TWO Southsiders have become the first Irish women to finish the
‘Polar Circle Marathon’ in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.
Sarah Robson and Ruth Whelan endured Arctic conditions as they ran in -8 degrees centigrade on rocky, snow-filled roads.
They both had to call on inner strength and training to get through it.
Whelan found it
“tough, battling the cold, running 5-6 kilometre stretches in complete isolation and with no support
?. However, she kept going as she was inspired by the wonderful surroundings.
“It was a unique experience to be so completely alone with only the sound of your breath as company,
? she said.
The marathon required as much mental preparation as it did physical. Since March 2010, Whelan has been on a fitness programme losing almost four stone. She also quit her bank job recently to become a personal trainer.
The pair was put through intense training since January of this year by John O’Connell from SS Fitness camps.
However, nothing could prepare them for the local elements. In Greenland conditions were treacherous, which put the marathon in doubt. Fortunately, within 24 hours there was snowfall and the race was back on.
The training and the anxious wait before they took off were worth it as both ladies completed the gruelling test. Robson finished second in the women’s race in a time of just over four hours.
Whelan found it
“a surreal experience
? which proved she could do anything she put her mind to.
She now has her sights set on the Bagan Temple Marathon in Myanmar in November 2013.
Meanwhile Robson is back to the warmer and more crowded streets of Dublin where she ran her second city marathon in a row last week.