Antarctic Ice Marathon 2008
David Nicholls
Zambia Society Trust member David Nicholls completed the gruelling Antarctic Ice Marathon on 13 December 2008 in aid of two ZST projects (see below for details). He came fourth overall, out of fifteen competitors and has so far raised well over £5000, though the cheques are still rolling in (again, see below for details if you would like to support him). Here is David's account of this amazing achievement, in his own words:
"It's 9.40 pm and I've been running for an hour and a half. I am constantly thinking 'l can't believe I am here'. It is the most breathtaking stunningly beautiful marathon I have ever run. I keep turning round to see where I have been and try to mentally photograph the sheer beauty and magic of it all. I am now approximately 8 miles into the run following the course through the Horseshoe Valley between two ranges of mountains rising dramatically out of the ice sheet under a clear blue sky. It is minus 5C but with the wind-chill the temperature is -15C to -20C and the sun is shining.
We arrived the previous evening at 19.30 by a Russian Ilyushin-76 cargo plane landing on a naturally occurring blue ice runway next to Patriot Hills on the Antarctica mainland after a four and half hour flight from Punta Arenas 2,000 miles away in Chile. The plane can only land if the wind speed is less than 20 knots (23 miles per hour), which it rarely is. We are at 80 degrees south, 600 nautical miles from the South Pole and 350 miles from the nearest sea. No birds, animals or plants can live here we are too far south. Antarctica is the windiest, coldest, highest and driest continent on earth containing 70% of the world's fresh water and 90% of the world's ice, enough apparently for every person on earth to have a piece the size of the Great Pyramid. If all the ice were to melt it would raise water levels around the world by 70 metres. The weight of ice on the continent is so heavy it distorts the shape of the earth. Winter temperatures which can fall to -80C affect weather all over the world and katabatic winds can reach 200 miles per hour. Antarctica has an average altitude of 7,000 ft with the South Pole situated at 10,000 ft. The polar plateau is regarded as a desert with similar precipitation to the Sahara desert. The sun rises and sets once a year and during my stay we had 24 hours of daylight
I stayed at a temporary camp run by Adventure Network International at Patriot Hills below the Ellsworth Mountain range. The camp is the only private camp in Antarctica and supports expeditions to Mount Vinson (the highest mountain on Antarctica) and the South Pole from November to January each year. Accommodation was 2 man tents with other tents for eating, ablutions, storage, medical treatment and workshops. The camp operates a strict no pollution policy which means all waste including human is shipped back to Chile. Prior to running the marathon which is the most southerly in the world we had a briefing from the Operations Manager on the characteristics and route of the course and the support we would receive. We also had a briefing from the camp doctor about cold weather injuries such as frostnip and frostbite and how to dress to avoid them. It is essential to keep all extremities including the face covered. Snow blindness is another potential problem and can affect people in less than half an hour. We were at an altitude of 1,000 metres, the air is dry and oxygen depleted. Finally we walked part of the course which formed a circuit totalling 16.25 miles to the south of the camp around Patriot Hills the southern most tip of the Ellsworth Mountains finishing at the camp with an out and back section in the plateau to the north totalling almost 10 miles to make up the official marathon distance of 26.2 miles. The route had been groomed to provide a firmer surface marked with orange flags. There were 4 aid stations manned by the camp staff all in radio contact offering copious amounts of food and drink and shelter. Snowmobiles toured the course to ensure all runners were safe. The organisation was superb and would have been appropriate for a marathon a thousand times the size.
The marathon started at 20:12 on Saturday 13 December. The start was delayed from 9:00 to allow for the wind speed to drop, conditions are apparently near perfect. We are a diverse bunch 14 runners plus 2 mountain guides, the camp meteorologist and communications expert all 4 based at Patriot Hills for the season and acclimatised and a mountaineer who has just completed Mt Vinson. The runners include a UK 3:07 marathon runner who needs to run this marathon to complete the Grand Slam i.e. 7 marathons on 7 continents + the North Pole Marathon, a 65 year old American who has climbed Mt Everest, the African American President of a black Christian university in Alabama running marathons in all 52 US states plus 7 marathons on 7 continents to raise student scholarship funds, a Canadian lady doctor who has run the Everest Marathon at 17,000 ft, a UK insurance company compliance officer running 8 in 08 (7 marathons on 7 continents + the North Pole Marathon), a South African aiming to be the first to run the Grand Slam, a Finnish ultra marathon runner who has recently completed a 195km run in the Libyan Sahara and me - a few London Marathons and little else! All of us are running in similar gear; trail shoes, two pairs of socks and neoprene toe covers, thermal underwear, a fleece or similar, windproof trousers and jacket and full face and head protection, balaclava, hat, face mask and goggles.
The course leaves the camp and rises steadily to the first checkpoint at 6 miles protected from the southerly wind by the Patriot Hills. We all start together but soon become two distinct groups with me in the second. After the first checkpoint the course bends to the right with wind from the left to follow a spectacular route between the Patriot and Independence Hills with amazing views across the ice sheet to distant mountains. One of the challenges of cold weather running is moisture management, perspire too much and sweat freezes reducing how well clothes insulate you. My buff face mask soon became full of moisture from my breathing. As soon as I turned the corner into the wind it froze against my cheek as solid as corrugated iron. I stopped and changed it but made the problem worse, as soon as my second facemask became wet it was impossible to breathe through and I felt I was drowning. I persevered for about a mile holding the mask away from my nose and mouth but it was hopeless. I stopped took off my balaclava, hat, goggles and mask, threw my mask to a passing skidoo and reverted to my original buff pulling it up and down to breath. This 'wardrobe malfunction' as it became known by the runners who passed me cost valuable minutes as I found myself in last but one place. My breathing also causes my goggles to mist, the mist then freezes destroying visibility. I and all the other runners had to remove our goggles from time to time to scrape away the ice that forms on the inside.
I am now more comfortable, in a rhythm and enjoying running in such unusual surroundings. I start to pass people as the course descends slightly down hill to checkpoint 2 at almost 12 miles. My time is 2:18. At checkpoint 2 I take a gel, part of an energy bar and a hot drink with two of the other runners and two of the camp staff. In the rarefied air it is important to stay hydrated. We talk and joke for a while and encourage each other. I have met a great group of people and there is now a great camaraderie amongst us. The course ascends uphill through Windy Pass a gap in the Patriot Hills to give views of the camp just over 4 miles away, the blue ice runway shining like a mile long rectangular mirror and the ice sheet which is white to the horizon. In the crisp clean unpolluted air you can apparently see for 60 miles.
I am now running on my own. There is someone ahead of me but just a spec in the distance and two runners a long way behind me. To the right in the sastrugi are Pachi a Chilean mountain guide and Paul a professional photographer who are touring the course on a snowmobile. This section though short seems to take a long time; the camp disappears from view as the course loops to the right. At 3 hours I enter the camp which is checkpoint 3, as I arrive a runner leaves but I am too far away to recognise who it is.
My plan was to finish in 6 hours which now appears possible. The last leg of the course is out to checkpoint 4 circa 5 miles to the north then back to the camp along the same route to the finish but into the wind. I begin to push myself a bit harder, we are now running on the plateau, the scenery is white as far as the eye can see with a range of mountains to the left apparently 20 miles away but they seem much closer. As I get closer to checkpoint 4 the leader and two other runners pass me on their way to the finish - they are clearly racing. We congratulate each other and offer words of encouragement.
Checkpoint 4 is manned by two Chilean camp staff who are brothers, they are brilliant. One fetches me a hot drink which is too hot so he adds snow. Nothing is too much trouble. They check that my toes, fingers, cheeks, nose and ears are OK and not cold. It is easy to become complacent particularly in such good conditions. The weather can change quickly, a rise in wind speed causing increased wind chill can make frost damage or even hypothermia a concern. We were advised by the camp doctor to keep checking that we have feeling in our extremities; awareness is a key part of avoiding cold weather injuries.
The final 5 miles back to camp are into the wind blowing south across the plateau from the Patriot Hills. I am trying to break 5 hours but the wind is slowing me, I am cold and my legs are tired. This is the hardest part of any marathon; it feels as if I am wading through treacle. I am trying to catch the third place runner but I realise it is pointless and it would be better to enjoy the unique surroundings and atmosphere. Runners are beginning to come towards me on their way to checkpoint 4; we stop, chat, high five or embrace each other. These final miles seem endless. I am now not sure I will get under 5 hours, a passing runner tells me it is a mile to the camp my heart sinks it seems an awful long way after 25 miles. Fortunately she is wrong and the camp soon appears less than half a mile away. I run through the tents, pull off my balaclava, mask and goggles and run under the finishing banner to the cheers of camp staff. It is a fantastic feeling; the atmosphere is brilliant everyone is genuinely delighted for all of us as we all finish over the next two hours. My time is 4:53:36. I have some frost damage to my nose where my face has been either exposed or has been next to my wet facemask but apart from feeling very tired everything is fine.
After photographs I go to the mess tent for more congratulations and a cup of tea. I am wet through perspiration and conscious that I must not get cold. I go to my tent to have a quick wipe down with 'wet wipes' and put on thermal underwear, a fleece, down jacket, insulated windproof trousers, insulated boots, balaclava and gloves. No languishing in a hot bath here, the camp cannot justify pouring so much waste water into the Antarctic. A 'snow bath' is available but I didn't enquire further!
I return to the mess tent for a beer and a hot meal. Even at 1 o'clock in the morning Ronnie the Norwegian chef and kite ski guide and Adam the chef from Sheffield are still producing great hot food for us. I join Miles the winner who is tucking into his meal with two empty beer cans and another partially drunk in front of him - I have found his secret! Over the next two hours I go to the finishing line to welcome returning marathon runners. Three people are running the 100km which is 3 times the first circular section of the marathon course with a slightly shorter 4th lap. Finishing times are between just under 13 hours to 18 and half hours. We help where we can fetching drinks, food and additional clothing. Their achievements to me are astonishing particularly as the weather changes to overcast with a fall in temperature and increase in wind speed. I climb into my sleeping bag at 4:30 feeling tired, elated but incredibly privileged that I am physically fit enough and have had an opportunity to run this unique marathon.
The day after the marathon the weather closed in with a cycle of snow, winds and low visibility followed by periods of clear weather but with winds outside flying limits. This prevented the flights scheduled for the 16th and 18th (our departure date) arriving. On midsummer's day (21 December) a significant 5-day storm set in with driving, drifting snow, visibility down to less than 5 metres, wind speeds of 65 miles an hour gusting to 75 miles an hour and temperatures of -30C. The camp meteorologist said it was one of the largest weather systems for December on the continent he had ever seen with winds nearby approaching over a 100 miles per hour.
I missed Christmas at home but spent a unique Christmas Day at Patriot Hills including the largest Christmas dinner ever hosted by the camp with 65 guests and 20 staff. I met some amazing people including 15 who had climbed Everest and the new world record holder for the fastest trek from the sea to the South Pole, a distance of 600 nautical miles. However we could all have done with a shower! We eventually left at 2:00 on 27 December, nine days later than planned. I arrived home on Monday 29 December for a second Christmas day with my family.
However this run, exhilarating as it was, is not the only important thing. I have had the time of my life but there is a real serious reason for all of this. I have raised money for a part of the world I love. I feel fortunate to have lived in Zambia. We met some wonderful people there. Zambians are very unusual, so gregarious, welcoming and cheerful despite their often bleak lives of widespread poverty and disease when every day is a struggle with none of the basic things that we in the west take for granted. It is hard to comprehend how desperate things really are, 68% of the population (7.4 million people) live below the UN poverty line existing on less than 1US$ a day.
At Katete in the Eastern Province the Trust assists 2,000 orphans living with families in the community to attend school which is hopefully a means to escape poverty. As little as £24 can keep a child at a Government school for a year financing the cost of school uniforms (the cheapest available and usually their only adequate clothing), exercise books, ball point pens and soap provided every 3 months for washing their clothes and themselves. A blanket, hoe blade and maize seed are provided when they join the scheme so they can contribute to the host family. No shoes are provided as they are not regarded as essential.
The Trust also assist a feeding programme in the Matero Township in Lusaka, Zambia's capital providing a nourishing meal for approximately 80 children (their only meal of the day) at a cost of about 10p per day per child. Recently some funders withdrew support so feeding had to be temporarily suspended - another by-product of the credit crunch.
I worked in Zambia for two years and experienced the country's poverty. The projects I'm supporting are just two of many deserving causes. I funded this trip myself in its entirety. The Zambia Society Trust is a small charity staffed by volunteers with no administrative expenses. Every single £1 raised will be £1 spent on the two projects above."
If you would like to contribute to David's fund, please contact him by email: dwn@haguenicholls.com or write to him at: 9 West End Grove, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 5JJ. All cheques should be made payable to The Zambia Society Trust. If this is a personal donation the Trust can recover basic rate tax on your donation if you are willing to complete a Gift Aid form - you can download one here.
If you would like further information about the Antarctic Ice Marathon, please follow this link: Antarctic Ice Marathon