It’s now Wednesday afternoon and a sightseeing day has had to be cancelled because the Captain of the ship has reports of really bad weather coming  and is trying to beat it back to the Beagle Channel and get ahead of it. That means at least 2 days of sailing in a sea that’s  getting very rough – more and more competitors are starting to feel sick. I unfortunately have quite a strong constitution so will have to have another gin and tonic with a few drinking partners I’ve discovered! This will probably be my last blog so I will have to  bore you with some of my impressions of the race and Antarctica.
 
As one can imagine, the conditions were so different to anything we’ve ever experienced and they change so quickly that you never seem adequately prepared. There was thick snow (very heavy going) slippery ice (quite technical) mud, gravel, streams, howling winds, driving snow and amongst it all pockets of the most gorgeous sunny crisp weather. Except for the one stage that had to be cut short, all of the others were very long and pretty tough physically and mentally.
 
It has without a doubt been an experience of a lifetime and a real privilege to have seen Antarctica. I stand in awe of those early explorers like Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen – there is no harsher place on earth (we had the luxury of jumping on a zodiac back to a hot shower and warm cabin each night)
 
Diana and I set out to try and complete an extreme footrace on each of the 7 continents so it’s mission accomplished. More than anything we have been able to do this because of the support systems we have at home so thanks to everybody (you all know who you are). It was once again enjoyable to run with the winner of the Woman’s race – she is a fierce competitor and I am extremely proud of her. Ryan Sandes also  did South Africa proud (more than our rugby team at the moment!) by smashing the field in the men’s race. He just gets better and better and is such a humble courteous guy always giving encouragement to other competitors.
 
For the last time thanks for the blog comments and emails and I can’t wait to see everybody back home! Cheers

Well it’s all done! Finished our final stage today in almost 7 hours! It was all in thick thick snow and very heavy going even though the weather was great! Had a few more unique experiences again when we had to stop and wait for a penguin as they have right of way in Antarctica.
 
We are now enjoying a few drinks back on board the Antarctic Dream. It has been a unique and very special race in many ways – we have achieved our goal of running an extreme footrace on each of the 7 continents and once again Diana has won the Woman’s race. We have had the privilege of meeting some incredible people and visiting an amazing part of the world.
 
Chat soon

It's 9:30 am on Tuesday 23rd and we've been sailing for nearly 14 hrs after yesterday's Stage 3 on Deception Island. Our destination in about an hour's time and the venue for today's stage is Dorion Bay.As I write fellow competitors are watching some killer whales (orcas) and humpback whales having a lot of fun with the penguins!
 
We ran around 76 kms in 11 hrs yesterday. The terrain was great but we had to deal with the most extreme weather conditions I have ever run in - started off in driving snow where ski googles were necessary, after an hour it was mandatory to strap the snow spikes on to our shoes, the sun then came out and it was quite warm (one of the Italians even ran in shorts for a while!) and then an icy wind blew up in the fternoon forcing me to complete the stage in a neoprene face mask!. Diana couldn't feel her hands by the late afternoon so getting food out of her pack was a challenge.
 
We've managed to hang on to our top 10 placings but the Ladies Race was a fascinating contest yesterday between the top 3. The lead kept changing hands with none of the 3 giving an inch - in the end it the Croatian Miriam Pellizer who won the stage by a few minutes with Diana,myself and Samantha Gash from Australia finishing together. As long as we don't do anything silly on today's stage of around 50 kms? ( we haven't had a briefing yet) hopefully Diana will deservedly win the Woman's Race- hold thumbs!
 
Once again, the emails and blog comments have been fantastic!

1st  Stage over - we did 50 kms in around 7 hrs. The start was delayed until 12 noon because of bad weather but it cleared up nicely after this to allow us an afternoon of running on King George Island. I know it a cliche I'm sure you've all heard many times before but there really is no place on earth like this. Not only was the scenery and surroundings quite surreal but I had to fend off an attack by a Giant Pedrel (that's a bird for the ignorant ones) and we had to take a detour because a seal was lying on the trail!
 
Anyway it was a good day out. Pretty tough running in snow and ice with howling winds and the course had it's fair share of hills but so enjoyable. Ryan Sandes is becoming a running phenomenon the way he blew the rest of the field away but at the risk of sounding biased my running partner Diana was simply awesome today! She faced some strong competition in the woman's race from a very experienced Croatian and a young Aussie attempting to complete the 4 deserts but from the gun she just put her head down and said " catch me if you can". As usual DKP had to hang on for dear life. There's a long way to go but whatever happens Ireland can be proud of her performance!
 
The weather forecast for tomorrow is not great so we will hear later what's in store for us on Stage 2.
 
Chat soon    

It’s 5pm on Friday afternoon and we all know the details of tomorrow’s opening stage now. We have a wake-up call at 3:30 am, breakfast at 4 and then start loadng the zodiacs to King George Island from 5:45 am. Race start is 6am and it is a 15 hr stage on a 14.5 km looped course! 
 
It’s suddenly a lot colder, windier and rainy as we are now only 6 hrs away from Antarctica. We’ve been through our checklist – oops just been told it’s snowing!- and all ready to go I think. We have a final briefing about the Zodiacs tonight at 6pm, Dinner at 7:30 and then another attempted sleep in seas that are definitely getting rougher!
 
Everyone on the boat is understandably a lot quieter today as the holiday part of this adventure is over for a while!
 
Will try and update you on our progress and thanks again for all the communication!  

Hi All
 
We've been rolling around crossing The Drake Passage for a night and a day (It's Thurs 7pm) and by all accounts it has been a relatively calm passage so far.The day has been spent reading, sleeping, attending the odd lecture and watching the odd documentary.Just seen a David Attenborough BBC one and looking forward to seeing the penguins now.  Also plenty of eating as the food on board The Antarctic Dream is great. Cabins are small but very comfy - sleeping however takes a bit of getting used to.
 
I think we have another day and a bit before we reach land and the first stage on Saturday morning - can't wait to test out the gear and get going now! Let's hold thumbs the weather stays like it is at the moment - probably wishful thinking but we are able to get out on the open deck in a light fleece!
 
Thanks so much for all the emails and blog comments - as always it is so enjoyable reading them and they really are appreciated
 
Chat soon

Only a few hours now till we set sail on The Antarctic Dream across the Beagle Channel which we had a great view of at breakfast this morning. When we arrived yesterday the weather was very mild and quite balmy but there is definitely a nip in the air today and as we headed off for a little " loosener" around 10am Diana reckoned it was about 4 degrees (and she never exaggerates!!). Ushuaia is a beautiful port with quaint buildings and  surrounded by snow capped mountains.

Have met up with a good number of the competitors yesterday whilst doing some last minute shopping and had a meal last night with our old desert tent-mate James, his wife Angela and the "Glamour Girls" (as the 2 South Africans Simone and Kimberley are affectionately and appropriately called)

The talk around town is that they are planning to do the Long Stage first (could be up to 100 miles!) while the weather is good - we'll wait and see? 

Chat soon 

Over the first big hurdle as bag with all the technical gear (as technical as I can get - Dick Thring had to show me how to strap the snow spikes on my running shoes!) arrived safely in Buenos Aires from Jo´burg. Have a few days in BA and Uruguay before heading down South to Ushuaia. Feels like I´m on holiday so have to stop myself from getting on the piss and eating those massive juicy steaks as it´s a full week before we start running. Just realised why so many of the hotels were fully booked this week-end as it´s one of Argentina´s biggest race meetings this afternoon.

Diana arrives some time today from Dublin via Paris so apart from it being great to see her again, I no longer have to struggle to make myself understood as I will have my multi-lingual interpreter with me. That is she can speak Irish with many different accents but it always convinces (and confuses!) any locals.  

You can see I´m bored from the record number of blog posts even before an event starts! OK I´ll shut up - chat soon

With only a few days to go before I leave South Africa for Argentina on Thursday, it's the normal last minute checking of gear, equipment lists, travel documents etc. All quite exciting stuff as we prepare for a run in conditions not many of us have ever experienced before. I know Ryan Sandes has been preparing in an "ice chamber" in Cape Town but I've stuck to Durban beach in the good old East coast humidity - pretty good conditioning if we were heading to the Gobi or Sahara but not ideal for the coldest and windiest continent! 

Looking forward to catching up with Diana in Buenos Aires over the week-end and then seeing James and all the other wonderful people we have met at other races in Ushuaia including the 3 South Africans competing, Ryan and the "Glamour Girls" Kimberley and Simone.