84-Year-Old Finishes Antarctic Ice Marathon
An 84-year-old Canadian man has become the oldest person ever to complete the Antarctic Ice Marathon.
According to CTVNews.ca, it took Roy Jorgen Svenningsen 11 hours and 41 minutes to finish the 42-kilometer race.
"At one point, I thought, I don't think I'm going to do this all the way," he said.
Runners in the Antarctic Ice Marathon face strong winds and temperatures as low as -20 degrees Celsius. The fee to take part in the event is about $19,000 and includes flights to and from Antarctica, meals, and accommodation.
Svenningsen, who was born in Edmonton, is no stranger to cold weather and hard winters. However, he said he could not compare them to the weather and temperatures he experienced in the Antarctic.
Halfway through the race, Svenningsen started to feel weak. His doctor suggested that he have a bowl of soup to get his energy back. It helped, but only for a short while as Svenningsen felt tired after another few kilometers.
But despite Antarctica's harsh weather, Svenningsen never lost his motivation. "I wanted to finish it, and that was it," he said. "I just thought I better get it done."
Race director Richard Donovan called Svenningsen an inspiration to people of all ages and a "remarkable ambassador for Canada."
Svenningsen has run over 50 marathons on five different continents and is now closer to achieving his dream of running a marathon on every continent. South America and Australia are the only two places left on his list.
