The traditional Lavuu tents with the Northern Lights A cover shot for Nat Geo
On their last legs the Asolo ’ s that took me up Mount Everest
The dog sled challenge
Singapore 2017
And so race day dawned , bitterly cold like all the other days , this was the 4th and final day of the IGO Adventures N60 Challenge . At 5:00am when we reluctantly rose to begin our race preps , the sun seemed as indisposed to make an appearance , as I was to come out of the relative warmth of my Lavuu tent . I knew the day would be long , but had no idea how long it would eventually end up being . The 26mile race from Helmsedal to Geilo would take us across remote snow covered plateaus often used by the military to train special forces . At least 10 miles would also take us through the very remote Hallingskarvet National Park , within which no motorized vehicles are allowed , so to effect any such rescue government permission would have to be sought .
The start to my day was not exactly auspicious , as I wandered into the communal tent for breakfast that morning , I discovered that the boots which had seen me up Everest – that I had foolishly left by the fire to dry out from the day before , had started to melt – would they even make the full marathon distance ? Luckily one of my tent mates Nicky Bannister wore the same size shoes as me and she lent me a spare pare of runners just in case they didn ’ t . Some-what sleep deprived and as usual cold , I ambled around camp in a daze , putting water into my freeze-dried porridge , preparing my day pack and psyching myself up for the challenge ahead .
And so 2hrs later , with much fanfare , and a little sadness that the adventure was almost over , the race began . As the other contestants powered ahead , I set my own pace , for me this was a race of the mind over the body , and I was determined in this duel that the mind would win . The harsh reality of what I was doing smacked me hard in the face less than 5 miles into this race , and I realized I would have to dig deep to make the distance . Bobby Melville ’ s business partner in IGO George Bullard , a modern day Edmund Hillary with the charm and Suave of Clarke Gable and some serious adventure credentials already under his belt became my motivator and Knight in shining armour . He relieved me of my backpack and told me to focus on just moving forward . As I had never completed an “ ice marathon ” before , the
object for me here was just to finish and for the next 9 hrs George coaxed and cajoled me to keep me going . Pre-race , N60 route planner Rune Abrahamsen had described the terrain as “ undulating ”, to me it just seemed never-ending , “ a vast swathe of white wilderness punctuated by peaks to climb .”
Luckily Spring had decided to make a premature appearance that day , the sun , by now high in the sky , warmed the air though it was also fast melting the ice causing it to give way perilously and in places make it treacherously slippery . By now running was out of the question , we were walking . We even did a pit stop once we got out of the National Park to have lunch . I imagine this was like no other adventure that George Bullard had ever undertaken .
Fueled up , the last 5k with the end in sight , I even picked up some pace and started running again . The thought of a comfortable bed , hot shower and the proper non freeze dried meal that awaited me at the Vestlia spurred me on . Not to mention George Bullard ’ s constant “ we are almost there KK .”
By the time we reached Geilo , the other participants bar one who had to be removed from the course due to serious injury had all made it back to the warmth of the hotel . Such is the spirit and camaraderie of IGO though , the other surviving participants who had battled 4 days of challenges on their body and probably the only thing they wanted to do was to curl up in a warm bed , turned out to welcome George and I over the finish line with much ado .
It certainly wasn ’ t my best ever marathon time , but for me this was about enduring and completing this challenge . I was euphoric when we eventually crossed the finish line 26 miles later . Feet aching , body cold , hungry , tired but very happy …. IGO had achieved its objective .. that is the sweet taste of success that only comes with achievement , and the only way to experience that is if You Go ………
Karen Kranenburg travelled to Norway on Norwegian Airlines as a guest of the Skarsnuten and Vestlia Hotel . ◼
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