Running News Daily

Sean Tobin sets record at Antarctic Ice Marathon

Ireland's Sean Tobin (a 2018 Ole Miss grad) runs a 2:53:33 marathon (6:37/mile pace) over snow in 6-degree temperatures at the Antarctic Ice Marathon. It's the fastest marathon ever run in Antarctica, breaking Mike Wardian's record of 2:54:54.

Tipperary native Seán Tobin has won the Antarctic Ice Marathon and has set a new world record in the process.

The Irish star finished in a time of 2:53:33 to take home victory in the 17th edition of the event.

In doing so, Tobin smashed the previous record of 2:54:54 set by USA’s Mike Wardian five years ago during the 2017 World Marathon Challenge.

The 28-year-old, who is known as the Irish hammer, was a track star in his youth and won National titles in 1,500m and 10,000m events. He has also broken the four-minute mile barrier in the past.

It might be cold back home, but it is nothing compared to the -14C conditions Tobin battled through for nearly three hours.

But the Clonmel man kept his cool, handled the pressure and created a little slice of history on the icy continent.

(12/16/2022) Views: 738 ⚡AMP

An 84-year-old Canadian man, Roy Jorgen Svenningsen, became the oldest person to ever run a marathon in Antarctica as he completed the Antarctic Ice Marathon

The senior runner, Roy Jorgen Svenningsen, was not the only marathoner to set a record at the extreme running event as this year's winner, William Hafferty of the United States, clocked a new record time coming in at an impressive 3 hours, 34 minutes and 12 seconds.

Runners braved windy, yet sunny, conditions as they made two laps around the Union Glacier exploration camp just 965km from the South Pole.

The first woman across the finish line was Lenka Frycova from the Czech Republic with a time of 4 hours, 40 minutes and 38 seconds.

There were three Irish runners, with James Murphy first across the line, finishing fifth overall, in a time of 4:21:15, while Sean O'Hagan finished in 5:30:46 and Paul Grealish in 6:42:37.

But it was the most senior of the runners that inspired most, when Svenningsen crossed the line at 11 hours, 41 minutes and 58 seconds.

Race organisers said it made him the oldest person to ever complete a marathon on the continent.

They also said Svenningsen, who will soon turn 85, has completed more than 50 marathons around the world having run his first in Calgary, Canada back in 1964.

(12/16/2019) Views: 2,046 ⚡AMP

Former hurler Seamus Hennessy has completed the Antarctic Ice Marathon in 7:05:33 hrs

Former Tipperary (Ireland) hurler Seamus Hennessy has completed the Antarctic Ice Marathon in aid of Suicide Awareness in a time of 7:05:33 hours.

Hennessy, who won an All-Ireland medal with Tipperary in 2010, signed up for the grueling 26.2 mile challenge to raise money for two local charities close to his heart - Pieta House and Living Links Tipperary.

Hennessy left for Punta Arenas in South West Chile on December 8 before making his way to Union Glacier in the Antartic which is home to the southernmost marathon on the planet with conditions reaching a windchill temperature of -20C.

In 2000, when Hennessy was just 11 years old, he lost his mother Josie to suicide. In January 2013, while watching the Late Late Show at home in Cloughjordan with his father, his attention was caught by Cycle Against Suicide founder Jim Breen who was on the show to speak about the devastatingly high rates of suicide in Ireland at the time, ten suicides per week.

"Watching him, I felt I could contribute too by sharing my own story in the hope of helping others avoid the same devastating tragedy that had befallen my family and so began my involvement in sharing my story in various schools, communities, GAA clubs and at events around Ireland."

(12/14/2018) Views: 1,578 ⚡AMP

Seamus Hennessy a former hurler is ready for challenge of a lifetime in the Antartic Ice Marathon

A dodgy knee ended Seamus Hennessy’s days hurling with Tipperary, but two bad knees aren’t going to stop him running a marathon on the frozen plains of Antarctica.

Hennessy won an All-Ireland in 2010, coming off the bench to score a point in the final win over Kilkenny, and hurled his last with Tipp not long after when a seemingly innocuous complaint turned into a career-ending injury.

When he was ten years old his mother Josie, the heart and soul of her family and the local community in Cloughjordan, felt like she could no longer go on in this world and took her own life, leaving behind a massive void.

Today Hennessy will run 26.2 miles in her honor at the Antarctic Ice Marathon on Union Glacier at the bottom of the world as he aims to raise $250,000US for charities aimed at suicide prevention and helping those left behind under the Running for Josie banner.

(12/13/2018) Views: 1,786 ⚡AMP

Richard Donovan is planning on finishing his 3,000 mile journey across America this weekend

Irish Ultra runner Richard Donovan is close to completing the equivalent of running nearly 130 marathons. The well-known record setter is currently undertaking the epic Trans North America Run, a 3,100 mile run across the US, travelling from San Francisco to New York, to raise funds for fellow runner Alvin Matthews, who became paralysed in 2014.

Alvin is a dam builder and suffered a 25ft fall in Lebanon last year. He had previously completed two races that Richard had organised, the Antarctic Ice Marathon and the North Pole Marathon, and was due to take part in the Volcano Marathon in South America when he had the accident. To help raise funds for Alvin, Richard began his adventure across the US on May 19th in San Francisco. 

Richard is no stranger to endurance running and currently holds the world record for completing seven different marathons on seven different continents in less than five days back in 2012. During his North American travels, Richard has managed to cover 50 miles in one day, all part of his training for a run he is set to undertake across Antarctica.

“I wanted to see and experience what I considered to be real America, with some of its epic scenery, and I wanted to do it in the heat of the summer. After the start at the Golden Gate Bridge I ran through the rolling hills of California, ‘wine country’, to Lake Tahoe,” he explains.

Although an experienced ultrarunner, Richard has faced considerable hardship during his trans-America run. Blisters were the biggest issue in the first few weeks. I was in a bad situation, getting up daily with a lot of pain. My skin had split in places and I had what I can only describe as very bad open wounds to a couple of toes,” he said.  Injuries were not the only peril that Richard faces, with Mother Nature proving a formidable foe.

“I could hear the howls of coyotes around me during the evening,” he recalls. There were also shadows that appeared to be racing nearby, but I could never see an animal. It was only when I decided to look up that I noticed it was buzzards circling overhead. Of course I encountered many snakes along the route, and had a close encounter with one in particular.”

Richard has been averaging 35 miles per running day. The total distance of the run is 3,200 miles. It’s the equivalent of the flight distance across the Atlantic from New York to Dublin. Richard intends to finish the run this Saturday in Battery Park, New York.

(12/12/2018) Views: 1,490 ⚡AMP

Chris Weir has been training in a produce plant in Dallas as he gets ready to run the Antarctic Ice Marathon

Christopher Weir, is an avid marathon runner, among many other athletic pursuits. Chris, a successful Dallas businessman, has run the Dallas marathon four times and the New Orleans marathon once during the last few years. Running and finishing a marathon is special but after you’ve done it again and again, with thousands of others at each event; what do you do for an encore? Well, leave it to Chris to transcend from the mundane to the extraordinary. On December 13, the fourteenth Antarctic Ice Marathon will take place just a few hundred miles from the South Pole at the foot of the Ellsworth Mountains, the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica. Chris Weir will be on the starting line this year.  He has been training by running in the ice-cold environment of a produce plant in Dallas.  For Chris, the journey begins by flying to Punta Arenas, Chile on December 10. During the next 24 hours he, and the 54 other competitors from 14 countries around the world, will undergo a briefing about the marathon and the conditions under which it will be run. On December 12, the entire group will be transported by private jet for the four hour flight to Union Glacier, Antarctica, the icy location of the marathon. Union Glacier Camp is only accessible by air and the aircraft will land on a naturally-occurring ice runway on the Union Glacier, where competitors will take their first steps in Antarctica. Then, they will climb aboard a specially adapted van for a five mile ride to camp, where final preparations will be made for the epic event the following day. (11/28/2018) Views: 1,432 ⚡AMP

A seven-strong Australian contingent is set to take on the Antarctica marathon on December 13th

Lawyer Justin Quill will take on a unique challenge in the coming months. He’s set to take part in the Antarctic Ice Marathon, which starts on December 13. Former footballer Campbell Brown and comedian Tommy Little will form part of a seven-strong Australian contingent heading over to Antarctica to compete in the event on ice. “It’s going to be five hours in minus 20 degrees. “It’ll be a great adventure for us but we’re also raising money for spinal injuries in Australia,” they said. (11/10/2018) Views: 1,498 ⚡AMP

Hassan Esufally aims to become the first Sri Lankan to complete marathons in all seven continents

Hassan Esufally will take on his fifth continent in his goal of completing marathons in all seven continents, when he competes in the Big Five Marathon in South Africa June 23.  Runners from all over the world are gearing up for this exclusive Marathon. The Marathon takes runners through spectacular game reserves in South Africa.  The cut off time for this extremely challenging marathon is only 7 hours. Hassan Esufally aims to become the first Sri Lankan to complete a full marathon in all seven continents. Achieving this feat will propel him into a unique and exclusive club of the world’s greatest marathon runners – the 7 Continents Marathon Club. “I have been doing both training and fasting due to Ramazan and it has been a very challenging month for me physically,” Esufally says. “But I have managed to adapt and change my training, eating and sleeping schedule accordingly.”  I also want to add that given my previous experience in Boston due to adverse weather I will have a contingency plan in place. Esufally has already completed marathons in the continents of Australia (Melbourne Marathon in 2014 and 2016), Europe (Stockholm Marathon in June 2017), Asia (Colombo Marathon in October 2017) and North America (Boston Marathon in April 2018).   In August, he will be in South America where he will participate in the INCA Trail Marathon. Finally, in December this year, he will compete in the 14th Antarctic Ice Marathon in Antarctica. (06/18/2018) Views: 1,882 ⚡AMP

After Running a Marathon on Seven Continents...they still had one more to do

With seven marathons on seven continents in seven years already behind them, Stephen and Eleanor Pienaar are ready to become the first South Africans to compete in the North Pole Marathon. They started training for the Marathon which takes place on moving sea ice and considered one of the toughest marathons in the world, in September last year. “We will be running on sea ice, which will be more extreme than the Antarctic Ice Marathon,” says Eleanor. “Russian soldiers will parachute out of a plane and secure the perimeter to make sure no polar bears wander onto the course. We will be running a four-kilometre lap 10 times. We have to be in a contained area because of the polar bears and the sea ice, that can crack underfoot. It will be completely different to the Antarctic Ice Marathon. We will be running in temperatures of minus 40 to 30 degrees.” The North Pole Marathon will be run on April 9 this year, they will be starting their trek to the North Pole on April 1. (02/13/2018) Views: 1,892 ⚡AMP
Epic Running Adventures

Ireland's Gary Thornton is not new to Extreme Racing

Ireland's Gary Thornton wins in Miami and takes the outright World Marathon Challenge title! He won all seven marathons. Gary is not new to extreme running events. In 2016 he won the Antarctic Ice Marathon and in 2014 he battled the altitude and blistering heat to win the Volcano Marathon just to name two. Gary is a teacher and a 2:17 marathoner, He has won the Irish 10,000m track championships on two occasions. His best 10k on the track is 29:00 and he has broken 14 minutes for 5k. (02/05/2018) Views: 1,853 ⚡AMP
Epic Running Adventures