24.02.10
SCOTTS VALLEY -- Game a marathon requires endurance and a certain mindset.
Running a marathon in Antarctica, which is the extent of the U.S. and Mexico and buried under a mile of snow and ice, takes those things added to a brave soul, special gear and lots of legal tender.
"Since I was a boy, this has been on my bucket list of things I've wanted to do," Roger Sanford said. "This is a lifetime hallucination."
Sanford, a Los Gatos resident who works as vice president of media services for Scotts Valley-based Mediatile, will be among 100 runners out for the rivalry of their lives on March 6 in a place so cold no trees plant and nothing rots.
He was chosen to join the 26.2-mile run through a pool that included about 5,000 adventure runners from around the world vying for a particle in the 11th Antarctica Marathon and Half-Marathon.
The number of runners allowed ashore for the affair is restricted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has jurisdiction over Antarctica and works closely with Marathon Tours and Treks, the event organizer. Marathon organizers must file an environmental import report with the EPA before being allowed to hold the race to ensure the continent's dainty ecosystem remains unharmed.
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel