AN IRISH MAN has won the North Pole Marathon.
Galway native Gary Thornton, who runs for the Galway City Harriers and was representing the UVU Racing team, outdid the other 45 competitors by finishing the 42.195km (26.2 miles) course in a time of 3:49:29.
Known as ‘the world’s coolest marathon’, the unique race takes place in temperatures of around -28 degrees Celsius and costs €11,900 to enter. It was originally set up by Richard Donovan, who first did it as a solo run having taken part in the first ever South Pole Marathon ten weeks earlier.
The men’s record of 3:36:10 was set by another Irish man, Thomas Maguire, in 2007 while Mark Pollock also completed the race in 2004.
Thornton, who is a school teacher, said: “The first three laps I was living the dream – it was great and I was thinking ‘this is easy’.
From (laps) three to six it started getting a bit tiring and from six to nine it was the mental challenge.”
Thornton crossing the line. Credit: YouTube screengrab
YouTube credit: Hutctv
