From Penguins to Peaks: Antarctica and South America Half Marathon Triumphs

Amy Sea(HF18410, DA3652, MM15648) – So I am back in civilization and surprise I completed not 1 but 2 new continents on my Marathon Tours trip to Antarctica! This is a 2 week trip through marathon tours. The first 3 days are spent in Buenos Aires and (usually) the remaining days are spent on a ship exploring Antarctica but we had quite a surprising and fortuitous adventure. The first surprise was the date of our race. The Antarctica race was initially scheduled for Saturday, March 15. The race takes place on King George Island on mostly gravel/dirt roads between research bases. While we got a big surprise that the race was switching to Friday, March 14 as we were going to arrive to King George earlier than expected and weather was beautiful Friday and dicey on Saturday
So on Friday, March 14 I completed Half #169 Continent #3 the Antarctica Half Marathon. Marathon Tours did an amazing job setting up the race in about 30 minutes to get the race done on Friday. While it’s super cool to be running on antarctica and amazing to be greeted by penguins when you come on the Island, the race itself is just fine. But it’s not like there are a ton of options for holding a marathon on antarctica. The Half was 3 out and back loops and the full 6 out and back loops. It is hilly and you have to dodge some mud and rocks but especially compared to my next race it’s not too hard for a trail race. Weather was actually lovely and much warmer than New England this winter with temps just above freezing. I finished about 30 minutes slower than usual which seemed to be the consensus for most runners. There is a 4.5 hour time limit for the half to account for this. After the race you are supposed to spend the next ~ 4 days going on excursions in Antarctica. The excursions we went on were magnificent and I saw so many penguins and seals! However unfortunately there was going to be a big storm on the Drake Passage and we learned we would have to leave Antarctica early. It was a rough couple days on the Drake Passage and we ended up docking in Ushuaia, Argentina yesterday. This probably sounds quite disappointing but then something amazing happened. The marathon tour team learned that UTMB was hosting races starting Thursday in Ushuaia less than a mile from the dock. Even though the races were sold out and you were supposed to pick up your packet early, UTMB agreed to open slots up for us and delivered our packets directly to the marathon tour team so we could get them race day morning
As a result today I completed half #170 continent #4 South America at the Power 22K which is part of the Valholl Fin del Mundo by UTMB. It was tough as it wasn’t even really 22k as it was 15 miles. Also UTMB produces mountain races and this race had 3000 feet of elevation gain and was straight up a mountain. I was not sure I was gonna make it but I was gonna try. This was by far the hardest race I have ever completed and that includes a 50K ultra. I had a little altitude sickness, a tumble and my shoe got stuck in the mud (I did recover it) but I somehow made it to the finish line. It took me longer than all of my full marathons and I was technically over the time limit but they were nice and kept the finish line open. There were also beautiful views and horses on the course. I don’t foresee any mountain races in my future but I’m glad to check off 2 continents this trip. Since I did the half in Georgia I have completed 3 half marathons in 3 continents in 13 days this vacation!

Photo and Post Credit Amy Sea