Antarctica Race Stage 2-St George Island

What a strange race this is turning out to be. Up again at 3am only to have the race delayed until 10:30am due to weather. Essentially we’re sitting in a bay in St George’s Island and when the weather clears we grab our gear, kit out our bags, don our Wellington boots and head immediately to the Zodiac rafts. Zipping across the bay this morning small swells crashed into us landing Antarctic waters in our laps while gray clouds ominously lowered in the background making the northerly part of the island disappear in its mass. Reaching the shoreline we swing our legs over the bow splashing into the water and wade the remaining 10m to the beach.


Today’s stage was meant to be 10 hours tracing yesterday’s 14.km course in reverse. My goal was to cover at least 72km and possibly 87km before the end of the stage at 9pm, however right from the start the race seemed to go pear-shaped. After a quick pre-race bathroom break I hustled over to the start line only to find that the front pack to my race pack had gone missing. Containing my electrolytes, food, and Juice Plus Complete powder, the front pack is fairly indispensible for 10 hours of running especially in the varying weather conditions of Antarctica. At 10:30am the gun went off and the competitors headed out of the gates and into the expanse of St George’s Island. I’d like to say that I was a part of them but I wasn’t. Still searching for my pack I located it in my cabinmate’s bag! Sam Gash put it in her ‘emergency drop’ bag while I was in the bathroom for some reason which unfortunately cost me a nasty 12 minute delay getting started.

Racing through the mud and ice I managed to catch most of the pack near the 4.5km turn around mark near the Uruguayan Research Base. As I turned at the 4.5km mark so too did the weather. The wind picked back up and it started to rain. Taking a bit of a beating for the next 2km, the pack I was running in saw Rodrigo, one of the ship staff standing on the course motioning to us. Apparently the weather was only going to worse so the stage was postponed and we had to get back to the ship immediately while the water was still passable by Zodiac.

By the time we got on board the rain had turned to large snowflakes and the wind howled, while the island completely disappeared in a haze of fuzzy white.

After waiting around in our gear for the rest of the afternoon to see if we might go back ashore the stage was finally cancelled after the paltry 9km. So, with roughly 190km left to go we are now sailing through some tremendously rough seas towards Deception Island. Deception Island has a unique horseshoe shape so we’re hoping to have a reprieve from the wind allowing us to land onshore and get in as many miles as possible tomorrow beginning at 5am and ending at 9pm. The interesting or not so interesting thing is that our course will be a 2km loop meaning that for 16 hours we’ll run in 2km circles. Brutal.

I should mention though that the scenery here especially as we sail towards the De Gerlache strait is shockingly pure and stunning. Huge white glacial cliffs peer over the water teetering almost against the laws of gravity waiting for the single straw that will send them crashing into the sea. Thousands of small cape petrals fly in our wake darting and diving while the occasional penguin peers from beyond an ocean swell. The color palette of Antarctica as we sail through stormy waters is just as you’d expect, with every shade of black, white, and gray. It is by far the most unique place that I’ve ever been on the planet. I’m looking forward to going head to head with it over the next few days.

Tune in tomorrow for our 16 hour epic circular journey from the bottom of the planet.

All my best to everyone at home and good running!