My Bucket List / Fitness Goals
Run A Marathon In Antarctica
Still to do
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What it is
There are two main ways to run 42.2 km on the seventh continent. The Antarctica Marathon is run around the research stations on King George Island in the South Shetlands, reached by ship or plane from South America. The Antarctic Ice Marathon is run on the snow at Union Glacier, deep in the interior, with temperatures well below freezing.
How to do it
Book with the race organiser well in advance, as fields are limited to a few hundred runners and often sell out years ahead. Trips leave from Punta Arenas in Chile or Ushuaia in Argentina, and the price covers flights or the ship, camp and the race.
Top tip
Expect to be much slower than on the road. On snow, ice and mud, finishing times can be an hour or more outside your usual marathon time.
Why it’s on my list
I’ve already been to Antarctica, on the cruise in December 2024, so I know how special it is down there. Running a marathon there is the hardest piece of my goal to run a marathon on every continent.