Irish runners set North Pole marathon records
Galway girl Tanj Donovan has become the youngest person to ever complete a half marathon on the Arctic ice cap, while fellow Galwegian Paul Grealish has now run more marathons at the pole than anyone else.
The UVU North Pole Marathon took place at the weekend, with 44 athletes pushing their bodies to the limit — running 42km in temperatures of -41C.
Tanj was the youngest contestant in the race, but had to withdraw from the full marathon on medical grounds — her body temperature fell to 34.3C at one point and began to show signs of mild hypothermia.
Despite this, Tanj, who is the daughter of Olympian Paul Donovan, was credited with the half marathon she had completed, making her the youngest person to ever run 21k at the North Pole.
Her uncle, Richard Donovan, organises the marathon each year and said he was incredibly proud of her achievement.
“Because you’re on an ocean, you’re moving all the time. So instead of going linear, the route is kind of circular. You have to watch out for breaks in the ice – sometimes there can be open sea water. You also have to look out for polar bears, so we have patrols going around the course with guns to scare them away,” he said.
Paul Grealish, the owner of The King’s Head pub in Galway City, now holds the record for the most marathons run at the North Pole — this weekend he completed his fourth.
Other Irish competitors included 57-year-old Tony Mangan from Dublin, who ran the course in just over 11 hours.
Known as the Irish Forrest Gump, last year the ultra-runner completed a 50,000km around-the-world run for Aware, a charity that helps people beat depression.
Fellow Dubliner Gary Seery, 36, also completed the North Pole marathon, with a time of just under eight hours.
Gary was running on behalf of Habitat for Humanity Ireland, a charity planning to use the money to bring a derelict property back to life, giving a low-income family the chance to own a decent home.
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