Antarctica, February 6, 2022

My favorite photo from that trip.

Minke whale sighting.

One of the locals in repose.

Our ship, Ocean Victory, in the bay at Deception Island.

The marathon start was in front of the Chinese research station.

We ran a circuit starting at the Chinese Research Station, ran by the Russian and Chilian Stations, then turned around at the Uruguayan Station. Out and back was only 4.5 miles, so we did that six @#$%&* times! It was summer in Antarctica, so there was a lot of standing water, which meant mud; at times it was like running through peanut butter. We wore our bibs on our thighs so we could add and subtract layers as conditions changed. This picture was taken on the first lap.

At about the eight-mile mark, my feet went out from under me and I fell. Fortunately, I didn’t land on any sharp rocks, but the right side of my body had a quarter inch of mud.

We were responsible for our own hydration. I had two water bottles at the start and one here, at the one-mile mark, halfway on the “out” leg of the out-and-back course.

Finally at the finish, mud and all.

We also did the Polar Plunge. Only requirement was to immerse the entire body. It wasn’t as shocking as I thought, but I didn’t stay in long. If you look closely, you’ll notice I still have the anti-chafing tape on my chest.

Abandoned infrastructure on Deception Island.

Our departure and termination points for the cruise was Ushuaia, Argentina, “Fin del Mundo”, the southernmost city in the world.