Royalty, politics, and setting world records

Last evening we had our race check-in, welcome banquet, and received an overview of the upcoming race in Antarctica. Nearly everyone has made it to Buenos Aires, with a few notable exceptions. A couple from the French Polynesian Islands were diverted from landing in Santiago due to the earthquake and are currently somewhere between Australia and South America. The Crown Prince of the Netherlands and his wife are still en route and should arrive some time this evening. [We were briefed that protocol requires us to refer to him as "His Highness Peter Christian" unless he says otherwise. It is possible that he may relax the rules of protocol while we struggle against the 30 mph winds during the race together. We'll see.] Having royalty amongst us will certainly add another dimension to the event, such as having the Ambassador to the Netherlands as part of the welcoming party at the hotel when he arrives. Another interesting piece of news was that Vice President Biden's son and daughter-in-law are not going to be running after all due to the politics tensions between Chile and the United States regarding the building of a new aircraft runway in Antarctica by Biden's son's company. But the MOST critical piece of information we learned was that there can be no powerbars or gu wrappers brought on to Antarctica land. This caused quite a murmur through the crowd since long distance runners usually rely on the energy gels and bars to help sustain them through the race. The reason for this ban is because someone had a powerbar wrapper blow out of their hands during the high winds of the race last year and was found by one of the scientists on the land. This was enough proof for several countries that maintain a claim to land in Antarctica to assert that the marathon should no longer be permitted to continue. Litter. [These are the same scientists that are using diesel generators, spilling fuel, and driving all over the land in ATVs, trucks and snowcats.] Hypocracy aside, all of the runners all feel very strongly about taking care of this very special place and everyone is willing to do what it takes to ensure that the race can continue in the future. To that end, the U.S. State Department has assigned an environmental scientist to the accompany us to Antarctica. He will be assessing the impact of the race on the land and ensuring compliance with the 17 page declaration of conditions imposed by Antarctica treaty signatories on the runners and tour company.





A few other fun facts:

• This is the 11th running of the race.
• There are 99 runners from 15 countries participating: US, Canada, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Israel, Ukraine, and Lebanon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The youngest participant is 24 and she is on track to be the youngest person to run 7 marathons on 7 continents.The oldest participant is 72--Horst Prestler from Germany. He has completed 1703 marathons already. When he was introduced, he received a standing ovation from all of the runners. Thom Gilligan (the tour organizer) later quipped, "What took you so long to get to Antarctica!?"
• We have been officially invited on behalf of the US government to visit the Palmer Station. Only seven invitations are extended annually.

We have one more day in Buenos Aires and then are off to Ushuaia to sightsee and get on the boat. Tomorrow may be the last day I can post before I get on the ship. There is no internet on board so I'll catch up when I get back online again. I now have to figure out how to get my gu in a container with a hinged lid that cannot blow off...I am thinking that a small toothpaste container may do the trick. I'll let you know how it works out. :)