News Releases

New Records in Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k

December 22, 2006

Sixteen competitors from Armenia, Australia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and the USA took part in the second Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k races. The events, which were held on 13th and 15th December, respectively, are only official footraces within the Antarctic Circle and take place in 24-hour daylight at 80 Degrees South latitude.

Clear skies, temperatures of -10C and light winds initially greeted participants in the marathon event (26.2-miles), although low cloud cover in the latter stages of the race led to poor contrast and visibility.

A group of six top mountaineers, including four Everest summiteers from the seven summits club, were late registrants for the event. Their inclusion in the field added further excitement to the race, particularly when the best marathoner among them, Karo Ovasapyan of Armenia, was still in contention for third place after 25km.

By this point, however, Henri Alain d'Andria (FRA) had carved out a sizeable lead over Tim Harris (GBR). The Frenchman continued to push ahead to win in a new Antarctic Ice Marathon record of 5.08.17 hrs, beating Evgeniy Gorkov's (Russia) existing record by over a minute. In finishing second, Tim Harris successfully completed seven marathons in seven weeks on seven continents and will undoubtedly enter Guinness World Records for the shortest cumulative marathon time for the task.

Noelle Sheridan (USA) was the sole female participant and finished in a time of 7:15:46 to set a new Guinness World Record for women by running seven marathons in seven months on seven continents.

Two of the mountaineers finished the marathon. The others, however, decided at different points to withdraw rather than putting an imminent Mount Vinson summit attempt in jeopardy due to blistering or other running-related injuries. Nevertheless, a record of other sorts was probably set for the greatest concentration of Everest summiteers in one marathon.

In the 100km race, held on 15th December, Richard Donovan (IRL) led trom start to finish. Although d'Andria (FRA) was in close proximity over the first 25km, the gap widened at the halfway point as the relentless pace continued in brilliant sunshine. Easing up over the final quarter, the Irishman set a new Antarctic 100k record of 12:55:06 - a race distance that is the equivalent of 10% of the distance to the South Pole.

Both overall winners of the Marathon and 100k received $5,000 Kobold expedition watches for their efforts in the snow, while all participants received Salomon running gear and other prizes.

The next Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k trip takes place from 10th – 18th December 2007. Entries for a limit of 20 places will open in late January 2007 and the price for the expedition trip will be similar to this year at US $15,000. See the website - www.icemarathon.com - for further details.

men's Marathon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
01
Henri Alain
D'Andria
france
5.08.17 hrs
02
Tim
Harris
great britain
5.15.28 hrs
03
Herve
Taquet
france
5.30.11 hrs
03
Philippe
Moreau
france
5.30.11 hrs
05
Gavin
Melgaard
australia
7.05.18 hrs
06
John
Kraus
united states
7.17.48 hrs
07
Jim
Wood
united states
7.32.20 hrs
07
Mike
Nixon
south africa
7.32.20 hrs

WOmen's Marathon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
01
Noelle
Sheridan
united states
7.15.46 hrs

men's HALF Marathon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

wOmen's half Marathon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

tEAM COMPETITION

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

wHEELCHAIR Marathon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

HANDCYCLE Marathon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

men's 10K

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

WOmen's 10K

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

men's 5K

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

men's 100K

ANTARCTIC 100 KM

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
01
Richard
Donovan
ireland
12:55:06 hrs
02
Henri Alain
D'Andria
france
13:25:10 hrs
03
Philippe
Moreau
france
14:35:54 hrs
03
Herve
Taquet
france
14:35:54 hrs
05
Mike
Pierce
united states
17.16.53 hrs
05
Tim
Harris
great britain
17.16:53 hrs
07
John
Kraus
united states
22:31:10 hrs

WOmen's 100K

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

100 MILE POLAR CENTENARY RUN

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

men's antarctic triathlon

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

ANTARCTICA GIRLS' MILE

rank
first name
last name
nationality
time
bib nº
No items found.

* Note: Alex Abramov (Russia), John Christiana (USA), Karo Ovasapyan (Armenia) and Igor Pokhvalin (Ukraine) are top mountaineers who attempted the event. They decided to withdraw at different points during the race rather than putting an imminent Mount Vinson attempt in jeopardy due to blistering or other running-related injuries.

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