We finally experience Antarctica in all its glory

Today was absolutely the best day thus far in Antarctica. I already shared with you that we had a chance to visit a penguin colony this morning and cruise around lots of icebergs. That was an awesome experience.


I couldn't image it getting better (other than the storms dissipating and blue sky appearing, which does not seem likely with the current weather pattern). However, it did actually get better. First, we had our official awards ceremony this afternoon and I was recognized for placing third in the half marathon. That was great. Then, we cruised several hours south to Nicco Bay (not sure how to spell) and had a chance to land on the Antarctica continent itself. It was snowing pretty hard and there was quite a bit of pack ice all around the land. There were huge glaciers and mountains towering above us and we could sort of see the tops through the snow. It was so humbling to see the majesty of the continent. The zodiak rides were somewhat like Mr. Toad's wild ride because the winds and waves were fairly intense. The expedition staff had to stand in water almost to their waist to meet the zodiaks trying to land and disembark passengers. On land we were surrounded by penguins, almost like we were part of the colony itself. You couldn't come close to keeping the 15 feet safety zone because they walked right up to you and walked around you all the time. The snow was almost blowing horizontal due to the high winds and yet the penguins didn't seem bothered at all.


My new Nikon D90 camera has stopped working, probably due to all the moisture this morning. Instead, I used my small point and shoot in the meantime, while my D90 camera sits in a bag of rice to try and draw out all the moisture in the camera body. I hope it works tomorrow. Thank goodness I purchased the extended warranty from Best Buy!

This evening I sat at the German table for dinner. One of my roommates, Till, is a German native who is working in America. Till, his girlfriend Brooke, myself, and two other German runners (including Horst, the runner who was trying for his 1,500+ marathon), sat together and had a lovely dinner. My German was rusty but I was able to contribute to the conversation and understand some of it. After dinner, several of us gathered in the smoking section of the ship to enjoy our post-race celebratory Cuban cigars and Scotch. I really don't like smoking and detest cigarette smoke. However, I am willing to make the exception once a decade for a really fantastic cigar and single malt Scotch. The last cigar I had was on New Year's Even in Korea in 2001. My new friend Andrew (not that kind of friend, truly just a friend) and I purchased Cuban cigars and single malt scotch in Buenos Aries and were joined by about 8 other people who had also purchased/brought a cigar. It was lots of fun and we even took a picture of ourselves with the Antarctica marathon banner to send to Cigar Aficionado. One of the participants was the Prince of the Netherlands. Heis a very nice gentleman. I enjoyed a nice lunch with him earlier today and we discussed homeland security stuff. He is very involved in homeland security in his country and so we had lots in common to discuss. He is traveling with his friend Olav, who used to be a professional cyclist and competed in the Olympics in Athens. Both are very interesting to talk to and good company.

It is still snowing hard outside so we'll see whether we can go ashore tomorrow. I hope so because we have been invited to visit the United States scientific research station called Palmer Station. They only offer 6 invitations a year to outside parties to visit. After that, we will start the 60 + hour journey back to Ushuaia. It is hard to believe but we are getting close to the end of this wonderful adventure.

It’s official...

The race results are in and by unanimous decision, everyone decided that it was the hardest race course anyone has ever done. The weather deteriorated during the race day so the longer people were on the course, the more challenging the mud and wind became. At times, the wind was so fierce that people could barely walk, never mind run. The tour company put a laptop in the lounge and invited people to load their top 10-20 photos which will be included in a DVD presented to each of us at the end of the trip. As aresult, the lounge has now turned into THE place to tell stories and share pictures of the race. I’ll post photos and some video when I am back to the States.

Here are the top finishers and their times:

Marathon: Men (1) Robert Youngren (3:50:02); (2) His Royal Highness Pieter-ChristianVan Oranje-Massau (4:22:55); (3) Peter Barbera (4:23:28) Women (1) Kathryn Youngren (3:58:59); (2) Marit Janse (4:57:40); (3) Kelly Hansen (5:04:11)

Half Marathon: Men (1) Fred Lipsky (2:25:52); (2) Olav Bekker (2:45:55)*; (3) John Shull(2:56:29); (4) Libor Pilar (2:57:56) Women (1) Cynthia Tan (2:56:16); (2) Kasey Jenck 2:57:20); (3) Judy Boyd(3:00:01)

*Olav Bekker hurt his ankle and dropped out of the marathon and just did the half marathon. He will not be eligible for a prize for the half-marathon. I think John Shull will therefore get second place and the Libor Pilar may get third place.

Yesterday we went to Half Moon Island and had our first chance to get ashore and visit a penguin colony. It was so cool to sit or kneel on the ground and watch penguins going about their daily business. In case you were wondering what penguins do all day when they are on land-- they sit around in groups and jabber away, poop, molt (shed their outer feathers and have a new batch grow in), and periodically follow the penguin highways through the snow pack down to the water to take a bath. The weather was foggy and the winds began to pick up as the morning progressed. By the time we reached Deception Island a few hours later, the fog, rain and winds had gotten worse. The captain made the decision that it was not safe for him to anchor by Deception Island and let zodiaks go ashore. Instead, he just kept going south along the Antarctica Peninsula. The winds and waves increased enough that I put another motion sickness patch behind my ear. It makes me a little sleepy but that is better than getting sick! Spending more time on the ship meant we could do more of what we are all very good at--eating and drinking! Someone joked that the only exercise he got yesterday was walking from one side of the boat to another and yet we are eating enough each day to run another marathon. We have a breakfast buffet, four course meals atlunch and dinner, plus a full spread of cakes and cookies at tea time (5pm).

Today we reached Denko Harbour. When I looked out of the port hole in our cabin this morning, I was amazed to see huge icebergs and that it was snowing fairly hard. We bundled up and spent quite a long time on shore among the Gentoo penguin colony. These penguins had no fear of humans. We always maintained our 15 feet safety distance but if you were still, the penguins would come right up to you. They were quite curious. It was also funny to watch groups of penguins do the Happy Feet dance (Happy Feet is an animated penguin movie, for those of you not familiar with the reference). I am not kidding--three or four of them would run around, flap their wings and make noises as if they were dancing and singing. Often they would lose their balance or grip on the ice and have to use their beak or wing to catch themselves.

We did not return immediately back to the ship but rather took a zodiak cruise around the bay and explored the icebergs. They were amazing in their texture, shapes, and then varying intensity of blue. The bluer the color, the older it was.
The ice compresses over time and all of the oxygen is squeezed out. That somehow results in bluer color. The water is incredibly clear and we could see the bottom of the bay in some places, along with the portions of the icebergs beneath the water line. My zodiak driver noticed a leopard seal swimming in the bay and quickly turned off the boat engine. We then watched the leopard seal swim around and under our boat. They are huge seals--about 8 feet long and have a giant mouth that contains sharp teeth. Some can be aggressive and bite the boat. This one was more curious than aggressive. After about 2 hours out in the heavy snow, we were all very wet and getting a bit cold. It was time to return to the ship and get warm and dry again.

We are now sailing to Paradise Bay (sounds nice, doesn’t it?). If the weather is nice, there will be a BBQ out on the deck and the race awards presentation. Also, people will have an opportunity to do a polar plunge off the gangway of the ship. If you go all the way under water, you get a certificate of accomplishment. Lot's of people have said they are going to do it but that may have been false bravado inspired by a few glasses of excellent Argentinian wine.

ExplorerBoyd's Ground Crew

ExplorerBoyd, like ocean rower, author, motivational speaker and environmental campaigner Roz Savage, has a Ground Crew supporting her. Or, more accurately, a ground person.


When ExplorerBoyd boarded the Lyubov Orlova she lost web connectivity. Always resourceful she asked 2009 dogsledding team mate Jerry Long, author of dustyvarmint's Mostly Archery to update Antarctica Marathon 2010 using her e-mailed daily reports. Ground person Jerry takes full responsibility for blog post errors, omissions and anything else bloggy gone awry while in a supporting role.


If interested you can read more about their 2009 Outward Bound Boundary Waters Canoe Area dogsledding trip here.

And the winner is....

Going to be officially announced tomorrow. I think I may have placed third in the half marathon for women, which would be quite a surprise since I did not think I was in shape enough to be competitive. The course was REALLY hard. There was no single element that made the course hard but rather the combination of elements: lots of hills (38 hills per 6.1 mile loop), extreme mud covering at least half of the course, crossing water, snow and ice, winds that increased to about 30 knots by the end of the day, along with a sleet, rain, snow mix that fell lightly all day. The temperature was in the mid 30’s but the windchill made it quite a bit cooler. It took me exactly 3 hours to complete the half marathon. That is about 30 minutes slower that I would likely run a half marathon conducted on roads. Every runner had anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours added to their normal running times due to the conditions. Because of the difficult course, several runners decided to not do the whole marathon after completing 2 loops (13.1 miles). After making that decision, they dropped out and will be given credit for completing a half marathon.


As if running the race is not hard enough, you then have to get yourself back to the boat. That was quite a challenge since there is no nice recovery area to get warm and dry. All of our bags were by the starting line and had gotten quite wet from the rain. In our bags were extra clothes, including our waterproof pants and jacket that must be worn when in the zodiaks. The ground was uneven and there was moss everywhere that can’t be stepped on. I had put peppermint tea in my thermos and that helped warm me up after the run. Also, I had a light down jacket that I put on over my shirt and under my jacket. [Let me take a moment and put a plug in for my clothing at this point--I wore an Under Armour thermal mock turtleneck as my base layer and due to the rain, did not use my running jacket and instead, wore my waterproof, windproof Marmot Genesis softshell jacket, and REI windproof cycling tights that were over a pair of Under Armour spandex shorts. The warm layer I added after the finish was by Patagonia and is called a Down sweater. My shoes were gortex trail runners by Salomen and kept my feet pretty much dry. All of my gear was terrific. Now back to the story.] I was so appreciative when one of the Quark adventure tour guides helped me put on my overpants and rubber boots. My fingers were pretty cold and not working very well at that point. After gearing up, we had to trudge a half mile down a dirt road to the beach where the zodiaks were pulled up, sit on the edge of the rubber boat and swing our legs over to get in. Again, a bit of a challenge with very tired legs. My ride back was not too choppy and within 10 minutes, I was back at the gangway of the ship and soon taking a wonderful hot shower. Those runners who finished later in the afternoon found themselves riding through rough seas with waves 5-6 feet high that were crashing over the boat and over the shivering riders. Once on the boat, we had to decontaminate our rubber boots and then we were free to shower and eat something from the wonderful buffet the cooks had laidout.

By this evening, everyone was back on the boat, safe and sound, and there was a great celebration in the lounge area of the ship. Whenever anyone walked into the lounge for the first time since the race, everyone cheered and clapped. It was lots of fun and showed just how much the group has bonded during the past week. We all passed each other on the course several times due to the out-and-back format, and everyone said hi and offered a word of encouragement. But, we all ended at different times and it was definitely too cold to stand around and wait for others to finish--hence,the cheering on the boat. There were a few injuries, but nothing too serious--a woman broke her finger when she slipped on ice, another woman hit her head and got a gash on her face when she tripped over a rock, and there were several twisted ankles. Some people were lucky enough to see a few penguins on the course but I was not one of them. I did see a few skuuas flying around but no one was directly hit by one as they dived by or near the runners.

All in all, it was a great race. A storm is expected in the area tomorrow so it was good that we had reasonably decent weather today. Now we are headed toward Half Moon Island and Deception Island where we should see lots of wildlife. Some brave souls may even do a polar plunge in the waters heated somewhat by the active volcano at Deception Island. I think the water might be 42 degrees instead of the usual 37 degrees.

Twas the Night Before the Race...

Twas the night before the race and all through the boat, 99 runners were stressing about what gel to eat and the appropriate thickness of their running coat. Soon the decontaminated shoes were stored in vacuumed bags at the foot of each bed, and visions of muddy trails, penguins and puddles were running through their head....

We just finished our pre-race meeting and everyone is very excited about the race tomorrow. The winds were too fierce today for us to go ashore but the forecast tomorrow looks better: light winds and temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. As long as the winds stay calm, it will be fairly comfortable running weather. The windchill can be quite fierce though if the wind picks up. The race organizers set up the course today in a way that complies with all the environmental and political restrictions (such as, no running through any of the scientific research stations or on the glacier). It will be an out-and-back course of 2 loops for the half-marathoners (for a total of 13.1 miles) and 4 loops for the marathoners (for a total of 26.2 miles). Thom Gilligan’s has described the course as the most difficult course they have ever laid out. In some places the route is over a well-packed dirt road but much of the route is filled with LOTS of mud, puddles, some snow between 12-18” deep and glacier stream crossings up to our knees. The first mile is supposed to be the most difficult, with a 250 meter steep hill that has lots of mud at the bottom. Can you believe that 99 people paid thousands of dollars and spent a week traveling half-way around the world to have this much fun?

As I mentioned, there are strict environmental controls placed on the race and runners. There are two rules that will result in instant disqualification: 1) no littering (hence no gel, gu, or powerbar wrappers can be brought on shore) and 2) no urinating on the course other than in the port-a-potties at the start/finish area, 1.75 mile marker and the turn-around point at 3.28 miles. We must also stay on the course and not step on the delicate moss on the land. That may mean running through a huge mud puddle in order to protect the moss. A footprint in the moss will last for 1,000 years but wet shoes will clean up overnight.

Because this is such a difficult course there is a real possibility that some of the marathoners will not be able to complete the course by the 7 hour cut-off mark. To meet that goal, there are time checks along the way--you have to reach the 13.1 mile mark by 3 hours and 20 minutes and the 19 mile mark by 5 hours and 10 minutes. Failure to meet those time hacks will result in a runner being pulled from the race. However, a marathoner who does complete at least 13.1 miles will be able to get credit for completing a half marathon (but they are not eligible for the top finishing spots for the half marathon).

The final topic of discussion was about whether runners could wear an ipod during the race. The running purists were inclined to say no--it should just be you, the course, and the camraderie of your fellow runners. Others felt strongly that music makes the hard parts of the race not quite as hard or alternatively, makes the experience more like having a movie soundtrack going on that matches your life. The end result was that runners could use them if they want but are encouraged to keep the volume at a reasonable level so as to still connect with others around you, as well as to not be surprised if a skua bird attacks you. Oh, did I mention that there are big birds that like to dive bomb the runners?

So now we are laying out our race clothing, packing our bags with dry clothes to change into after the race, and marking our water bottles that we can bring out and place along the course as we run. The ship will make a wake-up call over the loud speaker at 5:30am, breakfast is available from 6-8am, and then we will start shuttling to land via the zodiaks at 8:15am. The race will begin around 9am or when everyone is on shore and ready to go. It's going to be GREAT!

In case you were wondering what runners think about before the race, check out the video link below. This was taken the morning of the race as we were getting ready.

Land Ho!

Everyone was excited this morning about the sight of land and the promise of exploring it soon. The morning started with the crew loading equipment and 4-wheel ATVs into the zodiaks for the race organizers. They will meet with the scientific research station leadership and then mark the course for tomorrow's race. It was amazing to watch the ATVs lifted out of the hold with a giant crane and then lowered over the ship's edge into the zodiak bouncing in the waves below. In addition to the race organizers, the National Science Foundation observer and two other passengers went on shore. The NSF observer will make sure that the race is laid out in a manner that complies with the 17 pages of race restrictions imposed by the Antarctica Treaty nations. The other two passengers are part of the US company that is installing the landing system for the new airstrip being completed. It was easier and perhaps even cheaper for them to take the ship to the island rather than trying to catch a military ship or flight. The airstrip is due open for test flights on Monday so they will have a busy weekend ahead of them.

After the zodiaks were off, all passengers had to complete the final stage of our eco-decontamination scrub. As part of our no-impact tourism efforts, we had already vacuumed out all of our bags and outer gear to catch any possible seeds or bacteria stowaways. Now we had to scrub our running shoes and rubber boots in a special chemical bath. These steps were done to make sure that no new species or diseases are introduced to this ecologically sensitive part of the world.

We are now ready to go ashore but unfortunately, Mother Nature has not been cooperating with us. The winds have picked up considerably through the day, with sustained winds of 41 knots (about 50 mph) and gusts up to 50 knots (about 60 mph). If you recall the Beaufort Wind scale I mentioned the otherday, we are hovering between levels 9 and 10. The wind is so strong coming across the ship that it is listing towards the port side. For safety reasons, the expedition leaders will not take zodiaks out to the land if the wind is over 40 knots because they can and do flip due to the high winds. We are now cruising along the Antarctica Peninsula in search of a place to do a landing under less windy conditions. Appropriately enough, we arewatching the documentary "Shackleton: Endurance in Antarctica." We are all hoping that the winds die down so we can go ashore for the race tomorrow. The last thing we want is to have to run the marathon and half-marathon on the ship deck, just like runners had to do several years ago. It was something like 400 laps around the deck equals 26.2 miles!

Crossing the Drake Passage--the Drake Shake or Drake Lake?

Greetings from the middle of the Antarctic Ocean! We sighted our first iceberg after two days traveling at sea. You can imagine the scene that followed--a mad scramble to grab coats and cameras and rush on deck. The weather has been fairly mild during our crossing of the Drake passage. The total time it takes to cross the Drake Passage is 60 hours. Sometimes this passage is called "The Drake Shake" due to high winds and waves up to 30feet high. Other times the water is smooth as glass and is referred to "The Drake Lake." We were closer to the Drake Lake-- it has been a 3 or 4 on the Beaufort Wind scale [with 1 being a beautiful day and 12 being a typhoon]. Despite the relatively smooth seas, there are no stabilizer bars on the ship so we constantly rock from side to side in long slow motions. During the rocking, one side of the ship goes up about 15 feet and then down about 15 feet. That means we can not walk upright and constantly have to hold on to one of the railings. Taking a shower during this tilting is quite a challenge as well. I have not felt sick at all and expect that is due to the motion sickness patch behind my ear. Yay!

Update--later in the day the winds really picked up, reach top speeds of over 30 knots. Here is a video to show how hard it is to even walk with speeds like that.



You can also go to the following site and see a short video clip that demonstrates how much the ship was rolling before the storm! http://vimeo.com/10282538 .

We have passed the time with lectures on history, seals, penguins, tasty meals, and great conversation in the lounge/bar area. Everyone I've met thus far on the trip is really interesting to talk to and hang out with. The entire ship is sold out for the tour--99 runners, about 12 friends/family members, and 14 tour support staff. Talk about a small world--I have met a guy who also graduated from my alma maters--North Carolina Wesleyan and UNC-Chapel Hill, a lawyer who works for the US Coast Guard and knows me (but I didn't know her till now), and a DC lobbier who is a good friend of the DHS Office of the General Counsel Chief of Staff that I work regularly with.

Tomorrow we will reach King George Island. The race organizers will go ashore to mark the course while the ship travels further down the islands and we stop in to visit the Polish research station and see lots of elephant seals nearby. There may also be fur seals which we will have to be careful around. Apparently they do bite and will chase you if you get too close. I'll be sure to keep my distance and rely on the zoom lens on the camera to get that great close-up shot!