Michael Wardian won the Antarctica Marathon the first of seven marathons to be run on seven continents over the next seven days

Michael Wardian, 44, of Arlington, Va. has won the first of seven marathons in the World Marathon Challenge in Antarctica today. Wardian, who won the challenge in 2017 and who holds the record for the fastest average time (2:45:57), finished today in 3:16:43. Running conditions are described as “quite challenging,” though the temperature is only -2 C, considerably warmer than many parts of North America.

Petr Vabrousek of the Czech Republic finished second, in 3:39:02, and Arno Van Triest of the Netherlands was third, in 3:49:55.

Among the women, Kristina Schou Madsen of Denmark finished first, in 3:47:41. Susannah Gill of Great Britain was second, in 3:53:55 and Stephanie Gicquel third, in 4:05:11.

The most recent update mentioned the temperature was becoming cooler, and the remaining participants have been on the course for more than five hours.

The group of 40 participants gathered in Cape Town, South Africa earlier this week to prepare for the challenge. They will return there for their second marathon, which starts tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. local time.

posted Thursday January 31st