Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 127, February 2020 | Page 33

but a superb crew that puts the plane down expertly,
in spite of the icy, slippery runway surface.”
The race is organise by Runbuk Inc. with the
legendary Richard Donovan as Race Director, and
takes place on Union Glacier, where quite a few
international camps are set up in the four months of
summer each year. The race is based out of the camp
run by Antarctic Logistics Expeditions (ALE). Usually
the plan is to fly the runners in, spend a day or so
acclimatising, run the race, then fly out again having
spent just two nights on the glacier.
Mo says there is no cell phone reception and no other
media in the camp, so most of the time waiting for the
race is spent drinking coffee and playing cards in the
mess tent, while getting to know the runners from all
over the world, which for this race included two other
South Africans, Johan and Molene Scheepers from
Pretoria. “Because the sun never sets, you always feel
like you have jetlag while there, because you’re out of
sync with your surroundings. I found that I got tired,
but struggled to sleep,” says Mo.
He adds that the stark beauty of Antarctica can
lull you into a false sense of security, but the race
organisers and camp staff make sure all the runners
understand how important safety precautions are.
“There is a beautiful mountain next to the camp, but
they explained it was off limits, and that we should
never go past the perimeter flags around camp. The
camp is on a glacier that moves 15 metres per year,
so dangerous crevasses up to 80m deep form, and
you will never be found again if you fall into one of
those! In really bad weather they even put a rope
around the whole campsite, to stop people wandering
off in the wrong direction in white-out conditions.”
“The other really noticeable thing there is the focus
on proper sanitation, because everything, including
all waste, is shipped back to Chile on a weekly basis.
So hygiene is high priority, with sanitiser bottles on
every counter, and we were encouraged to use them
regularly. Also, before getting on the plane in Chile, we
had to step into a bucket with pink liquid to disinfect
our shoes. It’s just part of a world-wide effort to keep
Antarctica clean.”
Feeling the Freeze
After the meal that first night, Mo says the runners
were given a breakdown of the race route and water
stations. “We would be doing four laps of 10.5km, on
a snow-ploughed loop, and the race would start at
noon the next day, but they suggested we do a test
run at 9pm that first night, to test our gear. “I think this
was brilliant, as we had hired jackets, snow boots, etc
for wearing in camp, but you have no idea how cold it
actually is until you put on your racing kit tights. The
Top three men, including Mo, on lap two
Relaxing in the mess tent before the race
slower athletes can walk the whole way with thick
gear on, but the more competitive runners head out in
much thinner gear, so the key factor is to realise how
cold it will be and prepare properly.”
“That test run was a real eye-opener. About a mile out
of the camp, they stopped us all to take pics of us,
one by one, so we had to wait our turn, and in spite of
wearing serious gloves, I almost lost the feeling in one
of my hands. It was just that cold! I also realised the
ploughed lap was not too slippery, but it felt like low-
tide sand on a beach – it was soft, giving a bit, but not
quite as soft as beach sand.”
And unsurprisingly, given Mo’s competitive
running background, he was also checking out the
competition. “Having been with the group for a day
or two, I had figured out who were racing snakes
chasing the win, versus the guys just going for a finish
as part of their Seven Continents challenge. I had
originally thought of this race as just a fun expedition,
and a trip for experience, but as the race approached,
my heart rate picked up, and in the last couple of
hours before the start, I was already getting my mind
into racing mode.”
There was one last thing Mo really wanted to do
before the race, however. “They had advised us we
didn’t need to take any money to Antarctica, and there
would be no cell reception whatsoever, so we could
leave our valuables in the safe in Chile, but I just took
my phone with to take pics. When we got there, they
had a satellite phone which you could purchase air
time on, and my tent mate had a sat phone as well.
Race day was 13 December, my youngest daughter’s
birthday, so that morning my tent mate very kindly
offered me the use of his sat phone to call home to
wish her. That was really special.”
Freezing Conditions, Hot Racing
When the race started, some of the runners went
out really hard, and Mo was surprised to find himself
sitting back in eighth position after the first few kays.
“I realised then it was going to be quite some race,”
he says. Having caught the early frontrunners after
the first lap, he decided to test the field to see what
Mo with William Hafferty on lap three
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