(Editor’s note: Tyrone native Rick Stonebraker has shared his experiences with The Daily Herald in running “The Last Marathon”. This is the first article in a series of four that will run in the form of a diary of Stonebraker’s experiences.)
The phrase “Last Marathon” derived where a runner could claim the distinction of running a marathon on all the continents. At that time, the list included the six accessible continents. Tom Gilliland of Marathon Tours took care of that situation and now one can lay claim to running a marathon on all seven continents, thus it is called: “THE LAST MARATHON.”
My initial interest was not to run a marathon on all seven continents but merely to visit all seven; now lacking only Asia and Africa. Being a part of this group was the least expensive way to visit Antarctica and running a marathon in such a harsh climate was a bonus.
On February 18 and 19, 220 hardy souls ventured from the U.S. and 16 countries to converge in Buenos Aires for three days. Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina where the Tango is famous and the city has a European flavor. They have many beautiful parks and getting around the city is not difficult, even without being fluent in Spanish. A phrase book is all that is needed. I ventured out on foot, by taxi and the underground subway to visit as much of the city as possible.
Several of my new friends took a hydra-foil across the bay to Montevideo, the capitol city of Uruguay. I missed out as the tickets sold quickly to another tour group.
February 22
One-hundred-and-ten of us continued onto to Ushuaia (pronounced OO SHWHY AH), which is nicknamed “Fin del Mundo”; meaning End of the World as it is the southernmost city in the world.
From there, we boarded the ice-rated ship Vavilov to venture across the Drake Passage to King George Island, one of the Shetland Islands that lies off the Antarctica peninsula. The Drake Passage is the most feared passage of water in the world. Many ships have gone to the bottom over the centuries during violent storms. The other group of 110 people will come down a day later and board the IOFFE. The two sister-ships will get together on the day of the marathon.
February 23
Fortunately for us, the waters in the Drake Passage in late summer and early fall were gentle during our two-day voyage. Still, without proper preparation in the form of sea sick pills or a “patch” behind the ear, one could spend a lot of time in the bathroom or lying in a bunk. The ill advised “sea bands” (for around the wrist utilizing pressure points) did not work for me and I was cabin bound the first day. The doctor made a cabin call and after that, I was fine.
The ship is an ice-rated research vessel built in Raoma, Finland in 1988. When not used as a cruise vessel, it continues to be used for research – 117 meters long, 18 meters wide and 6450 gross tonnage.
The working crew is Russian and the Peregrine Adventure staff is Canadian and Australian. Both crew and staff numbers 45. The cabins are comfortable and the meals are first class. Each of the Peregrine staff is an expert in some form and daily presentations were available to learn about all aspects of the trip. Subjects included: photography, kayaking, seals, birds, whales and of course, the abundant penguin population.
Antarctica is spread over 4.6 million square miles of the coldest, driest, highest, and most inhospitable place on earth. The peninsula in the north where we visited is around 320 F. It is much warmer than the interior where even in the summer it can exceed 30 below. There is no vegetation to speak of and there are no animals living on the continent. Everything depends on the sea for life.
(Editor’s note: The next installment of the story can be found in tomorrow’s edition of The Daily Herald.)
