Press Release - North Pole Marathon - 4/12/06

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                   Contact: Richard Donovan (Race Director)
                                            +353-87-6882614 
                                            

              
            Widely acclaimed author wins North Pole Marathon

On Saturday 8 April, Irish novelist Michael Collins led home a record 
54-person international race field to win the 2006 North Pole Marathon. 

The certified 26.2-mile (42km) event, dubbed the world’s coolest marathon, 
took place at a temporary Russian North Pole camp in the high Arctic Ocean 
at the Geographic North Pole. Despite extremely challenging underfoot 
conditions, comprising soft snow and hillocks of ice, as well as 
temperatures that dipped to –23C, all fifty-four participants successfully 
completed the event. 

In the men’s division, Collins and Carsten Kolle (Germany) forced the pace 
at the outset, crunching through the hushed indomitable surroundings and 
matching each other stride for stride over the initial 10km. A polar bear 
was spotted but fortunately it was one of the other competitors donning a 
costume. Despite the scare, Collins was relentless in his efforts and went 
on to win by a comfortable margin in a time of 4.28.35 on the toughest ever 
terrain for the race. 

Meanwhile, in a perfectly judged effort, Marcel Kasumovich (Canada) 
overhauled the German for second place with France’s Philippe Moreau and 
Herve Taquet finishing together in 4th position.

The women’s race saw Alison Hamlett (England) set a new world record for 
the event, finishing ahead of 2006 Antarctic Ice Marathon winner, Wendy 
MacKinnon (Scotland), with Ireland’s Caitriona Strain in third place. 
Hamlett’s time of 5.52.56 was good enough for sixth place overall. 

This amazing race – operated at the top of the world and run on the ice 
floes that overlay 12,000 feet of Arctic Ocean - attracts a diverse range 
of participants each year. While some were attempting to join the Marathon 
Grand Slam club by running a marathon on all seven continents and the North 
Pole, others were making their marathon debut. Hundreds of thousands of 
euro were also raised for various charities through participants’ heroic 
efforts in completing the race.

To find out more about the North Pole marathon, or to register for next 
year’s event, log on to www.npmarathon.com. Places are limited due to 
aircraft capacity constraints.




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