  It should be alright from here out to the turnaround.”  (HAHA!  Little did I know, the torture was JUST starting, and I had NO idea what I was in for).

The next part was more or less flat with mud and puddles to dodge.  Then came a glacial runoff stream that I had to jump over.  It was small, but I was worried about jumping on the last lap.  I walked up another small steep hill, then started running again.

About 0.8 miles in, I approached the lake pictured above.  The runners were all going to where the outlet stream was and jumping over that.  I mused to another runner that I did not realize that I signed up for a triathlon!  After hopping over the stream, I ran on quite a narrow and s;wanted path to get back to the main dirt road.

The next challenge was a fairly wide glacial melt stream.  It was divided into two parts.  The first one was fairly small and easy to jump over.  The main part of the stream was quite wide.  There was no jumping over this one unless you are an Olympic long jumper.  Everybody stopped and surveyed the puzzle at hand.  Some people went upstream.  As for me, there were some rocks sticking up about one hop out.  I jumped there and then planned my next move.  There were no more “dry” spots to be stepped on, so I had to do the next best thing – pick the rocks that were submerged the least!  Two hops and I was through with only minimal water in my shoes – back to the familiar dirt, mud, and puddles.  Up ahead, I spied the water drop.

As I arrived at the drop spot, there was yet another lake to navigate.  I made around it, stopped, and took a big drink.  Right after the water drop was a rather steep hill, but it was pretty short-lived (see picture to the left).  I was getting pretty hot at this point in time and unzipped my outer jacket.  The next section was a small but long uphill.  At this point, I decided that my 4:1 was going out the window.  I had no idea what I was going to do, but the hill placement was NOT cooperating.

The next obstacle was literally a 50-yard mud field with puddles scattered all through it.  Did I actually mistakenly sign up for a Tough Mudder?  I watched the runners in front of me and planned my route from their weaving and bobbing. As I exited the mud field, there was one last thing to navigate in this obstacle-of-the-minute – another glacial melt stream.  I hopped over a small part, then literally had to turn 90 degrees to the left, walk several steps, turn 90 degrees to the right, then navigate some more mud.

Have I mentioned how much mud there is out here?  I think I have forgotten and feel the need to mention it.

The next part of the course was absolutely beautiful.  It was flat with a slight downgrade, so it made for quite an easy run.  It felt like I ran for a good 2 miles, but since the turnaround was one 2.18 miles out, I knew this was a fallacy.  In the distance, I could see the open sea.  The temperature was about 36 degrees and there was little wind.  These conditions were perfect.  With 4 layers on (2 shirts and two jackets), I was getting pretty hot.  As I ran around another glacial lake, it started to rain (just a little bit).  Next up was another uphill with plenty of mud and puddles.  Have I mentioned all of the mud out here?  As I crested THIS hill, the Uruguayan base, Artigas, came into view.  I passed the two-mile marker and knew the turnaround was not too far out.  At this point, the route was pretty exposed and the wind started blowing pretty hard at 40 mph.  I went from being HOT to being chilly in about a minute.

Soon, I was at the turnaround where Paul was directing us over the timing wires and sending us back.

Going back was just doing what I did in reverse.  The wind was still howling and I decided that I should keep my outer NYC marathon jacket on instead of taking it off back at the starting line.  I made my way back to the start and completed the first lap of 4.36 miles in about 57 minutes.  At about 13:05 pace, this was not earth-shattering, but it would get me done in under 6 hours.  However, I knew that my pace would slow down as the race went on.

Lap 2:

Since I have described the course, I will just go over my thoughts from each lap from here onward.

When I got back to the starting line, I put the GoPro in my dry pack and drank some water.  After a 3-4 minute rest, I was back out for the second lap.  My 4:1 walk/run was definitely out.  My strategy was to walk the hills and run the flats and downhills.

As I made my way to Hill From Hell at 1/2 mile, the wind REALLY started to pick up and was sustained at 40 mph.  Luckily though, it was at my back, so it kind of helped push me up the hill.  My legs burnt at the top and I was starting to doubt whether I would be able to finish a half marathon, let alone a full.  I made it out to the Artigas station and made the turnaround.  Now, I had to contend with a 40 mph HEADWIND.  I was not overly cold, but I could feel myself exerting a lot of extra energy.

One neat thing about this race is that you can decide to change distances mid-way through the race.  If you are not feeling like you can finish the full, you are permitted to drop down to the half MID-RACE!  Marathon Tours realizes that this is not an easy course and if you are not prepared for all 26.2, they at least want you to get something for your efforts.  You just have to tell them before you finish the 3rd lap.  Just pull Jeff aside, tell him, and you will be recorded as a half finisher.  Note that you CAN NOT upgrade from the half to full (although I doubt anybody would want to do that).  With that in mind, as I neared the halfway point of the return (mile 7 total, mile 3 on this lap), I seriously contemplated dropping to the half.  I was not feeling a full 26.2.  This was too difficult.

Lap 3:

When I finished lap two, I had to use the “honeypot” as they termed it, except this time, I had to go to the left (see explanation above).  After that, I walked to the start line and took a big drink of water.  I looked outward and thought to myself, “Well, I have to do at least one more lap, let’s do it.”

With 2 laps under my belt, I now had a good feel for the course, what was easy, what was average running, and what made me rethink every decision I have made in my life.  As I was approaching Hill From Hell, I noticed that the wind had gone away.  There was no wind at all and it was relatively mild at about 37 degrees.  My legs still burnt after Hill From Hell, but I noticed that for some reason, I was feeling stronger.  Maybe all those hills that Natalie tortured us with at the Fleet Feet speed/hill workouts were starting to kick in.  In a normal marathon, it takes me about 6 miles to get into a rhythm.  Perhaps I was starting to get into one after about nine miles.

I approached the water drop station and stopped for a drink.  I noticed that I was severely short on Gatorade.  With all of these hills, I was burning through liquid VERY fast.  I dropped my bottle and continued toward the Artigas turnaround.  I made the turn and back toward the start I went.  As I approached the water stop, the decision to do drop to the half or continue with the full started to press down on me.  I drank the rest of my Gatorade.  Either way,  I would have to take this 32-ounce bottle back to the start.  If I continued on with the full, I would grab my second (of three) bottles and bring it back.  Approaching the top of Hill From Hell, I decided that it would be a lot safer to walk down rather than try to do a slow run, so I did that.  I got to the bottom and started running again through all of the mud.  Speaking of mud, have I mentioned that this whole course is covered in mud?  I did not think so. 

At the bottom of the Hill From Hell, the start line was in view.  I had to make a decision and had to make it fast.  The marathon time limit was technically 6:30:00 with a half cutoff time of 3:10:00.  I was pacing for 3:10:00 almost on the nose.

(300 yards from the turnaround) They kept time up to 7:00:00 for marathoners.  If you finished over 7 hours, you got an “FNT”, which stands for Finished, No Time.  I thought I would be able to finish in 6:30, but with a half time of 3:10, I knew that my second half would be slower.  I absolutely DID NOT want an FNT by my name – I wanted a time.

(200 yards from the turnaround) The big question then became, if I continue, can I finish the second half in 3:50 or less.  Now, 3:50 for a half sounds like an insanely easy task, but this is no normal course.

(100 yards from the turnaround) If I continue and do not finish the full, I get a DNF and NO credit for even the half.  PRESSURE PRESSURE.

(50 yards from the turnaround) Looking at my watch, I was at 3:12:00.

(25 yards from the turnaround) The turnaround and start/finish lines were in different places (albeit 10-20 yards apart).  Both had timing wires that we had to run over – the turnarounds were to get your splits, while the start/finish lines were to get just that – the start and finish times. Since I was carrying my empty water bottle, the volunteers assumed that I was running the half.  They were all pointing and yelling at me to go to the finish line NOT the turnaround.

(10 yards from the turnaround) Jeff Adams looked at me and said, “You are right on the nut.  Are you good to go?”

DECISION TIME

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

I rounded the wires at the turnaround, dropped my empty water bottle, picked up my full bottle of Gatorade, looked at Jeff, and said, “My hill training is kicking in.  I am going to do this!” (Thanks Natalie!!!)

Lap 4:

Lap 4 was a blur.  I literally do not remember anything about it.

Lap 5:

As I started lap five, I felt uplifted.  I was over seventeen miles in – 2/3 of the way done.  I only had two more laps to do.  I hesitate to say I was getting stronger, but I definitely was not getting any weaker.  My hill training was carrying me.  The main concern was completing the final two laps and finishing in less than seven hours.

About halfway to the Artigas station, several of us slower runners grouped together.  There John from Indiana, Cat from Seattle, Katrina from St. Louis, and myself from Connecticut.  John greeted every runner he saw running in the opposite direction with, “Looking good!  Keep it up!”  We all bonded instantly and were good friends in this misery that we were experiencing.  I figured we would all run together from this point, but I stuck to my plan, and soon I was in front of all of them.  I kept building up a lead, but John kept catching me (not that I was trying to outdo him).  Since I did not have my camera, I asked John if he would take my picture in front of the 20-mile marker sign that I sponsored.  He said that we would when we got there.

As I approached the Artigas station, I was pulling away from John.  I made the turnaround and was on my way back to the start.  Soon, I was at the 20-mile mark.  I stopped and looked over my shoulder.  John was nowhere to be found – and I did not want to wait for him.  Oh well, the picture could be forgone.  I REALLY wanted to keep pushing with the goal of not getting an FNT.

Soon, I approached the water station, stopped, and rationed the rest of my Gatorade.  One more mile to the start line, and I would be on the last lap.  As I continued my journey back to the start line, I passed my cabin-mate, Tom.  He warned me that the second wave started and we would be running into those runners shortly.  Almost on queue, I started passing runners from the second wave.  I heard one guy complain that he was only running an 8:29 pace at the moment (poor baby 🙂 )  One comical moment came when I got to the top of Hill from Hell.  As I walked down the hill, one lady, who was in the second wave and going UP the hill for the first time, lamented, “What is this hill and why is it so steep?”  I pointed to her and half-jokingly said, “And you have to go up this thing FIVE more times!”  I do not think she was amused.

Lap 6:

I rounded the checkpoint and looked at my watch.  The elapsed time was 5:45 (give or take a few minutes because I did not start my watch on time).  I had about 75 minutes to complete 4.36 miles and avoid an FNT, which is about a 17-minute mile.  Normally, I would laugh at having to complete a distance with a 17 minute per mile pace, but this course was no joke!  This was going to be close.

John had caught back up to me and we were pushing each other.  I ran through all of the mud to the base of Hill from Hell.  I walked up it for the very last time.  My legs burnt so bad as I got to the top. I was sticking to my plan of walking up any hill, running down any hill, and run/walk any relatively flat spot.

John had tracked me down and we were running together once again.  I passed the water stop and drank exactly half of the Gatorade that I had left.  1.18 miles to the turnaround.  I trudged on.  As I approached the 20-mile marker, I asked John to take that picture of me that he promised to get on the last lap.  He objected and said that we were not on mile 20.  I said that I did not care WHEN it was taken, but I wanted a picture of me with the mile marker that I sponsored.  He gave in and took my picture.  We walked/ran to the Artigas turnaround.  Paul congratulated me for a well-run marathon and said to enjoy the last 2.18 miles.  I glanced down at my watch and saw that I had 35-40 minutes to make it to the finish line, which was a 16-minute mile. I was unsure of the exact time because again, I had forgotten to start my watch on time.  I figured it was about 7 minutes.  1.18 miles later, we were at the final water stop and had about 20 minutes to do it!  I was feeling more confident.  I could theoretically walk and make it, but I was not taking any chances.  I continued to walk/run and soon I was at the top of Hill from Hell for the final descent.  I was scared that I might actually fall on the way down because my legs were so tired.  I carefully walked down and then started running again.  John decided to walk a little longer and soon I was in front of him by a good 15-20 seconds.  As I approached the finish line, I could see everybody (all 7) cheering!  I crossed the finish line, and a volunteer put a medal around my neck.  12 seconds later, John finished behind me.

Immediately, I asked Gillian, the official timekeeper, what my finish time was.  She said “six-fifty-two-flat”.  6:52:00!  I have never been so excited to have such a slow marathon in my life!  🙂  I successfully finished without getting an FNT!  Mission accomplished.

Appropriately, there were some penguins on the beach when I finished.  I sat down and a volunteer (who had run the half) helped me get my shoes off and boots on.  He was so helpful, and I appreciated it.  I washed the mud off my shoes in the ocean, boarded the zodiac, and went back to the ship.  I showered, went to dinner, then zonked out – content with my finish and my SIXTH continent completed!

Official race results for both the full and half marathons have been posted on the Marathon Tours website.

 

Today is fairly packed with things to do.  As the Aussies say, “Brekkie” is first, then the daily COVID test.  If everybody tests negative, I think we will be permitted to move around and socialize a bit more.  The seas are fairly calm now with only the occasional shift.  Tom is feeling a TON better.  When breakfast arrived, he attacked it quickly.  I told him that it was good to see him eat!  He is worried about being dehydrated and carbohydrate depleted because he did not eat hardly anything yesterday.

As the mandatory COVID tests started, we were informed that one person was feeling symptoms last night and self-reported to the ship’s doctor.  They were given an additional rapid test, which was positive, and then a PCR test, which confirmed the positive diagnosis.  They are now in quarantine and will be unable to partake in any further activities for the rest of the trip.  I feel so badly for them, but they DEFINITLEY did the right thing by self-reporting instead of jeopardizing the rest of the runners.

After the mandatory COVID tests, we had a meeting about the IAATO protocols of Antarctica.   They include:

1. Stay 15 feet away from wildlife
2. No plastic on land
3. Listen to the tour guides at all times.  They receive orders from the captain.
4. The proper way to get in and out of a zodiac
5. You must clean all of your outerwear, especially pockets and velcro before your first Antarctica landing.  No seeds or dirt should be transported to land (even between islands)
6. Taking anything is forbidden, even rocks

Antarctica is the most pristine environment on earth, and it should be kept that way for all future generations.

After the IAATO meeting, we had a race briefing.  The Chinese have been uncooperative.  They have not returned any calls or emails about whether we can run to the Great Wall Station, so going out there is out.  The Eduardo Frei Montalva Chilean base responded, but they are busy with other things and did not want us to disturb their work.  The Russians and Uruguayans were receptive as always and welcomed us (I wonder if we had to take any vodka 🙂 ).  The course would be from the Russian Bellingshausen Station to the Uruguayan Artigas Base and back six times.  Each loop was 4.36 miles (2.18 out and back) .  There is a 6.5-hour time limit, however, if weather permits, the limit will be extended.  Race times will be kept up to 7 hours.  After that, you get an FNT as a result (Finish, No Time).  If you get an FNT, you still get a medal, finisher certificate, and you still get credit towards your continent (whew).

Lunch was next on the agenda, and I really wanted to start to carb-load.  I had spaghetti carbonara (spaghetti, bacon, cheese, and eggs), Yukon potato salad, a fruit plate, and a brownie.  It was all delicious!

Later that afternoon, we all met for a biosecurity screening.  According to IAATO, we must do everything we can to minimize foreign materials from being transported to Antarctica.  Everybody took their outerwear and vacuumed every pocket, zipper line, and crevice.

We were lifted from quarantine this evening and were able to eat dinner in the Beagle Restaurant.  Everybody was excited because it was our first opportunity to socialize.  Due to COVID, the restaurant could only operate at 50% capacity, and we had to have two sittings.  Mine was at 8 pm.

After dinner, I went to bed (which ended up being around 9:30).  There was a race to be run tomorrow!