Ever thought about Antarctica

Talk about running the world over. I came across this article while reading the Boston Metro today. It is definitely an inspiring story to get out there and get going...no matter what time of year it is!

Running on thick
Marathoner Mike Pierce takes on Antarctica — again

PROFILE.
How’s this for crazy: Imagine running 100 kilometers, or a little over two marathons, in a row. Now, imagine doing it through the set of “March of the Penguins.” San Diego, Calif., extreme athlete Mike Pierce is doing just that this Friday when he attempts the Antarctica 100K. The Antarctic Ice Marathon at Patriot Hills — the only privately held base camp on the continent — has been held only once before, last January, when
Pierce ran the regular marathon. He and the race director, Irish ultra marathoner Richard Donovan, are the only ones
returning for a second go-round. “It was ... exhilarating, everything I expected and more,” Pierce says of the first run. Now, he’s ready to more than double the length and do it again. “I am a bit of an anomaly,” Pierce says. “I am not running there because it’s the next great ultra-marathon. I am going because I am, first and foremost, a fan of the Antarctic.” As an Antarctic history enthusiast, Pierce was looking for an experience that would mirror that of the pioneers he read about. “So the more of a struggle it is, the more I get closer to what I came for.”

THE TRIP, which embarks from Punta Arenas, Chile, will take this year’s dozen runners to the camp of tents near the Ellsworth Mountains, in a plane that lands on a blue ice runway. “It’s in the middle of nowhere,” Pierce says happily.

That’s not hyperbole — the site is 600 miles from the South Pole and too far south for even penguins (so no flippered cheering section after all). Daylight certainly isn’t in short supply — the sun never sets this far south, which is convenient for the ultra-marathon’s 24-hour time limit. Pierce completed the previous run in a little over seven hours and expects to do the 100K in about 20.

TO PREPARE for the endeavor, Pierce took a page from “Rocky” and sought out a freezer where he could recreate arctic conditions. The only problem was convincing people he was serious. “I just called people out of the phone book, but I
had to call 30 or 40 of them,” Pierce says. “Most of them thought I was insane. They thought it was a prank call.”

When he finally found an agreeable commercial freezer owner, Pierce put on his layers (two base, one fleece and one GorTex) and did tiny 60-foot laps to prepare. He has few doubts about his ability to finish the run, despite snow, isolation and winds that whip up to 50 knots. Pierce, who works as a professional speaker when he’s not traipsing across snowfields, is already making plans for his next adventure. “I’d like to be involved in an expedition across the entire Antarctic in the next few years.” After this week, he’ll have 60-odd miles down and only the rest of the continent to go.