The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 One of the enduring memories I have from Day 5 happened with an hour left in the day. Tommy Chen from Taiwan, one of the odds on favorites to win the race, was coming in for his final lap. Tommy had taken on a number of races this year, including running the Grand Slam of Racing the Planet Races. China, Chile, Namibia and Antarctica on one year. Never mind running the Yukon Ultra and a couple other ones. Tommy is professional athlete and wildly followed in his home country. It makes it no less of a feat that he gets to train as much as he wants. He has carried the Taiwanese flag to every race and placed it at the finish line. This being the last race of the series and the year for him, you could tell he was committed and fired up. He’s a quiet, soft spoken and slight statured man, and his smile lights up the room. He treats his competitors from first to last with …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 Today was an absolute brutal slog for 6.5 hours. I woke up in the middle of the night with acute pain in my left knee. The long race has taken a toll on the legs. As I write this I am rotating ice on my right wrist, left knee and left shin. We climbed uphill zig zig for half an hour on each loop today, then up and around with some amazing scenery. Pure stillness of ocean, icebergs and mountains. Then down a valley and down to the start through some deep snow. It was mixed emotions of absolutely hammering the body and trying to stop and smell the roses and be very present in one of the most stunning places on earth. Danko island was the course today. I had a couple loops where I moved well but mostly slogging along trying to get the day done. We are 95% done the race now with a short day tomorrow. Probably 2-3 hours and then we are officially done. I …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 Day 4 – Short and Sweet We had a tough but fun course today and finally the weather gods smiled upon us. Three hours in, 25-30 knot winds came up and we had to abandon course. Just as we were getting in the Zodiacs, the sun came out and they thought maybe we should stay. However, the big problem is that wind pushes big chunks of ice into the bay and if we waited too long it’s possible the ice would block the path back to the ship…and we would get trapped on land! That’s why we always bring our sleeping bag and mat, in case we need to dig in. On the way back our driver had to maneuver around lots of ice to get us back to the ship. It was good timing for us to leave. I ran and hiked pretty well today, but my heels and knee was super sore. Feeling the age! Really needed this break as did everyone else! This afternoon turned into rest …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 We had a pretty quick turn-around for a 3rd long day in a row. A planned 9-hour day out on paradise island. Everyone was pretty beat up from the long day being day one followed by a 2nd long slog. Usually in Antarctica they rarely if ever get three nice days in a row…just our luck. I mean we love to get out there, but we could have used a small reprieve before another punishing day. We got at it early and were zodiaced out in between small floating glaciers until we hit the mainland. We had voyaged 15 hours down to hit the main land of Antarctica and the views were stunning today. The downside of getting to run on some pristine landscape is that it has to avoid disrupting wildlife and nature, so the course was sprite 1.4Km! Slogging up a steep hill with 1-2 feet of snow, across, around and down a steep zig zag. Good news the views were breathtaking, bad news the punishment on the …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 I got 6.5 hours of sleep, but after putting your body through that punishment, I could have slept for 12! Recovery when going these distances is key. Unfortunately, while rehabbing my ankle over the last few weeks, the body did not get used to the pounding and it showed on Day 2. The legs and ankles were stiff and unfortunately no amount of positive self-talk was going to get my legs moving much faster than a shuffle on day 2. There is often bad weather through this week and the race organizers try and get as much distance in when the weather is good. A planned 8 hours on Tuesday after what was the long day on day 1, was unwelcome news to the racers. After I shuffled the first lap, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to loosen the ankles and it made it very difficult to run. Sometimes you just don’t have it. We had a shorter course today that was ¾ full of heavy snow. …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 I wasn’t sure what to expect from my ankle going into day 1. It was pretty well rehabbed and the onboard sports doctor did some testing and said it felt pretty strong. Huge props to my athletic therapist in Toronto (Janette) for getting me race ready! I started the first lap slowly to see how it felt and about half way through it felt strong, seemed to have some spring in the step so I tested out running. As we run short course laps on a number of different islands, we are measured on number of KM’s run over a specific period of time. The course was 11.4KM long, split into two sides. A longer snow covered section and a shorter gravel and slush section where the scientists live. As the day wore on, it got warmer and the snow got deeper and deeper. I felt stronger with every step and decided to run as much as possible. There are a number of people I have run with before and …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 We set sell from Ushuaia after dinner on Friday night, next stop the Shetland Islands North of Antarctica. We put our sea sickness patch on, in anticipation of a potential rough ride through the Drake Passage. It’s the most violent sea crossing in the world. Guidance says you will either get the “Drake Lake” and a smooth ride or “The Drake Shake” and a very rough ride. So far we have been very lucky and it’s been smooth, minus some pitching side to side from 1-4am. I got an ok sleep, but trying to get comfortable as you rock back and forth in your buck, makes it difficult for a consistent sleep. The meals have been good so far, having tested out dinner, breakfast and lunch. It will be welcome to fuel us and revive us each day. We had to education talks from the ships Polar and Marine experts today. Lynne (originally from Australia) walked us through the history and lessons of Antarctica. She showed us how mammals and …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 Thank you all for the well wishes on the journey. I’ve been in Ushuaia, Argentina for a couple days now and to say it’s beautiful is an understatement. We are preparing to board the ship headed for Antarctica today. It’s been a six year journey to get here and never in my wildest dreams did I think even after entering my first race that I would be here. It really started six years ago when I decided I was going to take a couple weeks away from work and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. The training leading up to it, the education on preparing and setting myself up for an incredible experience on a Safari at the end of the climb made it a dream come true. However, something that was equally meaningful was turning the climb into a charitable one. Spending the last couple days of my entire trip visiting the school that I had supported, being able to bring pens, pencils, shoes and soccer balls and see the …

The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2016 I settled into Ushuaia yesterday after a long pony trail ride from Buenos Aires to Bariloche to El Calafate and finally USH! It was great to get settled into the beautiful mountains towering above the cove and town of Ushuaia. I was able to see a number of racers from past editions of RTP over dinner and meet some new people who are going to be great to travel with, boat and land! I’m heading out for a hike this afternoon to take in the local beauty, get acclimatized and test out the ankle. Since I sprained it a few weeks ago, its been getting better everyday. I want to see how its going to react to terrain ahead of getting out on course! Many people I talked to last night are coming in a little banged up, especially those that have done multiple races this year. It will be an amazing feet for those who will finish 4-5 races this year! Respect! Off to get into the trails!