ANTARCTICA MARATHON

I just got back from Antarctica where I ran my 25th marathon for kids and schools. We raised almost $17,000 from this marathon. Every dollar is going towards building schools and empowering lives. This year alone we’ll build two more schools, one in Burkina Faso (West Africa) and one in Nicaragua (Central America). I am humbled by your continued support and immense generosity. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I am forever grateful to you all. ❤

I registered for the Antarctica marathon almost 4 years ago and I’d been saving my own money for the trip ever since. I am so happy I did this.  It turned out to be one of the greatest adventures of my life! Antarctica is a fairy-tale like nothing I’d seen before; it has an unforgettable aura about it. It’s a melting pot of emotions and experiences, a juxtaposition between omnipresent serenity and the ferocious nature of wildlife. It’s mystifying and inspiring!

I took all the pictures with my Sony A7 camera and 24-240mm lens. I chose my favorite 100 shots. I also got a few more amazing photos from my fellow runners. My hope is that all these pictures can give you a glimpse of what I’d experienced for the last 10 days.

Enjoy! ❤

I started the journey in Buenos Aires, in a beautiful neighborhood called Puerto Madero.
I loved the colors and reflections. Such a beautiful night.

Interesting architecture of a suspension bridge.

Floralis Genérica – a striking city landmark in Buenos Aires. It is a giant flower sculpture; its petals open every morning and slowly close at sunset every night.

Caminito! A charming, colorful street located in a neighborhood called La Boca. It’s full of life and character.

Love the geometric shapes and colors.

My last run in Buenos Aires, in 90 degrees weather.
Good preparation for the blizzard ahead 😉

The next day I visited Uruguay, getting one more stamp on the passport. My sweet friend, Carolyn is presenting our new destination 🙂 – Colonia de Sacramento.

Colonia is a city in southwestern Uruguay, across the Río de La Plata from Buenos Aires. It’s known for its cobblestones and colorful flowers. It actually reminded me a bit of a little town in Romania, called Sighisoara.

Love the narrow cobblestone streets.

The southernmost tip of South America, Ushuaia, known as “The End of the World.” I love the layers in this picture – bus, building, mountains.

This is George, my new friend and fellow runner. I didn’t take this picture but I love George’s smile so much. 🙂

Fin del Mundo!

This is hilarious – entrance to a restroom in a bakery in Ushuaia. Love it.

I love the red ship and mountains in the background.

Next we boarded the Ioffe, a Russian science ship. So small compared to the Celebrity Infinity cruise ship in the background.

 

I loved my cabin on the Ioffe, it was neat and cozy.

Getting ready for the race, the cheering squad (from left Lola, Dortumnd and Blanko) was pretty pumped too 😉 My race number was 25 which was pretty cool considering it was my 25th marathon.

The scientific community in Antarctica. Our marathon course was along the Chinese and Russian bases.

Race day! I didn’t take any of the race shots.
Thanks so much everyone who shared all these great pictures. This is so cool!
Thank you to all the Marathon Tours crew, One Ocean staff and all the volunteers who helped and cheered us on during the race. I’m grateful for all the support and help. ❤

At the start of the race was pretty cold, I’d say 15-20F, blizzard and quite windy. After 45min-1hour, snow stopped, weather got a bit warmer, although still windy and chances of hypothermia.

The course was hard, hilly, slippery, muddy and had lots of rocky parts. I rolled my ankle couple of times but nothing serious. Just a bit scary 😉

Snow covered our bags and water bottles.

Cute little penguin crossing the marathon course!

My last loop. Woo-ho!

Finally finished! Took me more than I planned but I am so happy I finished!!! My final time was 5h 53 min. I thought of my mom a lot during the race.
I LOVE MY MOM.

After the race day we went on some AMAZING excursions.
I love this shot of getting one of the Zodiac boats out.

Getting on the Zodiac was nerve-wracking at the beginning but a piece of cake by the end of the trip. 😉

Took this pic from one of the Zodiac boats.

I loved watching the albatrosses; they have the largest wingspan of any living bird.

Amazing sun rays coming through the clouds.

Beautiful sunset.

I love this shot. I placed my camera on the edge of the Zodiac to get a cool angle and composition.

Zodiac ride and iceberg watching.

I love this! It reminds me a bit of Lady Liberty! The left part of the iceberg is the torch. 🙂

And how cool is this iceberg?! I love the reflections. It looks like an accordion 🙂

Love the color of the water.

Penguin colonies!

My mom and I LOVE penguins so much!!! For my mom’s 70th birthday, I decided to adopt an Emperor Penguin chick. I used WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature. Check them out; maybe you’d also like to adopt in honor of a loved one. ❤

Love the colors.

Group walking.

🙂 ❤

Roar!

Who’s so sad and adorable ❤

This is gotta be the beginning of a comedy sketch 😉

I think they love each other!

Majestic whales.

Whale watching. Look how close we were!

I was on the Ioffe ship and captured this shot.

Amazing whale tail shots!
These are not mine but I want to share them; I think they are amazing.

Dortmund made it to Antarctica! He travels everywhere with me 🙂

What a sweet photo of Jessie and Brie. I love their smiles!

My sweet roommate, Whynde!
Whynde runs ultra marathons and one of her goal is to climb the 7 summits. So amazing!

And here is Blanko’s portrait too!

Little bird.

Roar!

Who’s so cute!

Almost looks like a worm 🙂

Kind of scary.

Hi Lovie!

Beautiful light!

Excursions!

I love seeing my fellow “expeditioners” on top of the world. 🙂

❤

Reflections and geometric symmetry.

I love the juxtaposition of humans and penguins.

Hiking and exploring Paradise Bay in Antarctica. Such a breathtakingly beautiful place.

I made it to the top!

So did Sheryl and Mary!

And Ben and his beautiful mom, Christine! I love this picture of them.

Whynde and I, ready for the Polar Plunge!

I told Harry before I jumped, in case anything happened to me to tell my mom that I love her.

Our last day in Antarctica was so beautiful.
Party time! Ceremony, yummy food, dancing and good times!

Thom, announcing the winners!
He is the founder of Marathon Tours & Travel. I ran Great Wall and Antarctica with them and I had amazing time every time – two of my life’s greatest experiences! They’re great organization.

Ellen, Matt and I.

What a great shot of Todd, the winner of Antarctica Marathon 2018. 3 hours & 7 minutes.
I don’t have a picture of the female winner 😦 Campbell, Whendi. She was so amazing, finished the race in 3 hours and 58 minutes. Congratulations to Whendi and Todd!

Carol and Cecil! Carol has ran a marathon on each of the 7 continents!
Congratulations Carol!You are so inspiring. ❤

Laura – the amazing Wonder Woman! ❤

Beautiful Megan!

Ellen, Charlotte and I. Ellen was the doctor on the ship, Charlotte ran her 201st marathon. So kind and inspirational. I love them both! ❤

Farewell Antarctica! ❤ What an amazing life adventure this trip was. I met so many inspirational people each with their own story of courage, resilience, hope and love. I got to explore the most unique and pristine place on Earth. I saw cute little penguins, albatross, majestic whales, seals and thousand year old icebergs.

Thank you One Ocean team (Karen, Kaylan, Liz, Natalie, Jackie, Tessa, Harry, Chris, Ian, Jesse, Ferenc, Andres, and Sinckers) for taking such good care of all the runners and making this experience unforgettable! ❤

Antarctica – you are magical, and I will never forget you! ❤ ❤ ❤