Tag Archives: Marathon Tours and Travel

Antarctica – Antarctica Marathon- February 26th, 2007- We Made It!

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David and Cynthia Antarctica Marathon Finish Line PhotoWP_20150127_15_44_21_Pro
 Antarctica Marathon February 26th, 2007

Touring Company-http://marathontours.com/

I would have to say that this was one of the toughest marathons that we have ever run in our lives (check out videos and pictures).  Although it was the toughest, it was the most amazingly beautiful adventure that we will ever experience together.

Race Day

The captain of the ship made an announcement at approximately 5:30 am in the morning that we were at King George’s Island and that we had a perfect “Antarctica Day” for the marathon.  Overnight there was a snow storm so the entire course was covered with snow.  In addition the weather was definitely going to provide us with a challenge as the temperature was below zero with a windshield of 30 miles per hour.

At 6:30 we went to the dining room to have quick bite to eat.  The room was filled with excitement as everyone was ready/anxious and nervous to complete this marathon!

Due to the fact that there could only be 100 people at any one spot on the island at the same time it was decided that the women, half marathoners and over 60 would go to the island first and the men would follow to arrive at a separate location on the island.  There would be two starts, one for the first group and one for the men.  I did not like this as David and I always run these together and I knew I was going to need his support for this one.  However, given the fact that I run so slow, I knew he would catch up with me after their start.

As we landed on the Island we had about 20 minutes to change into our running gear (under the Russian Base-see pictures) Yes, that is outside in the negative degree, blistery weather.  I was freezing.  David only had 3 minutes once he arrived on the island.

Some of the other items that were different in this marathon from other marathons other then the obvious was that we had to carry our own liquids with us to replenish.  We had to place water bottles at certain points throughout the course to consume as we went by them several times.  Of course, David carried mine to the drop off point for me :).  I am so lucky!   Also, there were limited restroom facilities…really only one and if you decided to use it then it would take you a good 20 minutes.  Luckily we did not have to use these…but I did mark my spot as usual 🙂

The race started …the first 3/4 mile was complete mud!   After the mud we had about a mile of hills (I thought they were kidding me when they said the course was hilly…boy did I have a rude awakening!).   After the hills we ran on a very rocky beach until we reached the Glacier…yes, that’s right..the Glacier..1 Mile up!  By the time I got to the bottom I had in my head that I could not do the Glacier again (yes, we had to trek it twice).  My mental attitude started to decline….David continued to encourage me.

At about mile 8 I told David to go ahead and run ahead of me so that he could make the cut-off at mile 13 to finish the marathon.  I told him if I made it in time I would complete the marathon but if not I was ok with just doing the half….he told me he would not go ahead of me (we have this argument every race :)….he told me that we would just come back in 2009 to complete it.  Well, I was not coming back in 2009, so I just buckled down and kept going!

On the second trek up the Glacier I decided to go up it backwards.  I found this very helpful as it used different muscles and the wind was now at my back.  Of course, it took me longer but it was actually enjoyable!!

There were many great sights on the course as you can see in the pictures and video.  In addition to the sights we had some of our friends (the seals, skuas and penguins) on the course.  The seals actually tried attacking one of the runners!  We were very lucky to dodge this!

We completed the marathon in 7:54.  This obviously was our worst time but we were able to enjoy the scenery together and we are very happy to just have finished!  We now have Australia and China left to complete all 7 continents.

Memories 

  • Russian Research Ship
  • Drake Passage
  • The Bar on the ship
  • The soup
  • Bouncing out of Bed
  • Not being able to blog
  • The Zodiac rides
  • Dressing up in 20lbs of clothing
  • Freezing temperatures on Marathon Day
  • The Glacier
  • Supporting each other
  • The storm coming in
  • The finish Two-Gether
  • Almost leaving my mom in Antarctica
  • All the wonderful new friends we met along the way!

Africa -Safaricom Marathon- Lewa Wildlife Conservancy- June 28th, 2006

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Safaricom MarathonWP_20150127_15_41_14_ProAfrica Results

Safaricom Marathon, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy– June 28th, 2006

Touring Company: Marathon Tours- http://www.marathontours.com/kenya-marathon

Where do I begin?  This marathon and family vacation was very special to us as we had the opportunity to take the whole family with us on this journey.  In addition to visiting Africa we had the opportunity to visit London and Paris on this trip.  It was definitely an exhausting trip but one that we will always cherish!

There are so many memories about this trip that I am just going to touch on a few of them here and save the rest for our book!  This trip was all about engaging family and focusing everyone on a common goal while having a great time together!

So why did we decide to take the family? We wanted our children to have the opportunity to visit Paris where we were married (you can view our marriage video on the blog) as we did not have them present at our wedding! Since we were making this long trip we decided to get in as many countries as possible and therefore decided to visit London (This was a first for David and I together as well).

We visited London first and had the opportunity to visit all of the key sites including the Tower of London. The girls took a day and went shopping while the boys hung out in the bars watching the soccer matches. At the end of the day we ended up together in a Hare Krishna Parade-not sure how this happened but you can only imagine after a few beers or three!

We then traveled from London to Kenya and had the opportunity to some safaris prior to the marathon. You can hear more about these stories in our upcoming book!

Lastly, on the way home we visited Paris and had the opportunity to visit the Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, Notre Dame and of course shopping at Champs- Elysees!!

Race Day

The Safaricom Marathon was the toughest Marathon for us to date. The heat coupled with the altitude and hills made this a huge challenge.  The views along the course were breathtaking! This was the first race that we ran where there really weren’t spectators on the course (due to the risks associated with having this in the game park). The Kenyan’s were the kindest people and were very hospitable to all of us!

The course was a two mile loop and we actually finished the first half in good timing but really began to feel the heat around mile 14.  There was basically no shade during this 26.2 mile run except for at the end (for about 1/4 mile) and during the second time around it was very desolate. Sometimes you wondered if anyone was even watching over us. .   In addition to the heat, hills and altitude, we had to worry about the four legged animals that at any time could embark on our path and pose a danger to any one of us!   The course was patrolled by a spotter plane and helicopter as well as a large and experienced team of armed rangers to tranquilize the animals in case they threatened the runners (A giraffe crossed the running path in front of us.  At one point both the rangers and sharp shooters removed an elephant away from the running path to protect us).  Again, the first 13 miles we did not feel threatened.  However, the last 13 was a little scary as it seemed as though we did not see the helicopters as much or the rangers.  This could have been our imagination as we were quite exhausted and felt pretty lonely out there.  The Kenyans had already finished (yes, they lapped us) and were packing up and heading home.  So mainly it was just our group from the US that remained on the trail during the middle of the day and I have never seen so much commadre from other runners in the US that we did not know. We all realized we were in the same situation and supported each other as much as we could! We finished…and that is all that counts!!!

Memorable Moments:

–  The friendliness of the Kenyans

– The poverty stricken country- we don’t realize how fortunate we are!

– Collin asking if there was a television in the game park so that he could watch the championship games.

– Not such a great memory…getting very sick two days before the marathon. Basically, depleting our bodies of everything we had consumed over the last week.  Worrying about having enough in us to finish a marathon.

-Worrying about Mitch as he was very sick in the game park- wondering if we were going to have to helicopter him out of there! The care that the Kenyans gave Mitch was amazing. They were constantly checking on him to make sure he was ok. Unfortunately, he was unable to run the marathon as he was down in bed the day of the race. We all had him in our thoughts when we were running and realized that we had nothing to complain about! Couldn’t wait to get back to make sure he was ok. It was so hard having to leave him on race day!!

-Seeing the children walking to school (3 miles) through a game park.  Pretty scary…but they are used to it!

-Seeing all of the animals in their natural environments (Lions with cubs, three cheetah brothers, elephants, monkeys, water buffalo, giraffes, zebras and others….how Amazing!

-Getting the opportunity to actually pet rhinos (Tula and Jack…see pictures)…

-All the animals right outside of our tents…and the noises they made at night (animals fighting).

-How cold it really was.  I thought it was supposed to be hot in Africa…it was actually pretty cold (except for race day-of course).  We had heated water bottles in our beds at night to keep us warm!

– The dark night skys…no lights…no electricity at night…more stars then we have ever seen before…..pretty scary..but very serene.

-The Kenyans…how amazingly fast they were! No wonder they win all the races in the U.S…  they train in unbelievable conditions!

-Completing a Marathon with family!!!!

– Just Plain enjoying special time with family and making so many memories!!!!