FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
More Than 20 Runners To Reach 7 Marathons on 7 Continents Goal
at the Antarctica Marathon
Other Notable Entrants Include
First Blind Participant and a 14-Year-Old Girl on a Mission
BOSTON (Feb. 15, 2013) -- More than 20 runners are expected to reach their
goal of completing marathons on all seven continents at the 14th Antarctica
Marathon on March 7, announced Boston-based Marathon Tours & Travel, the
event and expedition organizer.
Also known as "The Last Marathon," the Antarctica Marathon is held annually
on King George Island, located off the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica -
the coldest, windiest and most remote continent on Earth.
"There has been tremendous interest in running a marathon on all seven
continents ever since the inaugural Antarctica Marathon in 1995," says Thom
Gilligan, president of Marathon Tours & Travel and race director of the
Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon. "The goal of running a marathon on
all seven continents is an extraordinary feat attempted by ordinary people
in their pursuit of self-discovery or other notable goals."In 1998,
Marathon Tours founded a Seven Continents Club to recognize those who have
accomplished this feat. Since then, more than 367 globetrotting runners
have achieved the goal, according to Gilligan.
Despite its extreme nature, the Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon has
sold out 11 of its last 14 editions, usually years in advance, and is
presently sold out through 2016.
The 26.2- and 13.1-mile courses transverse gravel roads that connect and
pass the scientific research bases of Uruguay, Chile, China and Russia.
Race-day temperatures can range from 15 to 34 F with wind gusts that can
easily reach 40 mph. Held at the tail end of the Antarctic summertime,
heavy snow is rare but light flurries are common.
Traveling to a marathon on what is often referred to as the "Last
Continent," is a marathon in itself. Athletes will travel an average of
6,500 miles each; first to Buenos Aires, Argentina, before departing to
Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern-most city in the world. There they will
board Akademik loffe, a Russian icebreaker ship for a two-day crossing of
the Drake Passage, a body of water notorious for being one of the roughest
seas in the world. The 14-day expedition also includes a number of landings
on the continent, sea kayaking and wildlife viewing.
Other notable entrants include:
Hein Wagner (Kuilsriver, WC, South Africa) - Totally blind from birth, Hein
has a passion for adventure, endurance sports and enabling others with
disabilities. He will be the Antarctica Marathon's first-ever totally blind
participant who will run with a guide. Hein, 40, is raising funds for
Vision Trust, a non-profit he founded whose mission is to make the world a
more accessible place for persons with disabilities and to promote the
integration of disabled persons into the workplace, sports arenas and the
arts.
Winter Vinecki (Salem, OR) - Winter is a 14-year-old athletic dynamo on a
mission. The ace student, a nationally ranked triathlete and aerial skiing
Olympic hopeful, is on a mission to be the youngest person to finish
marathons on all seven continents. She expects to finish her quest by the
time she is 15. Winter is also on a mission to raise awareness and funds
for prostate cancer research, a disease that claimed her father. She will
be the youngest runner ever to tackle the Antarctica Marathon.
Lynn McLernon, MD (Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia, Canada) - Lynn is running
the Antarctica Marathon to celebrate her five-year cancer free status. She
was 39 years old when she found hard lumps in her armpit. As a doctor, she
knew that she was feeling lymph nodes and learned that she had an
aggressive cancer that had actually not only given her multiple breast
cancers, but had eaten through her lymph nodes. Lynn's treatment included a
double mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and herceptin, a relatively new
medication. Lynn is running to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer
research. If Lynn had been diagnosed a few years earlier, before herceptin
was developed, she believes that she would not have survived. This will be
Lynn's eighth marathon, but the first since her cancer diagnosis five years
ago.
The Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon's official charity is Oceanites,
Inc., a non-profit organization that researches the impact of tourism on
Antarctica's environment. Participants raised over $100,000 on behalf of
the organization during the past two years. Another large donation is
expected in 2013.
For more information on the Antarctica Marathon, please visit
www.marathontours.com, write to or call +1
(617) 242-7845.
About Marathon Tours & Travel
Marathon Tours & Travel is the leading marathon tour operator in North
America offering comprehensive travel packages to 28 marathons and half
marathons on all seven continents, including the Antarctica Marathon and
Safaricom Marathon in Kenya, the only marathon run entirely within a game
park. For more information, please visit www.marathontours.com.
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