FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Great Scot: Murray Wins UVU North Pole Marathon 2012
Scotland's Andrew Murray has won the UVU North Pole Marathon 2012, known as
the world's coolest marathon.
The 42,195km race, the world's most northerly marathon, took place on 6
April at 21:00 GMT. All forty-one competitors, comprising 36 male and 5
female runners, managed to finish the gruelling event at the Geographic
North Pole in 'ideal' temperatures of -26C.
In order to reach the race location, competitors assembled at Spitsbergen,
an island situated 1,000km off the northern coast of mainland Norway. In a
major logistical operation, they were subsequently flown on a specialised
aircraft to a temporary ice base that was constructed in the high Arctic
Ocean at the Pole.
A marked circuit of 4.22km was laid out through the small pressure ridges
and ice hillocks that dotted the horizon and contestants were required to
cover 10 loops exactly. The course was patrolled by armed personnel as two
polar bears were spotted in the area one week previously.
With no land at the North Pole, the athletes from 18 countries and 5
continents were running on moving ice floes on the Ocean although the
movement of sea currents was not felt by them.
Spain's Luis Alonso Marcos forced the pace at the outset, leading for most
of the initial 10km with Murray (GBR) and James Matthews (GBR) in close
pursuit.
It was the 10th edition of the North Pole Marathon and sophisticated
electronic timing was introduced for the first time with Ultra High
Frequency Rfid disposable tags built into the participants' race bibs.
The ambitious timing system revealed a 50 second advantage for Murray over
the Spaniard at 12.6km and this lead was extended to 2 mins 33 seconds by
the half-way point. At the end of lap seven of ten, Murray's advantage had
grown to 5 mins 8 seconds and victory seemed certain, but the Arctic can be
an unforgiving and unpredictable environment. As the effects of the cold
temperatures and underfoot snow terrain suddenly began to impact Murray,
Marcos fought back to dramatically slice his advantage in half by the
finish line.
The first three finishers were Andrew Murray (GBR) in 4:17:08 followed by
Luis Alonso Marcos (ESP) in 4:19:38 and James Matthews (GBR) third in
4:41:01.
The women's race also witnessed a close finish amongst the top three with
Australia's Demelza Farr prevailing in a time of 6:06:36 followed by Great
Britain's Rebecca Newmann (6:11:39) and Julie Brailsford (6:14:40) in
second and third, respectively.`
Adding to her joy upon winning the race, Demelza's boyfriend James Alderson
proposed to her on crossing the finish line and she accepted. It was
another North Pole Marathon first!
The event was not all about the front runners, however, and special mention
must go to Philippe Laurent (FRA) who completed the marathon despite
suffering from multiple sclerosis. It was a truly heroic effort by Laurent,
who was accompanied by Ireland's Paul Grealish throughout his race. A
number of runners also managed to complete a 'Grand Slam' by finishing a
marathon on all seven continents and at the North Pole.
After all participants stood at the exact Geographic North Pole, Murray,
Farr and Laurent received specially designed race jackets for polar
conditions from title sponsor UVU, a new premium performance brand that
launched on the day of the marathon. In addition, the top male finisher and
top female finisher received a Bering watch and engraved crystal.
The next edition of the UVU North Pole Marathon is provisionally scheduled
for 5 April 2013. The race field is limited in accordance with aircraft
capacity constraints. For further information, see www.npmarathon.com.
About Polar Running Adventures: Polar Running Adventures is operated by
multiple polar marathoner, Richard Donovan. In addition to organising the
world's northernmost marathon - the UVU North Pole Marathon - Polar Running
Adventures also organises the world's southernmost marathon - the Antarctic
Ice Marathon.
About UVU: UVU is a new premium performance wear brand that uses the
world's most intelligent fabrics to create a new breed of clothing for
ultra-marathon runners competing in extreme conditions ranging from –40C to
+40C. UVU is the title sponsor of the UVU North Pole Marathon 2012 and the
UVU Jungle Marathon 2012 and has been working with some of the world's best
long distance runners to create collections that meet their every need when
active. The brand launched on the day of the UVU North Pole Marathon with a
website at www.uvuperformance.com and with two collections: Race (for the
extreme runner) and Train (boasting the same technologies as the Race
collection yet designed for the more every day runner in milder
conditions).
UVU NORTH POLE MARATHON 2012 RESULTS SUMMARY
MEN'S MARATHON
Name Time
1. Andrew Murray (GBR) 4.17.08 Bib No. 25
2. Luis Alonso Marcos (ESP) 4.19.38 Bib No. 22
3. James Matthews (GBR) 4.41.01 Bib No. 24
4. Hirofumi Ono (JPN) 5.07.05 Bib No. 29
5. Greg Swan (AUS) 5.13.39 Bib No. 38
6. Ian Ayling (GBR) 5.52.04 Bib No. 2
7. Cees Hardeman (NED) 5.56.05 Bib No. 8
8. James Alderson (AUS) 6.06.38 Bib No. 1
9. Vlado Staresinic (CRO) 6.11.22 Bib No. 39
10. Lars Samo Tobiassen (GRL) 6.20.28 Bib No. 14
11. Thorak Skifte Nielsen (GRL) 6:18:22 Bib No. 28
12. Georges Laplanche (FRA) 6.26.13 Bib No. 18
13. Bob Sheard (GBR) 6.26.16 Bib No. 36
14. Iurii Vavulov (RUS) 6.28.50 Bib No. 41
15. Akannguaq Lennert (GRL) 6.28.50 Bib No. 20
16. Nasos Ktoridis (CYP) 6.34.38 Bib No. 17
17. Michel Robitaille (CAN) 6.35.01 Bib No. 34
18. Peter Jensen (DEN) 6.36.02 Bib No. 11
19. Frank Rohde (GER) 6.36.22 Bib No. 35
20. Graham Gillespie (AUS) 6.37.54 Bib No. 6
21. Wolfgang Kapf (AUT) 6.39.47 Bib No. 16
22. James Sinclair (GBR)) 6.40.42 Bib No. 37
23. Alexandre De Gouyon Matignon (FRA) 6.42.35 Bib No. 23
24. Marcus Pinsker (GER) 6.43.59 Bib No. 33
25. Enrique Gomez Pamies (ESP) 6.46.06 Bib No. 31
26. Jamie Harris (CAN) 6.55.10 Bib No. 10
27. James Danaher (GBR) 7.16.01 Bib No. 21
28. Justin Johanneson (GBR) 7.20.51 Bib No. 12
29. Rene Kaerskov (DEN) 7.33.49 Bib No. 15
30. Carl Philips (USA) 8.47.34 Bib No. 32
31. Joseph Lim (USA) 8.56.11 Bib No. 30
32. Glenn Grossman (USA) 8.56.11 Bib No. 7
33. Nick Zafer (AUS) 9.29.20 Bib No. 40
34. Zhu Han (CHN) 10.31.26 Bib No. 9
35. Philippe Laurent (FRA) 10.51.10 Bib No. 19
35. Paul Grealish (IRL) 10.51.10 Bib No. 4
WOMEN'S MARATHON
Name Time
1. Demelza Farr (AUS) 6.06.36 Bib No. 5
2. Rebecca Newman (GBR) 6.11.39 Bib No. 26
3. Julie Brailsford (GBR) 6.14.40 Bib No. 3
4. Marianna Melanie Zaikova (FIN) 7.03.36 Bib No. 27
5. Rhoda Jones (USA) 11.41.26 Bib No. 13
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