Blind Adventurer set For History by participating in this year's Antarctica Marathon
Blind adventurer and motivational speaker Hein Wagner will take on this year's Antarctica Marathon with seasoned athlete Mike Bailey as part of the 100-man race.
It
will be the first time in history that a blind person participates in
this extreme endurance event, which takes place on March 7.
As
part of their preparation, the duo will train in the cold-room at Cape
Union Mart's Adventure Centre at Canal Walk, Century City, from this
week onwards.
Wagner has set aside the fact that he has been
totally blind from birth to live a fulfilling and abundant life, and
never hesitates or stands back from any challenge.
"I've taken on
many daring adventures such as the Cape Epic, mountain climbing,
sailing from Cape Town to Rio, running several marathons and becoming
the fastest blind driver in the world (he holds the World Land Speed
record for a blind driver) and am excited to tick this one off my bucket
list.
"Mike Bailey approached me around five years ago with the
idea to participate in seven marathons on seven continents. I asked him
which one was the most difficult of the lot and his answer was the one
in Antarctica. Luckily, I've already participated in the New York, Hong
Kong and Cape Town marathons."
On their training for this
challenging race, Bailey said: "We've probably had about six to seven
runs together over the past three months.
"I think it will be
great to train in the cold-room for a number of different reasons, such
as getting the right layers of gear together and learning what parts of
the body get cold and what to do about it. It will also help us to
mentally adjust to the minus 18 degrees and being confident that our
bodies can adjust to these temperatures."
Bailey added: "It will
further assist us in getting the balance right between generating enough
heat to keep the body core warm relative to the outside temperature. We
only started training in the cold-room on Saturday."
The
marathon offers two options - a half marathon of 21.1km and a full one
of 42.2 km, which is the one Wagner and Bailey will be competing in.
Wagner
said: "The biggest challenge of this race is the unpredictable weather.
On a nice day it can be minus 10 degrees Centigrade, with little wind,
but just the next day it can be colder with gale force, icy winds.
"In
my case the wind plays a major role - the harder it blows, the less I
can hear what's going on around me, especially instructions from Mike.
The terrain is also very uneven, with ice and slush making up most of
it."
Bailey adds: "Just to give you some perspective - reading
glasses mist up in 15 seconds, a 2-litre coke freezes solid in 20
minutes, your extremities - toes, fingers and ears - feel the cold the
most. It takes a long time to warm up and the rubber under your running
shoes goes rock hard and freezes, as there is no friction to keep it
flexible."
Not only is the race treacherous, but the journey
there as well. They depart from the world's most southern city, Ushuaia,
on a Russian reconnaissance boat. It takes around two days to get to
Antarctica and the route will take them through the Drake Passage.
Wagner
still wants to pilot a Boeing filled to the brim with passengers from
London to Cape Town, a dream that could become a reality soon.
He
will participate in this extreme race to promote the abilities of those
living with disabilities and to raise funds and create awareness of the
VisionTrust, a non-profit organisation he founded in mid-2008, which
strives to make the world as we know it a more accessible place for
people living with disabilities
