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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Nick Mead

Polar Circle marathon 2010

Polar circle: Polar circle: Ice-cap
The Polar Circle marathon - dubbed 'the coolest marathon on earth' - involves a section on Greenland's spectacular permanent ice-cap
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon start
Sixty runners started the marathon this year. Unusually warm weather (it was -10C at the start) meant much of the race was run on gravel rather than snow
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon - leaders
The race leaders tackle the ice-cap
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon - ice-cap section close-up
The lack of snow cover made the going tougher, as the bare ice offered little grip, even with spikes
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon - ice-cap slip
A competitor struggles to stay upright on the ice
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon - twins
Dutch twins Catherina Eva (left) and Maria Schilder finished second and third in the women's full marathon - both in 4:13:41
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon - me right
Nick Mead (right) and Paolo Barghini of Italy (who came second in 3:20:15) tackle an uphill section
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle - Russell glacier
After the ice-cap, the marathon route passes the edge of the Russell Glacier Photograph: Nick Mead/Guardian
Polar circle: Polar Circle - Russell glacier
Recent ice fall at the Russell glacier
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle - Russell glacier
A competitor gets close up to the glacier during a stop-off on the pre-race route inspection Photograph: Nick Mead/Guardian
Polar circle: Polar Circle - route after ice-cap
The rest of the undulating route (the track to the left of the lake) seen from the top of Sugar Loaf mountain Photograph: Nick Mead/Guardian
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon - another hill
Although the Polar Circle marathon involves a net height loss of around 500m, there are still a lot of hills to climb (around 500m up and 1,000m down)
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
Polar circle: Polar Circle - last few miles
The final few miles of the route (track on the right) into Kangerlussuaq - home of Greenland's main airport and base for the Polar Circle marathon Photograph: Nick Mead/Guardian
Polar circle: Polar Circle marathon 2010 winners
Winners Maja Boe (3:52:59) and Jesper Rygaard Hansen (3:17:35), both from Denmark
Photograph: Lars Fyhr/Albatros
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