North Pole Marathon

North Pole Marathon
North Pole Marathon
Date	Mid-April
Location	North Pole
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon
Established	2003
Course records	Men's: 3:36:10 (2007); Thomas Maguire; Women's: 4:52:45 (2014); Anne-Marie Flammersfeld
Official site	www.npmarathon.com

The North Pole Marathon is run over the classic 42.195 km (26.219 mi) marathon distance at the North Pole. The race is run on small, 4.22 km (2.62 mi) loop about 10 times over hard snow or the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean.^[1] There are individual competitions with male and female divisions, and a team competition for teams of three or more. There is also an option to run a half marathon.

The North Pole Marathon has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the "Northernmost Marathon on Earth".^[2]

History

The first unofficial North Pole Marathon was a 'solo' run by Richard Donovan on April 5, 2002, in a time of 3:48:12. Richard won the first South Pole Marathon ten weeks previously and became the first marathoner at both poles by completing the North Pole Marathon.

The first official exploratory competitive race held on April 17, 2003, and was operated jointly by several entities with 10 competitors. The winner was Martin Tighe (GBR) with a time of 5:02:10 in temperatures of −29 °C (−20 °F) and difficult snow conditions throughout much of the course.

In 2005, the North Pole Marathon was cancelled due to a dispute between French and Russian logistics operators.

Results

Past winners

Key: Course record

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h:m:s)	Women's winner	Time (h:m:s)
1st	2003	Martin Tighe (GBR)	5:02:10	Mary Ritz (USA)
2nd	2004	Sean Burch (USA)	3:43:17	Stevie Matthews (GBR)
—	2005	Cancelled
3rd	2006	Michael Collins (IRE)	4:28:35	Alison Hamlett (GBR)	5:52:56
4th	2007	Thomas Maguire (IRE)	3:36:10	Susan Holliday (GBR)	6:17:40
5th	2008	Ahn Byeung-sik (KOR)	4:02:37	Cathrine Due (DEN)	5:37:14
6th	2009	Evgeniy Gorkov (RUS)	4:27:05	Pushpa Chandra (CAN)	7:27:31
7th	2010	Joep Rozendal (NED)	5:00:58	Emer Dooley (IRE)	5:56:54
8th	2011	István Tóth (HUN)	4:54:03	Richelle Turner (AUS)	6:03:06
9th	2012	Andrew Murray (GBR)	4:17:08	Demelza Farr (AUS)	6:06:36
10th	2013	Gary Thornton (IRE)	3:49:29	Fiona Oakes (GBR)	4:53:10
11th	2014	Michael Wardian (USA)	4:07:40	Anne-Marie Flammersfeld (GER)	4:52:45
12th	2015	Petr Vabroušek (CZE)	4:22:24	Heather Hawkins (AUS)	6:57:39
13th	2016	Dorn Wenninger (USA)	5:17:33	Gulzhamal DeFelice (USA)	5:50:12
14th	2017	Piotr Suchenia (POL)	4:06:34	Frédérique Laurent (FRA)	6:21:03
15th	2018	Argyrios Papathanasopoulos (GRE)	4:34:36	Guoping Xie (CHN)	6:43:20

2015

Men's Marathon 1. Petr Vabrousek (CZE) 4.22.24 2. Douglas Wilson (AUS) 5.01.38 3. Daniel Palko (SVK) 5.08.56

Women's Marathon 1. Heather Hawkins (AUS) 6.57.39 2. Alice Burch (GBR) 7.04.42 3. Jennifer Cheung (HKG /HONG KONG) 7.06.06

Team Competition 1. Vemma Europe (Grabowski, Maier, Reilly) 24.15.59

Women's Half Marathon 1. Tanj Donovan (IRL) 2. Karen Curtis (USA) 3. Annie Rawlinson (GBR)

2014

Men's Marathon 1. Michael Wardian (USA) 4:07:40 2. Luke Wigman (GBR) 5:03:55 3. Patrick Cande (TAH) 5:46:19

Women's Marathon 1. Anne-Marie Flammersfeld (GER) 4:52:45 2. Anna Wester (NED) 7:57:50 3. Shona Thomson (GBR) 9:09:22

Team Competition 1. UVU Racing Team (Wardian, Flammersfeld, Hinett) 16:41:01 2. Team EEK (Dorran, Hunt, Kemp) 25:25:44

Men's Half Marathon 1. Ian Egan (IRL) 3:41:07 2. Paul Langan (IRL) 4:18:00 3. Yusuke Mamada (JPN) 4:29:10

Women's Half Marathon 1. Pia-Margit Hegner (SUI) 3:42:00 2. Mary Grealish (IRL) 4:23:27 3. Orla Murphy (IRL) 5:41:14

2013

Men's Marathon 1. Gary Thornton (IRL) 3:49:29 2. Renaud Michel (FRA) 4:34:29 3. Willy Steinskog (NOR) 5:04:07

Women's Marathon 1. Fiona Oakes (GBR) 4:53:10 2. Stephanie Gicquel (FRA) 5:48:56 3. Anna Chernova (GBR) 7:27:09

Team Competition 1. UVU Racing Team 14:22:53 2. Green Monday / Convoy Hong Kong Team 21:20:57

Men's Half Marathon 1. Jeremy Cashen (NZL) 3:27:17 2. Dennis Andrade (USA) 4:17:26

Women's Half Marathon 1. Elaine Barrett (IRL) 4:54:16

North Pole Ski Marathon 1. Miguel Caselles (ESP) 6:54:20

2012

Men's Marathon 1. Andrew Murray (GBR) 4:17:08 2. Luis Alonso Marcos (ESP)4:19:38 3. James Matthews (GBR) 4:41:01

Women's Marathon 1. Demelza Farr (AUS) 6:06:36 2. Rebecca Newman (GBR) 6:11:39 3. Julie Brailsford (GBR) 6:14:40

2011

Men's Marathon 1. Istvan Toth (HUN) 4:54:03 2. John Braun (LUX) 5:05:50 3. Dmitry Mamadaliev (RUS) 5:05:53

Women's Marathon 1. Richelle Turner (AUS) 6:03:06 2. Sharyn Fitzgerald (AUS) 6:28:16 3. Sue Bradford (GBR) 7:14:24

Team Competition 1. The Arctic Challengers (Great Britain)

2010

Men's Marathon 1. Joep Rozendal (Netherlands) 5:00:58 2. Rik Vercoe (Great Britain) 5:07:30 3. Yen-Po Chen (Taiwan) 5:29:47

Women's Marathon 1. Emer Dooley (Ireland) 5:56:54 2. Julia Tizard (Great Britain) 7:31:05 3. Sarah Oliphant (USA) 7:58:14

Team Competition 1. Team Centrepoint (Great Britain) - Carnie, Boyne, Bolton

Records

The men's record of 3:36:10 was set by Thomas Maguire (IRL) in 2007.

The women's record of 4:52:45 was set by Anne-Marie Flammersfeld (GER) in 2014.

Two guided blind athletes, Mark Pollock and Jamie Cuthbertson, completed the race in 2004 and 2010, respectively.

In 2007, William Tan - a wheelchair competitor - completed a marathon distance on the aircraft runway.

References

^ "North Pole Marathon: Adventure Racing at the Top of the World". Men's Fitness. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
^ "For the Record". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

External links

Official website
Audrey McIntosh: The North Pole Marathon - Audreys 2015 experience
Arthur Kadar: This is the story of my first marathon: The North Pole Marathon. - Arthurs 2015 experience
Pictures of the North Pole Marathon 2009 by competitor Rob Plijnaar

[1] "North Pole Marathon: Adventure Racing at the Top of the World". Men's Fitness. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

[2] "For the Record". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

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