North Pole Marathon
The North Pole Marathon (official English North Pole Marathon ) is a running race over the marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers. It takes place annually, currently in April, near the North Pole on the frozen Arctic Ocean . In 2015 it took place at the Russian research camp Barneo about 50 km from the North Pole.
history
The first North Pole marathon was run by Irishman Richard Donavan on April 5, 2002, who ran the route alone on that day.
On April 17, 2003, the first North Pole marathon took place with several participants, 10 runners started, including a woman, the American Mary Ritz, who was the first female runner in the competition.
In 2004 the marathon had to be canceled due to disputes between French and Russian officials. After that it took place again regularly every year.
According to the organizer, 45 runners from 22 nations took part in 2015.
The 2018 North Pole Marathon took place on April 15, 2018 with 62 participants, including a physically disabled athlete, Singaporean Shariff Abdullah, who is missing his left foot and part of his lower leg and who is running with a prosthesis.
The 2019 North Pole Marathon will take place on April 9th.
particularities
The North Pole Marathon is the only certified marathon in the world that is not run on land, but on frozen water; it is also registered by the Guinness World Records Company as the northernmost marathon in the world.
To protect the runners from polar bears, guards armed with rifles stand on the running track.
For safety reasons, a circuit is usually only about 4 kilometers long, which has to be completed about 10 times for the marathon distance.
The outside temperature at the North Pole is around −30 degrees Celsius during the day in April, but temperatures below −40 degrees Celsius were also measured at the events.
The participants have to pay a participation fee, which for 2019 is 15,000 euros and includes accommodation, flights and other services.
Records
The men's course record is 3 hours 36 minutes and 10 seconds, set by Irishman Thomas Maguire in 2007.
The women's record is 4 hours 52 minutes and 45 seconds, set by the German Anne-Marie Flammersfeld in 2014.
The times of the best runners vary greatly from year to year due to the strongly varying conditions of the ice and snow floor and considerable differences in weather.
organizer
The organizer of the North Pole Marathon is Polar Running Adventures , which also organizes other running competitions in special locations, including the Antarctic Ice Marathon . This company is run by Richard Donovan.