T C's Staging Area

The March 23, 2023 course was a 6 lap out-and-back between the Russian and Uruguayan scientific research bases. We basically ran the same 2.18 miles back and forth 12 times. Check out my YouTube trip recap: https://youtu.be/50x2ysVCAZU and course video: https://youtu.be/XDcnHMLXTeo to get a glimpse of what you will experience and see how the terrain looked like. It got a lot more muddy as the day went on which is not captured. We were advised normally it is a longer route with 3 laps but we were told the Chinese base was not responding to the organizers so we did not have access to their road. The conditions were brutal. There were constant strong headwinds blowing from the West, roller coaster hills, and uneven dirt roads that started the race as ankle twisting frozen ground and morphed into shoe sucking mud as the day went on. Temperature was 0°C/32°F not accounting for windchill. It turned out the cold was the least of our worries. Many runners finished with results one or two hours off their usual times while others dropped down to a half-marathon or did not finish. The field was originally 107 marathon participants. The wind created logistical issues and we had to spread the race over two days. There were 87 actual marathon finishers over two days (day two conditions were less windy but more muddy). There was consensus among the runners that this was the toughest marathon we competed in. There was a lot of camaraderie on the course that made up for the absence of spectators. Epic glacial views and a major accomplishment for all!

The medal is funky with only the year on the ribbon and the race shirt looks like it was designed in the 90’s by an amateur. I gave mine away. For a $10k package, there should be separate medals for Marathon and Half-Marathon with the year on the medal. The online pre-trip “shop” was ok but the t-shirts were Craft brand that only fits the taller crowd. A mainstream brand like Nike or Adidas would be better. Our tour was the second of a back to back on the Ocean Victory. The on-board shop had a nice selection of items but very poor inventory of sizes. Very few M and L were left. Seems like they were unprepared for all the destination marathon shoppers.

Race production was mixed. The course could have been better marked and some of the mile markers duplicates added to the confusion. Communications were muddled and sometimes Marathons Tours simply did not follow through on what they promised. They were generally disorganized. I think Jeff did a good job, but he needs help. Some finishers had to wait for three weeks to get their photos while others could see their pics on the ship. The Albatros photographer shared useless thumbnail sized photos of the polar plunge. We lost three days to the wind, why not simply share the hi-res images?

I recommend you train on a lot of steep rolling hills and go out when it is muddy and windy. It’s a once in a lifetime adventure for sure. Keep in mind the race is only half a day – there is so much more to see in Buenos Aires and Antarctica. Our group had bad luck with the wind and lost three days of excursions. The extra days stuck on the ship were painfully boring, but we had good company that made it tolerable. If the race is the top priority for you, go for it!