Australian athlete Catherine Drysdale has become the first female winner of the Antarctic Ice Marathon in the race’s 20-year history.
In a time of 3:48:43 on Saturday, Drysdale crossed the finishing line of the 42.2 kilometre course carrying the Australian flag. Her performance beat the entire field of men and women by six minutes.
The 35-year-old portfolio manager from Sydney, battled extreme conditions in the South Pole, with temps reaching -8 C, strong winds and constantly shifting surfaces. With the exact location in Union Glacier, Antarctica, it’s considered one of the toughest marathons on earth.
“That was unlike anything I’ve ever done. I’ve done marathons before, but that was so tough,” Drysdale said in a post-race interview.
“Everytime I was suffering, I was like ‘Come on, you’re running in Antarctica’. And sometimes it helped, and sometimes I just couldn’t pull myself out of that suffering.”
“It feels so good to be here and the support has been amazing. The people at the aid stations and the encouragement along the way… it’s just an awesome event. I’m buzzing, and I’m freezing cold.”
This year’s Antarctic Ice Marathon featured 23 female and 30 male athletes, including Portugal’s Domitilia Dos Santos, who became the oldest woman to complete the race at 70-years-old, in a time of 7:43:14.
Russian athlete Denis Nazarov claimed the men’s title and second-place overall, while Polish athlete Joanna Drewnicka-Ogrodnik claimed third place in a time of 4:18:05. British athlete Victoria Grahn placed fifth overall, in a time of 4:25:22.
The women’s marathon course record stands at 3:29:16 by US runner Liesl Muehlhauser in last year’s race. Muehlhauser placed third overall with that time. The men’s marathon course record was set in 2022 by Irish runner Sean Tobin, in a time of 2:53:33.