Posts Tagged ‘extreme marathons’

Christmas is just around the corner and most of us will probably be thinking about knocking the old body into a bit of shape before the abuse that is about to come… sound familiar? Far too much alcohol, way too much food, far too much of a good time… So a bit of abstinence and some serious exercise should stand us in good stead…

Some forward thinking souls from the four corners of the world will already be fully prepared for their flight tomorrow to…. Antarctica, and why not? Their pre-Christmas warm-up starts on 12th December with the sixth Antarctic Ice Marathon. And if that’s not extreme enough, others of this hardy bunch will be preparing themselves for the 100km ultra-race which sets off on the 15th. It’s called “The world’s coldest 100″. The whole challenge should be over by 18th December – weather permitting.

At 14 million square km, Antarctica  is the fifth-largest continent and is almost 1.5 times the size of the United States. It covers 10 per cent of the earth’s land area yet remains its most inaccessible and remote land mass. Fewer than 200,000 people have ever visited the region. About 98% of the continent is covered in a thick continental ice sheet and the remaining 2% is barren rock.

It is the coldest, windiest, highest and driest continent on the planet. The lowest temperature ever recorded on earth was -89°C (-129°F) at the Russian Vostok station in Antarctica in 1983. At this temperature steel will shatter and water will explode into ice crystals. The continent also experiences regular Katabatic winds, reaching 300 km per hour (185 miles/hour), that blow out of the continental interior and make the Antarctic coastal regions breezy. Antarctica has an average altitude of about 7,000 ft, with the South Pole situated at almost 10,000 ft. Furthermore, there is little precipitation and the air is very dry. Indeed, the Polar Plateau is regarded as a desert and experiences similar precipitation levels to the Sahara Desert. The average annual precipitation in Antarctica is only 50mm (2 inches).

This marathon and ultra-race takes place approximately one thousand miles further south than any other marathon event that takes place on the Antarctic Peninsula. As an extreme sports site, this race fits nicely. It will be a formidable challenge for all participants – and for the organisers too!

The Antarctic has a famous no-pollution policy so ALL waste has to be removed. ALL of it. It adds a whole new facet to marathon organisation. But nothing that Adventure Network International (ANI) are not able to cope with. This is the company that runs the event and the Patriot Hills camp. ANI combines with Polar Running Adventures which is primarily operated by three-time polar marathon runner Richard Donovan. A native of Ireland, he is also the organiser of the annual North Pole Marathon and established the Antarctic Ice Marathon to enable marathon runners to complete a marathon on all seven continents.

In addition to completing marathons in both the Arctic and Antarctic, Richard has successfully participated in other extreme locations such as the Sahara and Atacama Deserts, the Andes and Himalayan mountains and the Amazon Jungle. In February 2009, he set a new record for running marathons on all seven continents when he completed his World Marathon Challenge in 5 days 10 hours 8 minutes. Richard is also an Irish international ultramarathon runner. The photograph below is Richard himself setting the pace in the Ice Marathon…

The eight-day itinerary will see competitors fly by private jet from Punta Arenas, Chile, on December 10th to the marathon location at Patriot Hills. A marked course of 26.2 miles will already have been prepared and snowmobile support, aid stations and medical personnel will be at hand for the duration of the race.

The 100km Ultra-Race is reserved for only the toughest endurance athletes. The 100k (62.1 miles) distance will seem endless, run under a sun that never sets against the backdrop of Patriot Hills and the Ellsworth Mountains. This race presents the opportunity to complete a 100k event on the frozen continent and creates the prospect of a 100k Seven Continents Club for global ultra athletes.

Normal worries and concerns about participating in a marathon are accentuated in the Antarctic. As one competitor, Richard Seaton, said: “Will my goggles steam up the moment I step outside into the cold? Is it a problem that I can’t feel my feet inside three layers of woollen socks? And how am I going to use my “pee bottle” using this much clothing?”

In 2006 there were only 9 runners in the marathon making it the world’s most southerly marathon, possibly its windiest and most expensive and, certainly in 2006, the world’s smallest too. This year registration is reserved for 20 people on a first-come first-served basis.

“Oates was right,” said Seaton, ” I was out there for some time. My 5.39.35 is a personal worst by some way. I’m not troubled at all. The joy of this event is not how fast you run it, but simply that you run it at all.”

People who have run this marathon in addition to marathons on all other six continents will now be acknowledged via the new Seven Continents Marathon Club.

The only thing you have  to take into account is that you run the risk of not returning to the bosom of your family and friends in time for Christmas if the weather turns on you – but it will be the whitest Christmas you will ever have experienced!

If you’d like to seriously consider this event for next year please Click here to complete Application Form Online.

And good luck to all who are taking part in this fabulously challenging event.

Have you ever heard of the Taklamakan Desert in China? AKA: The Sea of Death?

Beautiful, I admit, stunning even and I’m sure photo opportunities for wanna-be photographers will be more than a digital camera can handle. But an ultramarathon? Here? Only if you’re a camel you might think…

And hold on a second… why aka ‘The Sea of Death’? This is the name the desert has earned thanks to its notorious shifting sands and extreme weather.  As if that’s not bad enough, the fear factor isn’t lessened when you read various translations of its name from the local Uyghur language. Some say it means “place of no return”, others “unreturnable” and there’s also “you can get into it, but can never get out”. Enough said. Do you really want to do this race?

Yes of course! What is life if not a challenge.

After all, it’s probably no worse than the Atacama Desert, or the Sahara Desert, the Gobi Desert or the Namib for that matter. It should be warmer than the Antartic Desert though. And with that little list of names, whom else could I possibly be talking about but extreme event organisers RacingThePlanet?

Yes, they have a new venue. Taklamakan. And this, the inaugural race, is to be  held in August 2010.

“We wanted to return to China where it all began,” says Mary Gadams, explaining RacingThePlanet’s decision to launch its new series of 100k races in the Taklamakan Desert. “Our vision, which became a reality with the first Gobi March back in 2003, is to bring people from all walks of life to remote and spectacular areas and the Sea of Death is the perfect location for this latest stage in our evolution.”

Why am I talking about it already?

Because registration has just opened and places will be very limited for this inaugural event.

The 100 km non-stop race gives competitors 48 hours to complete it. It’s self supported as usual, but with it technically being non-stop, the load they’ll carry will be much lighter than in the 4 Deserts series. The generous time allowance also means it can be tackled at whatever pace suits, from flat out blast to something gentler. The usual professional medical backup and support is all going to be there too.

The Taklamakan area is something else. Surrounded on three sides by snow covered mountains, it lies within the Tarim Basin in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, north west China. Covering an area of over 300,000 square km, it extends some 900km west to east and varies in altitude from around 500m to just under 2000m.

But a RacingThePlanet event wouldn’t be proper RacingThePlanet event if it didn’t make your heart beat a little faster, long before the running starts, and I think they have achieved that again with this venue.

The race is to be held on 21st August, 2010 and the cost will be US$1,600. Obviously you will have to get yourself there. Remember that entries are going to be limited so if you are interested you had best jump around and complete this online application.

I’d just like to remind you that RacingThePlanet organisers do not do all this merely for the enjoyment of organising a race in some spectacularly beautiful and out-of-the way spot. They also raise money for charities in the area that they are eventing in. I think you should look at the following video as you will then realise how much happiness they are bringing to people who had no chance of surgery without the help of organisations like RacingThePlanet…

So popular is this extreme sport becoming that it’s getting tough for endurance athletes to find a race.  The Marathon des Sables, for example, is fully booked until 2011.

Enter Across the Divide. They organise 4 ultra-marathons a year, kicking off  with The Namib on 19-21 February, 2010 – this race is rapidly making its name as the ultimate endurance race for long distance runners.

It is a race that will test each athletes physical and mental strength to the limit.

“Across the Divide have captured the spirit of adventure racing in this event for me!“ Andy McMenemy, Namibia ultra marathon participant 2008.

This race, along with the Iceland Laugavegur Ultra Marathon, the Spanish 24hour Ultra Marathon and the Grand Canyon Ultra are all events organised and run by the founding directors of  ‘Across the Divide’ , Mark and Karen Hannaford and their team.

Mark has been involved with charity challenges and expeditions for over 22 years and has led expeditions all over the world as well as taking part in extreme endurance events. Karen, a keen runner, has been involved for over 17 years in expeditions, event management and charity work.

The extreme series for Across the Divide has actually been developed by Steve Clark who, having completed both the London and Edinburgh marathons, was looking for a new challenge. In April 2005 he completed the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and was  well and truly smitten by the ultra distance race bug.

Tony Ford completes the team with a broad range of event organisational skills. He himself has completed some of the worlds strangest races, from Tough Guy to Lions Head, and The Beast to Bibbulmun Trail. After 15 years of marathons and trail races, Tony still has the bug…

Which brings me back to the Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon (charityatd).

This race was first run in 2008 and in the words of competitor Peter Holdgate, “It was hot!  It was hard! It was awesome! – A true adventure.     This race is a must for individuals who wish to test their limits of physical and mental endurance.”

The route has increased in length slightly for 2010 – it will be 126kms in total which is the same as 3 full marathons. Each of the 6 stages of the route will be 21kms in length.

the route is mainly flat or undulating, firm under foot, but stony with occasional patches of sand and short grass cover. The most difficult part of the route will be traversed at night and it will be important to take care as  rough tracks and loose stones will be difficult to navigate in the dark – even with a full moon.

When dawn breaks and you begin to think that the worst must be behind you, the race finishes with a punishing up-hill section before turning off down to the beach, the infamous Skeleton Coast, and the finish line. Jayne Freer, also an original competitor, says of this final section: “The last leg is truly horrific – punishing on the mind, body and soul. Eighteen kilometres down a road that never ends, followed by a further two down to the sea at the Mile 72 campsite. Each and every step is punishing, painstaking and pure hell.”

Runners have to be self-sufficient throughout, carrying all their food, water, energy bars and change of clothing in backpacks – everything they will need for temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius (46 C was clocked one day) and plummeting to two degrees at night.

Steve Tidball, a competent runner regularly doing 30-40 miles with no problem, was defeated by heatstroke within the first 2 hours of the 2009 race – it is worth noting that he came to this race fully prepared having even done heat training in preparation for the desert temperatures. However, he was allowed to complete the race, and had this to say about it: “Of course once I’d started to recover the magnitude of what we’d been through began to kick in. We met people out there who’ll undoubtedly be friends for life. I learnt that the desert is not to be underestimated; it is an awesomely intimidating place capable of destroying you. I loved every minute of the camp, and the opportunity of being surrounded by people who are just like you and like a bit of pain with their running. And finally I feel unbelievably grateful to the doctors at Across the Divide, first for saving me from doing anything reckless with my health, then secondly for letting me rejoin the race. It allowed me to take away invaluable experiences that will last with me forever.”

As with all the ultra-marathon endurance races we talk about on this site, whether it be AdventureCORPS’ Death Valley Badwater Marathon, or RacingThePlanet’s 4 Deserts (the Sahara Race is underway as we speak), or Across the Divide’s, what strikes me most about the event is the amazing depth of camaraderie and alliance amongst the competitors and organisers – one and the same in some cases. And the friendships that are born out of adversity… There seems to be a unique bond which is tangible but hard to explain.

Well worth witnessing first hand I think.

A normal length marathon is run in the Namib at the same time and will finish after stage 2.

There are still 98 places available for the extreme  Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon and if you wish to enter please click here

Here’s something a little different – not quite as extreme as ultra-marathons, but very definitely their own brand of adventure stamped all over them…

The Adventure Marathon idea was born in 1998 in Copenhagen, Denmark when Director of Albatros Travel, Mr. Søren Rasmussen got the idea of organising a marathon on The Great Wall of China. The following year 300 runners participated in the first Great Wall Marathon ever and it was clear that a new “niche” was started. More adventurous marathons followed, some more successful than others and today 4 marathons are a permanent part of the family, they are:

• The Great Wall Marathon on the Great Wall in China,
• The Big Five Marathon on the savannah in South Africa,
• The Great Tibetan Marathon in the mountains of Tibet,
• and The Polar Circle Marathon on the ice sheet of Greenland.

The Petra Marathon is the newest venue for this innovative company. It will be run this weekend, 26th September. As you can imagine, registration for this marathon is definitely closed… however, if you’re really keen you can register for the 2010 Petra Marathon which will be run on 17th September next year.

This is the first time ever that the Petra Marathon has been run, and what a setting.

Petra, an ancient city carved in the sandstone mountains, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It was elected as one of the ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’ in 2007. Runners can look forward to astonishing sights and a challenging course through a unique landscape.

The lowest point of the race will be about 875 m and the highest elevation is just under 1,450 m.

The Petra Marathon will be swiftly followed by the Polar Circle Marathon which is on October 24th, 2009.

This marathon is a tough, unique race in truly magnificent scenery. Greenland’s endless ice and snow make up the backdrop of this unusual race, in which runners pass glacier tongues, moraine landscapes and soundless, arctic desert.

Most of the course is run on gravel road and smaller paths between moraine hills – except for the part that takes place on the 3 km thick Greenlandic ice cap.

October weather in Greenland is normally beautiful and not too cold. Sunshine is the order of the day, though the occasional light snowfall may occur. Expect temperatures of around -5º C / 25º F.

It looks as though you can still register for this marathon, but I’d advise you to be quick as I am sure time will be running out. Please follow this Polar Marathon link.

The next Great Wall Marathon will be run on 15th may, 2010.

The 5,164 steps of the Great Wall will put your physique to the test, and the breathtaking surroundings of Tianjin Province will compete with your tired
muscles for attention. The Great Wall Marathon® is the ideal way to combine an unusual running event with exploring one of the world’s most astonishing sights.

June 5th, 2010 is the day for the Big Five Marathon in South Africa.

Runners from all over the world will meet in one of the most spectacular “Big Five” game reserves in Africa. In these magnificent surroundings, one can combine exciting game drives with a challenging marathon route going right through the habitat of the most famous African game: Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. No fences, no rivers, nothing at all separates the runners from the African wildlife.

And if you’re an ardent football fan you could always try taking a match while you’re out there…  the FIFA World Cup starts on 11th June.

And finally, since it’s already happened, we will end with the Great Tibetan Marathon (AlbatrosAfrica) on the Tibetan plateau in Northern India, otherwise known as Little Tibet.

The Great Tibetan Marathon is nothing like traditional marathon courses on even roads in well-known surroundings. The mountainous terrain, in which the marathon takes place, naturally makes the tracks rugged, the 3,500 m altitude makes the air deficient in oxygen and the views are absolutely spectacular. there is no need to emphasize how tough a race this is. So tough actually, that it was voted Toughest Marathon on the Most Extreme Marathons-list by Forbes Magazine.

And also very different… this is a very spiritual marathon. The start is blown on long Buddhist horns, instead of the traditional shot by a starting pistol, and all runners are blessed by Buddhist monks, who also serve as helpers along the way.

The Great Tibetan Marathon 2009 happened on 18 July 2009. The marathon winners were Indian Stanzin Otsal (3:24:59) and South African Leanne Juul (3:58:08). 74 runners from all over the world finished the three distances: marathon, half marathon and 10 km.

You may have picked up on blogs over the last week about some extreme marathons that happen around the world. So far we have talked about the Marathon des Sables in Morrocco, the North Pole Marathon – yes it is ON the North Polar icecap – and the Addo Elephant Trail runs in South Africa. Today we offer something slightly different – for a start this marathon is by invitation only and to qualify you must have competed in two of three other ultramarathons which take place every year in Chile, China and Egypt.

OK the Chile Marathon – known as the Atacama Crossing – is in the same format as the other three races – a 250km race run in six stages across the Atacama desert. Most stages are approximately 41 kms, the fifth stage is 73kms and the last stage is just 10kms. The Atacama desert is wedged between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains and it is the driest place on planet earth. The 2009 race will start on March 29th.

The Chinese Marathon – known as the Gobi March – again 250 kms run in six stages – is located in western China, the ancient silk route. The 2009 race is to be run in the Xinjiang Province starting from Kashgar, the six stages take on a similar pattern. The 2009 race will start on June 14th.

Egypt – not surprisingly known as the Sahara Race – the Sahara is the largest non polar desert in the world and is bordered by Libya to the west, the Sudan to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the north, there are only fives oases in this vast area (don’t get lost). The 2009 race will start on October 25th.

The final leg of these desert ultramarathons – cumulatively know as the 4 Deserts – is the Last Desert and is run in Antarctica. The 2008 race started on November 24th and will finish on December 4th – this includes transport from southern Argentina and moving around the Antarctic to the various race stage locations. We will bring you news of the results when the race is completed later this week. This race is only open to those individuals who have completed two of either the Atacama, Gobi or Sahara races. Only 30 people have been invited to compete in the race this year. We will update you on the date of the 2009 race when it is announced – but it is likely to be the end of November/early December 2009.

For further information on these races and for registration go to www.4deserts.com

Below is a brief video from racingtheplanet showing a preview of the Last Desert marathon on Antarctica.

Marathons – a subject close to the hearts of many people – those who have pitted themselves over distances from as short as 13.1 miles, a half marathon, to a full marathon of 26.2 miles and beyond to much greater distances. We give the history and will then present some of the more extreme marathons – just in case you feel so inclined.

History: The marathon race commemorates the run of the Athenian soldier Pheidippides who legend tells us ran from a battlefield near Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C., a distance of approximately 25 miles, bringing news of a Greek victory over the Persians. Pheidippides collapsed and died at the end of his historic run.

However there has long been debate about the accuracy of this story which we will not discuss here – save it to say that when the modern Olympic games were started in 1896 the marathon was the last event of the games and was fittingly won by a Greek named Spiridos ‘Spiros’ Louis in a time of 2:58:50 hours. The distance was not standardised until the 1924 games when atletes ran 26.22 miles, or 42.196 kms.

Extreme marathons: with over 800 marathons run every year there are a number of extreme versions. Most marathons come under the jurisdiction of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Runners. We will over the next few days give some examples of some of the more extreme marathons.

The Addo Elephant Trail runs: not strictly a marathon in the sense of distance as you can run a 100 mile, 50 mile or 25 mile route. The fifth running of this race will be held on Saturday 2nd May 2009. The 100 miler is run through the Addo Elephant Park, about 50 miles from Port Elizabeth, South Africa and winds its way over the mountains into the Sundays River Valley before crossing the escarpment of the Zuurberg Mountains to finish at the Addo Elephant Park main rest camp.You have to complete the race in 30 hours. The 50 miler and 25 miler routes are run in the same location.

The cost of entering the races varies – the 100 miler is 950 rand, the 50 miler is 550 rand and the 25 miler is 350 rand. For further details go to the website www.extrememarathons.com

Below is the schedule and we have included a vdeo from bradke – not of the race but of some of the ‘traffic’ you might meet as you run!