Marathon Me

The following is a guest post from my friend John Ferguson. He just finished his 60th marathon, and his 7th continent. Awesome.

Vivian and I had a great trip to Antarctica. It was late summer in the Southern hemisphere which made for mild temperatures. We took a lot of pictures which I hope to post soon. We met many nice people, mostly crazy runners from all over the globe and reunited with several people who we had met in Peru, Africa, Greece, and China. I believe 14 people completed their 7 continents in this Marathon.

Our trip began on Monday March 2 and we returned to Austin on Tuesday March 17. We flew from Austin to Miami to Buenos Aires where we stayed 3 days. Immediately we walked Florida Street, a mile long pedestrian mall. We began to scope out the Argentina stone jewelry, Inca rose (rhodochrosite). After competitive comparisons and negotiating we eventually bought a cool “pink” penguin.

The second day we took a city tour in the rain and went to all the “must see” spots we could. We visited La Recoleta (and the cemetery where Evita’s Peron is buried, the Palermo Italian section, La Boca (the origin of the Tango) and drove past Casa Rosada (the pink residence made famous by Evita), the 9th of July Street; a broad parkway celebrating their independence and the Obelisk.

The next day we attempted to make a side trip to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay, but the travel agent failed to get the tickets so instead we went back to La Boca and watched some Tango demonstrations. We also walked through the plaza around Casa Rosada and saw protestors shouting, police on standby and many TV news crews set up ready for something. Later we found a demonstrator had started shooting a gun and made big news in Buenos Aires. We missed that, fortunately. I was also able to have three nice training runs with others and enjoyed meeting and reuniting with fellow runners.

On Friday March 6 we flew on to Ushuaia, Argentina (Tierra del Fuego). After some time for shopping and exploring Ushuaia, including the End of the World museum, we boarded our small cruise ship the Akademik Ioffe. 106 passengers. Another group would join us a day later with a very similar ship the Akademik Vavilov. We set sail across the Drake Passage to Antarctica for the marathon. It was a 2.5 day trip across to King George Island for the marathon. While the staff landed to make arrangements for the race with all the research bases (China, Russia, Chile and Uruguay) we cruised Maxwell Bay in the Zodiacs (12 person rubber rafts with aluminum floors and powerful motors).

The next day we ran the marathon in 32 degrees F weather. Not too bad, it had been colder training in Ouray during December and January. Basically it was downright balmy in Antarctica. It did get quite a bit colder shortly after we started as my fingers got cold so I had to put on gloves later. The biggest challenges were the steep hills, mud, water hazards and the slick glacier. Every step had to be well placed.

We ran 2 loops on the course starting at the Russia base, past the Uruguay base and up Collins Glacier. Then we turned around and ran past the Uruguay base again, back past the start and through the Russia and Chile bases and out to the China base where they served REEB beer!. Many stopped, took photos and chugged beers. Our new friend Lucy, a nonrunner married to Kevin, was constantly blowing a whistle she brought along to encourage the runners. I heard lots of runners talking about the crazy Chinese lady with the whistle! I reached the China base before she got there and turned around to head back to the start again. I reached the half at 2:00 and headed toward the Collins Glacier again. It was not extremely slick and I didn’t use the Yaktrax I brought along.

I had intended to take lots of photos as I went along but my disposable camera bounced out of my fanny pack. This messed with me mentally as we had been warned under threat of DQ to have zero environmental impact. I still don’t know where it is but am confident someone picked it up.

The mud on the course was a big obstacle especially on the approach to the glacier. The ground was tundra so very soft/squishy. In a few spots it was “pull the shoe off your foot” kind of mud. The best way across was to step on as many stones as you could reach with each stride. It made for a zig zag route and sometimes the rocks sank and other times there was no rock to step on. How deep will my foot sink this time? How the winner ran 3:04..I am amazed.

Runners encouraged each other at every pass with high 5’s and “way to go”. With 162 marathoners we got spread out, but the double loop meant there was usually someone in sight. On my last pass by the Russia base I found some inner energy and picked it up the last 4 miles. Miles 13-22 were tough both physically and especially mentally.
I finished in 4:18 in 18th place.

By the time I changed clothes and got on my wet weather gear for the Zodiac I was pretty cold. Running is good, stopping is bad. Vivian helped at the finish line keeping track of runners and with timing. She had to help me with the ardious task of putting on all the clothing necessary for the Zodiac ride back to the boat. I shivered on the Zodiac boat ride back to the Ioffe and rushed to the room for a hot shower.

A successful 60th marathon but more importantly the conclusion of the long sought after goal of running a marathon on all 7 continents.

On the next day we had a huge BBQ on the aft deck of the Ioffe (the Vavalonians came over to join us) as it snowed on us in Wilhelmina Bay. I ate a swordfish burger with my gloves on. Pictures were taken of the award winners of which I was 3rd in the 50-59 division.

The remaining days we traveled to the Antarctic peninsula (yes we stood on the Antarctic continent) and visited penguin colonies and walked amongst them. You can’t help but say “They are so cute”. Over and over again. We saw Gentoo, Adelie and Chin Strap Penguins. Their biggest predator is the Leopard seal and I had the incredible experience of watching a leopard seal grab a penguin and thrash it in the water literally turning it inside out. You can’t help, but feel sorry for the poor penguin. Brutal but strangely fascinating.

We also rode Zodiac boats and saw Leopard seals in the water, chewing on our Zodiac, hunting/waiting offshore for penguins and lounging on ice flows. We tracked Humpback and Minke whales and have many great photos. click, click, click……… Also the birds are plentiful in Antarctica. Gulls, Albatrosses, Terns and the famous attacking Skua. I did not get attacked, but they were flying close by many times.

On the Zodiac trips to shore or just cruising the bays, we pushed through brash ice that looked impassable, circled icebergs, saw glaciers calving new ice into the water and hauled glacier ice back to the boat for drinks. We constantly heard ice cracking and crashing. It always got our attention.

The ride back across the Drake Passage turned rough and Vivian and I despite the patch felt less than stellar. The waves were splashing high up the boat as the waves were 30-40 feet and the winds just under cyclone level. It was common to show up for dinner and see someone take a look at the food and then leave hurriedly. It was a rough 2 days for some.

As a last thing we passed by Cape Horn and made a symbolic “rounding the Horn”. We then pulled into the Beagle Channel and up to Ushuaia the next morning. We had quite a bit of time again in Ushuaia so Vivian and I walked the streets and ate lunch.

We caught the red eye to Miami and Tuesday March 17th we arrived and rushed across the Miami airport to catch the next flight home to Austin. What a trip!

Impressive! Way to Run John. Maybe someday I’ll follow in your footsteps.

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Tags: Marathons, Race Reports //