A FORMER SMOKER from County Clare shattered the course record for the Antarctic 100 kilometre ultra-marathon by almost two hours on Thursday, in temperatures of -25 degrees.
Keith Whyte, a 33-year-old married father of two from Ennis, battled ferocious winds, plummeting temperatures and dehydration but stopped the clock in a staggering time 9 hours, 26 minutes and two seconds.
That he beat another Irishman, Kevin McGeeney, into second was remarkable enough, but the fact he won by over three and a half hours makes the feat even more outstanding.
The annual race attracted ultra-runners from all over the world, but many didn’t finish as the wind chill combined to see the mercury drop dangerously low.
Whyte, the pre-race favourite, sped over the line at 10.30pm local time on Thursday night and spoke to The42.ie from a remote airfield in Chile.
“It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Whyte.
“I didn’t know what to expect going into it because I never ran in those conditions before.
“I’ve ran a good few 100k races but this was the most extreme by far; there’s a lot more factors to consider and you’ve got to look after your body for so much longer.
“I was glad to get around and get the course record was a bonus, I was over the moon with it.”
Just some of those factors were staying warm, but not so warm that you’d sweat, which is potentially very dangerous.
“It was about -25 degrees Celsius for the race. It’s a constant daylight there so I couldn’t sleep for three days before the race. The conditions were just unbelievable; if you took off your hat for 10 seconds you’d know about it.
“Saying that it’s important to have a good ventilation system in what you’re wearing because once you work up a sweat it freezes and you’d get hypothermia very quickly.
“The other thing as well is you have to be able to adapt. The weather deteriorated quickly at one point and went from snow to strong winds. I was just happy to get around as quickly as I could.”
He said the plan for the race was to ease himself into it for the opening section but he started to push on when he felt good enough to.
“The first 15 or 20k didn’t feel too cold. I was feeling okay. I started off easy and I was running very comfortably.
“I had it in my head the chasers were always close enough to me behind; I had a lead but I knew I could push on and fall back as I pleased.
“But after 80k one of the guys driving pulled up and told me I was an hour ahead so that was a shock to me and a great feeling.”
A tyre-fitter by profession, Whyte is the Irish record-holder for the 100k distance with a time of seven ours three minutes but only took up running in his mid-20s.
He said his next goal is to go under seven hours for that.
The response in his hometown has been phenomenal with hundreds posting him messages of congratulations. He’s due back in Ennis on Tuesday evening where the reception will be anything but frosty.