Manitoba Running Association Hall of Fame Inductees 2011

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Winter Marathon

Winter Marathon - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Post written by Antarctic Mike

CANADIAN WINTER MARATHON

I arrived in Winnipeg, MB very late Thursday night February 24. I had never been to Winnipeg and had never met Albert and Edna Martens in person, yet they were the ones picking me up at the airport. The story of how I met them is funny and amazing. I was on a business trip in Tucson, AZ in 2007. I was eating breakfast at a hotel and a guy behind me read my t-shirt and asked me if I had done that marathon in Antarctica. I said yes and we got into a conversation. He told me that he was not a runner but his dad was and that I should contact him. That person he was speaking of was Albert Martens.

Albert and I began a long distance friendship 4 years ago via the phone and email. Late last fall Albert contacted me about speaking at his banquet he was hosting for Athletes in Action, a non-profit group that Albert is quite involved with. I agreed to do it and suggested that we run an impromptu marathon in the winter up in Winnipeg. He was keen on the idea and went to work to set this up.

When we awoke Friday morning, the temperature dropped to -32C. I was ready to go running at that point, as cold weather is my knack. However, before our run on Saturday, Albert and I went out on Friday to meet a professor at the University of Manitoba who specializes in hypothermic and cold weather exposure to the human body. They call this guy Dr Popsicle. I was quite excited to have Antarctic Mike and Dr. Popsicle meet up. Sounds like a cartoon to me. We met with him and his stories of putting himself into a purposeful hypothermic state 43 times were amazing and funny. It was a great experience meeting him.

The next morning, Saturday February 26, we ate breakfast and drove out to a park west of Winnipeg to begin our marathon adventure. It was a balmy -32C. I was hoping for colder conditions but was still very excited, as this was the coldest marathon I would ever run, even colder than Siberia and Antarctica. Our first 5km was on cross country skis. I had never been on these before, so I was falling all over the place, as I don’t have the balance for them since I had never done this sport. I appreciated the other 3 skiers waiting up for me. When we finished, we changed into running shoes for the final 38km of the marathon. It had now warmed up to a blistering -30C and we had a wind to contend with. We all 4 agreed to run together and not make it a race, but rather an event. We really got to talk a lot and I appreciated getting to know Jeff and Matt, the other two runners besides myself and Albert. I loved speaking with Matt, as he is a bush pilot in northern Canada. He is real adventure junkie and we got the idea of trying to organize a Polar Bear Marathon in Churchill. I don’t know if this has ever been done but it sure fires me up to think about the possibilities of running a marathon in Polar Bear country.

We finished the marathon after 5 hours, arriving downtown Winnipeg at The Forks. What an experience to be challenged by some of the coldest temps anyone has run a marathon in. I can not wait for Churchill.

Sunday night was the real reason I traveled to Winnipeg, as I was the closing keynote speaker at the Athletes in Action dinner, hosted in Steinbach. I was amazed to see how Albert and Edna had gone to such lengths to make myself and the people attending feel very special, as there were balloons and penguins all over the room. Albert was celebrating his around the world achievement, completing the 40,074 km during our marathon. What an amazing accomplishment and honor it was to run the last 42km of a 31 year goal with him. I spoke about my passion for Antarctic history and my training and racing in Antarctica. People found the stories fascinating and inspiring. That to me was worth the trip, as I strive to help people leave my programs and be inspired to make positive changes in all areas of their life.

“Antarctic Mike”
Mike Pierce
San Diego, CA, USA
www.antarcticmike.com