Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 127, February 2020 | Page 34

they had. “Soon I found myself with just the American
youngster, William Hafferty, and he led most of the
way, while I sat just behind him. By lap three he was
getting a bit too strong for me and I had to let him go,
but I saw I was comfortably clear of the next runner,
so I just maintained my pace to come home second.”
The runners were provided with two water stations on
the 10.5km loop, one at the start point and one at the
5km halfway mark of the loop, with numbered paper
cups for each runner. “You have to stop and find your
numbered cup in order to take warm water from an
urn, and they also had Coke, fruit and cookies for us.
We were asked to try not spill any Coke on the ice, as
it needs to be removed to maintain the purity of the
environment, and of course, we had to be careful not
to spill or splash any water or Coke on our faces, as it
would freeze, so we had to stop, fill up, drink carefully,
then get going again. It was really dry out there, so I
found water every 5km quite long for a marathon, and
felt a bit dehydrated,” says Mo.
In the end, William took the win in 3:34:12, breaking
the course record by 35 seconds, with Mo second in
3:43:12, followed by another American, Mark Leibold,
who was third in 3:58:49. And this is where Mo says
things were also a bit different to normal races. “They
had told us at the briefing that we would go into
hypothermia within minutes after finishing if we didn’t
get warm. They have all the flags of the competitors
at the finish, so I grabbed the SA flag, had a few pics
taken, and then I hit the shower. The crew in the camp
are only allowed to shower once a week, so we were
told we could shower after our run. It was a quick
The Men’s top three at prize-giving
shower – I had to work quickly, or be left with soap
after my bucket ran out, but that water was beautifully
warm. Then I could get warm clothing on again.”
While the leaders finished in less than four hours,
most of the other runners were out there for between
five and eight hours, with the longest race time going
to two runners, Ludivina Ferrer of the Philippines
and 84-year-old Canadian Roy Svenningsen, who
finished in 11:41:58 to become the oldest runner to
complete a marathon on the continent. Mo says they
would come into the mess tent after each lap to get
something warm to drink, and the rest of the runners
would cheer them on. “There was a fantastic spirit in
the group, and we all went out to cheer them in when
they finished around midnight, with hugs all round.
Everybody gets treated like a winner at this race.”
Bit of a Media Frenzy
With the race all done and everybody showered, the
runners then hung out in their tents or the mess tent,
keeping an eye on the notice board listing the weather
and flight details of the plane home. “We were briefed
to keep checking boarding plans for the next day, as
were told we had to be ready to go as soon as the
plane arrived. In the meantime, my tent mate said I
could use the last 40 seconds of air time on his phone
to call my wife.”
“She told me they had been following my progress
online, as the organisers posted updates on social
media after each lap, so not only did my family already
know I had finished second, but so did the South
African running community. She told me later she was
contacted by the media just after my call, and could
pass on what I had said! And that was just the first of
many media calls or requests. I had never planned to
run in Antarctica, and I had never expected to be on
the podium of an international marathon, so the media
interest back home really took me by surprise!”
Looking ahead, Mo says that having heard about the
Seven Continents, Grand Slam and World Marathon
Tour challenges, he is interested to try them as well
someday, but adds he is “not really a bucket list guy.”
On the other hand, he does have a goal in mind in the
World Marathon Majors, after his running exploits in
2019. You see, he managed sub-three-hour times in
all three that he ran, clocking 2:59 in Boston, 2:57 in
Chicago and 2:58 in New York, and now he would like
to try run sub-threes in London, Berlin and Tokyo to
round out his Marathon Majors collection.
“When I went sub-three in Boston, I decided it
would be cool to run a sub-three in Chicago as well,
but due to the late plans to add New York, I had
to decide whether to race Chicago and then just
survive New York, or use Chicago as a long training
run and then race New York, since they were less
than a month apart. After I ran 2:57 in Chicago, I
was on such a runner’s high because the race went
so well, so in spite of still feeling jetlagged from
Chicago when I got to New York, I just went for it. I
must admit, in NY my legs felt a bit flat in the first,
but then muscle memory kicked in and hit my rhythm
and pace – and that was also the day after we found
a bar in New York to watch SA win the Rugby World
Cup at 4am US time!”
For more info on the Antarctic Ice Marathon, go to www.icemarathon.com.
The next edition of the race will take place on 13 December 2020. Also, to find
out more about Mo’s coaching services, check out www.soulrunning.co.za.
Feeling the minus-24 wind
chill factor on the final lap
34
ISSUE 127 FEBRUARY 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Mo finishes second