It dawns on me today that in eight weeks I’ll be on my way back from Antarctica. That means that in just about six weeks I’ll be heading to Antarctica.
Marathon Tours, who are handling the majority of the logistics on this crazy adventure, are sending me weekly emails now with last minute details and suggestions. I’m a little intimidated as I open these messages. More than anything, I’m concerned I may be TOO nonchalant about this marathon at the end of the earth. I’ve bought gloves and wool socks, sourced various additional layers to have on throughout the event. But there are weird requirements that are odd mainly because they involve a thought process I haven’t had to even consider for other events. This includes a warning that there are to be no wrappers as they could blow away and damage the ecosystem… which makes sense when you think about it. Dire warnings about frozen CamelBak (TM) hydration systems led to advice to bring three screwtop water bottles… which begs the question, couldn’t the screwcaps be just as damaging to the ecosystem if they get blown out of our hands?
There are many more posts to come on the Antarctica Marathon, both leading up to and after the event. But in the meantime, I’ll close this post with the supposed logo of the event. I… kinda don’t like it. It feels oddly cheap and clip-art-y. And I take issue with its billing as “The Last Marathon” mainly because though it will be my 7th continent marathon, it is far from the last marathon I will ever run. I appreciate for some it will mark the culmination of their running goals; and I appreciate that it’s situated at one end of the earth’s poles. But isn’t every marathon the last marathon… until the next one that is?
Circular arguments I know. But the earth as they say is round, and round and round we will go. Where we stop, nobody knows… albeit I do know I’ll stop ever so briefly in Antarctica to run 26.2 miles. And I know that’s in just over a month and a half’s time.
