Tuesday night one of our new friends, Wiliam Tan from Singapore, set out to complete the first wheelchair marathon in Antarctica. Wiliam contracted polio at age two and has an amazing life story. He was competing in honor of a nine year-old girl who recently died of leukemia. A group of runners took turns running alongside Wiliam to provide him support and supplies. Mark and I were scheduled to run from 9:15 - 11:15 PM last night. When our two relief runners came, I headed back to the tent because I was very tired and cold and in need of sleep after running 4 miles with Wiliam. Mark said he would stay for one more mile. Six hours later, Mark came into the tent! He stayed with Wiliam for the remaining 14 miles of his race. Wiliam set a Guinness record by completing the marathon. It was his seventh continent in 28 days in his wheelchair. It is impossible to explain how amazing this accomplishment is. It is difficult for me to walk 100 yards to the restroom in all the snow. Wiliam pushed his wheelchair over 26 miles literally wearing through many pairs of gloves. He has completed 98 marathons including one at the North Pole earlier this year. That one took him 22 hours! He is a testament to the human spirit and one of the most humble and amazing people I have ever met.
On a lighter note, Mark and I have completed day one of the AICC (Antarctic International Cribbage Championship). After a grueling 5 games, the score is Ketchmark 5, Andresen 0. Day two provides new hope.
The marathon will start tomorrow at 7:00 AM. A big storm is expected later in the day and we hope to complete it before the winds arrive. The temperature dropped to 22 below last night and we expect the same tonight. Mark and I sat at dinner tonight next to a scientist who is good friends with Stephen Hawkins. Another man at our table has taken a submarine down to the Titantic wreckage and also to the ocean floor at the North Pole. He is setting out tomorrow on a snowcat for a 20 day trip across the Antarctic with a group of other scientists. We are having a great time and hope to complete the race tomorrow. One of the major topics of discussion has been everyone's desire to be home for Christmas. This led the group to vote to run tomorrow under less than ideal conditions. We hope to get the race in before the next storm hits.
The sun shines here 24 hours a day and it was impossible today to distinguish the ground from the horizon because the sky was cloudy and the snowy ground blended in. Yesterday, one of our friends did not wear goggles or eyeglasses while outside. Both Mark and I warned him against it but he thought he would be ok. Today his eyes were burned and bloodshot and he had difficulty seeing. The good news is that he will be alright. The only way to sleep at night is with a blindfold over your eyes. I need to go to sleep now and will write more later. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!! Check out a picture of our tent on Mark's blog.
Mike
