Readers' blog: Paul’s Arctic endurance is an example to us all
Some people keep fit to cope with life’s pressures and a rare few go beyond that to test their outer limits.
That is inspiring and healthier than alcohol, food, cocaine, heroin or gambling as a coping strategy.
The ones who do endurance events go much further than the keep-fit exercises of workout classes and videos.
Last month, Paul Deasy, from Rathcormac, in Co Cork, was joint third, with Mark Strathern, from Zimbabwe, in the 2018 6633 Arctic Ultra walking (about 563km) race, from Yukon, in Northern Canada, deep into the Arctic.
They walked over the finish line together, in a show of camaraderie and sportsmanship. It was eight to nine days of pulling a 30kg sled of supplies.
Eighteen of the 24 competitors didn’t finish, as, one by one, they dropped out.
It was Paul’s first time competing in this event, which began in 2007. There are two days of mandatory training for first-timers, because the race has its dangers.
Paul did it as a personal challenge and to raise funds for Helping Cork’s Homeless Group, which was founded by Christina Chambers. Paul finished the race on his 45th birthday, carrying a Cork flag over the line.
Paul was second towards the end, but had to stop during an eight-hour whiteout blizzard one dark night.
The wind chill was sometimes below -50 to -100C.
He walked on frozen rivers, hills, and mountains and fell and hurt his wrist.
There is no big prize. The prize is finishing. It is a test of supreme endurance, like climbing Mount Everest.
Of his motivation, Paul said, in an excellent interview: “People say ‘how did you do it?’ I’m not an athlete, by nature.
"I’m a big man, but, for me, it’s about showing my kids that if you train for something and put your mind to something, you can write your own story, don’t be reading someone else’s or someone else’s perception of what you can do and to also not let setbacks be full-stops”.
