Running the 2004 McMurdo 16-Miler
This web page consists of a few photos of me, Terry Haran, and Ted Dettmar
(to my left above) en route to our respective "wins" in the 2004 McMurdo 16-mile
and marathon races on Jan. 25, 2004 in Antarctica. The highly glaciated peaks
of the Royal Society Range can be seen to Ted's right. It was a gray day,
but not overly cold (about 15F with a 15mph wind). There were 3 runners in
my race and 2 in Ted's. The course started at the Pegasus ice runway on the
Ross Ice Shelf, traversing the flagged ice road about 10 miles to Willy Field,
and then continung 6 miles to New
Zealand's Scott Base. I ran alongside Ted to WF where I picked
up the pace and finished in about 2:25. Ted and his co-competitor Jim (I
can't remember his last name) had to turn around there, run back four miles
toward WF, turn around again, and finally finish at Scott Base. By then I
and my fellow 16-milers, Solar Joe and Karen Joyce, were relaxing in a sauna
at the US
McMurdo Station. I had spent 3 weeks in December at McMurdo, followed
by 3 weeks at Megadunes
Camp. I left McMurdo the day after the race for a two-week hiking vacation
on New Zealand's South Island after meeting my wife Sue in Christchurch. Ted
stayed on at McMurdo and ran 40 miles the following week on his 40th birthday.
Wide Angle
The terrain in this photo consists of (left to right) Minna Bluffs, White
Island (although it's rather black in this view), Black Island (which does
appear black), and Brown Peninsula trailing off to the left, above which
is Mt. Discovery in the distance. The three runners to the left of me are
Jim, Karen (about 2 pixels high here, and only a bit taller in real life),
and Solar Joe. The buildings along the Pegasus runway can barely be seen
to the left of Ted.
Watersky
In this photo the dark black rocky terrain in the upper left is the southwest
tip of Hut Point Peninsula. Our ultimate goal, Scott Base, is at the
bottom and middle of the outcrop. The pointy peak is Observation Hill behind
which lies McMurdo Station. Note the ship on the horizon just to the right
of the red flag, and the "smoky" clouds above and to the left of the ship.
These clouds aren't Antarctic air pollution but rather a phenomenon known
as "watersky" caused by the reflection of dark open water rather than bright
ice bouncing off the cloud deck above the water. Watersky was and sometimes
still is used by mariners in sea ice conditions for finding "leads" of open
water.
Terry Haran <tharan@nsidc.org>
Tue Jan 21 16:17:00 MST
2007
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