2018
Spring
Summer
Edition
MD Shariff Abdullah
A member of the FWD team. MD was born without a left foot and runs with an Ossur Flex Run Blade. He has participated in marathons and ultra-marathons including the Boston Marathon, making him the first Blade Runner in Asia to qualify and compete. At the North Pole Marathon, Shariff will be fundraising for the Special Olympics.
Johannes Belgers
Twan is a 56 year old, married father of two lovely children and son/daughter in law. He likes to read, watch movies, play chess with friends, and of course loves to run (and at best off course). By profession, Twan is a psychiatrist, specializing in hospital psychiatry and bipolar disorder. He is afraid he might have to self-diagnose himself with this last disorder after completing a marathon on King George Island near Antarctica in 2015 and going to the North Pole soon. Twan took up running in 2005 and has since ran 26 marathons on 6 continents (and King George island). He ran across a frozen lake at the Baikal Ice marathon and 800 meters under the earth in a mine at the Merkerser Kristall Marathon. His likes to run in nature best and looks forward to a chilling, contemplative and exhilarating run on the end of the earth.
Christopher Bullock
Chris ran his first marathon in 1998 (the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.) after noticing a flyer advertising a fund -raising effort to raise money for AIDS treatment for patients in the DC area. Nearly twenty years later, he has completed 162 full marathons, including the Comrades and Two Ocean ultras twice, marathons in all 50 states, and the six World Majors. Chris feels very fortunate to have run practically all over the world and have the opportunity to meet lifelong friends along the way. In fact, the Antarctic Ice Marathon, which he ran in November 2017, was brought to his attention by running pal Steve Munson who will also be running the North Pole Marathon.
Wing Keung Chik
A member of the FWD team. Wing Keung is an experienced runner who has completed the World Marathon Challenge, "7 Marathons 7 Continents 7 Days", will be participating in the North Pole Marathon for the second time. On this occasion, he will be guiding blind athlete Siu Wai Leung.
Yudiana Dian Fianto
Fedi has completed two IRONMAN challenges amongst a succession of marathon finishes across Asia, such as the World Major Marathon Series in Tokyo, Bali Marathon and esprtan Beast Malaysia.
William Dickens
John started running 10km in the late 1970s, became a short-distance triathlete in the 1980s, ran his first marathon in the 1990s, and completed his first Ironman triathlon in 2010. In the last decade, he has finished 12 standalone marathons and 6 Ironman triathlons along with countless shorter distance running and triathlon races (with a few obstacle course races sprinkled in). John is very much looking forward to this unique North Pole Marathon adventure to add to his endurance sports resume.
Duc Do
Vietnamese by birth, Australian by choice, Duc is a hobby runner. Relatively new to running, Duc has completed 100 races at the half marathon distance or longer. He spends most weekends trekking, running or mountaineering. The longest race completed was a multi-stage 250km desert race in Australia in 2017 (Simpson Desert). Duc joined the 7 Continents Marathon Club in 2016.
Emma Clair Dumont
Emma is a multisport athlete whose sporting life is a combination of many challenges! She loves extreme and unusual activities or experiences. Emma practices every sport she can - in the air, on the ground, ice and water. She has been motorcycling since the age of five and is a two-time Women’s World Champion of Cross Country Baja in ATV. She has climbed Kilimanjaro, Mont-Blanc, and Aconcagua and is a finisher of New York Marathon in 2016. If Emma manages to finish the North Pole Marathon, she plans to participate to the 2019 World Marathon Challenge. It has always been her dream to go to the exact North Pole, and she thanks Richard Donovan for making that dream come true with the FWD North Pole Marathon!
David Field
David began running track (800m) as a teenager and as he’s gotten older and slower the events have got longer and longer. Hence in the last year David has run two marathons (Afghanistan 2017 & Somiliand in 2018) and one ultra (Patagonia 250km). David heard about this event from some runners on the ultra. In the more distant past David has done another couple of ultras - Ecuador 2015 + Gobi Desert and several marathons including Sierra Leone, Medoc (France) & Berlin. David says he peaks in the first km, so is no great threat over 42k...he says he is basically a track runner who has got old so can no longer compete at 800m and has gradually pushed the pace slower, the distance longer, and the challenge harder.
Marcus Fillinger
Marcus is a Royal Australian Air Force photographer, Director of animal rescue organisation Alphadog AnimalArmy Inc and a Police endorsed tranquiliser firearms instructor. An experienced polar guide, Marcus has achieved dives under the North Pole and previously completed the North Pole Marathon in 2015 with his expedition dogs Baldvin and Bernensen. This year, Marcus is returning to run the Marathon with expedition dogs Blue and Duro in an effort to raise global attention of the animal rescue and research work of his charity Alphadog AnimalArmy Inc. Marcus will be promoting his charity's “Ks for Kangaroos” project in order to raise urgently needed funds to further his charity’s research initiatives into ethical non-lethal wildlife solutions www.alphadog.org.au.
Nancy Freeman
Not at all a sporty child, Nancy took up running late in life as stress relief from her day job of arguing with people about computers. The North Pole Marathon completes her Grand Slam quest that began with her first marathon at the age of 50, Arizona's Lost Dutchman Marathon. She's an avid hiker, having trekked Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim, Mount Kilimanjaro, Milford track, and the Cape to Cape Track in Western Australia. She encourages her supporters to inspire kids in the sciences and engineering by volunteering at their local FIRST Robotics Competition as a judge, referee, or non-technical volunteer: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc.
Ka Man Gi
A member of the FWD team. Ka Man is a Hong Kong Record Holder for half-marathon, 5000m and 3000m. He is an experienced middle to long distance runner as well as the founder and head coach of the Hong Kong running club. He has finished in the top three in numerous marathons and half marathons in Hong Kong.
Ramanathan Gnanadesikan
Ram is a 49-year-old who has completed 99 marathons and 73 half marathons including marathons in all 50 states in the United States. Ram is also the Chairperson of MarrowMinded, a USA based non-profit organization registering Asians and other minorities on the National Bone Marrow Registry. Ram's interest in running began in 2002 when he attended an information session for the ‘Team in Training’ marathon fund-raising program (operated by by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) after his mentor and MarrowMinded Chair Person Seema Chauhan died of Leukemia. He completed the 2002 Marine Corps marathon in honor of his friend and felt great. While training with ‘Team in Training’ Ram met several teammates being treated for Leukemia and other blood cancer disorders. Ram made a commitment to run 100 marathons on Christmas Eve 2004 after reading a blog entry posted by one of his teammate's mothers. His honored teammate was at the hospital and not doing well. Ram made a prayer and offered to run 100 marathons and in exchange wanted his teammate to be cancer free. His teammate Alex completed her last chemotherapy in June 2005 and has been cancer free for the last 12 years, so Ram will be running his 100th marathon in Jerusalem on March 9. Ram is running the North Pole marathon in memory of his father Gnanadesikan Thuthipet while raising funds for Michael J. Fox Foundation. To support him, see https://fundraise.michaeljfox.org/tf-2018/NorthPolemarathon2018.
Djalma Gomes De Moura
Djalma took part in the 2017 Antarctic Ice Marathon where he was amazed at the experience. A 61-year-old mining engineer, he believes sports transform, inspire and motivate people, and that age should not be something that limits one´s capacity of dreaming. Running has become the habit of his life, bringing the opportunity to meet new people and visit new places around the world together with his wife. Among his eight marathons so far, he has run Berlin/Germany, Buenos Aires/Argentina and Porto Alegre/Brazil where he got the qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon. He would like to use his participation in the NORTH POLE MARATHON to honor all organ donors and their families and make the population aware of the greatness of this act.
Cristian Gorbea
Cristian has run the Antarctica 100km , 100 miles in the L.A. Mission, Patagonia Argentina, UTMB France and the Ironman in Brazil.
Paul Grealish
Paul is taking part in the North Pole Marathon for a record sixth time and obviosly hopes to finally winit on this occasion. He has also completed the southernmost marathon on earth - the Antarctic ice Marathon - on several occasions. In 2017, Paul completed the World Marathon Challenge (7 Marathons 7 Continents 7 Days) and has also completed the Volcano Marathon, the highest desert race in the world.
Oliver Haupt
Oliver is a 43-year-old anesthesiologist at a small hospital in Hamburg, Germany. He began his running career on 19.03.2012 with a 4.71km-run. His goal behind this new passion was to develop stronger endurance. Before running, Olivier’s passion was Filipino martial arts. As a trainer in martial arts for 15 years, Olivier still practices this passion today. Oliver ran his first marathon 30.06.2013 in 3:38. All of his consecutive marathons have been run on his own without an official running event. Oliver loves running alone and see the changes in nature throughout the year. The 2015 Polar Circle Marathon was his first "official" marathon. As he was running on the snow and ice of Greenland’s glacial nature, he first thought about the North Pole Marathon. Running on the icy nature of Greenland was so impressive he had to do it again, but this time at the North Pole – the ultimate icy nature.
Stuart Horsewood
At the age of 70 and having only just retired, Stuart is looking to completing the Marathon Grand Slam. He is already a member of The 7 Continents Marathon Club, with 124 marathon distances cross 7 continents and more than 20 countries, including ultramarathons in the UK, Hong Kong and South Africa.
Adriana Istrate
Adriana considers herself a normal person with an extraordinary energy. To date she considers her best performance to was to take her first steps running in 2013 after a motivational speech by Andrei Rosu, another North Pole marathoner. The day after that speech Adriana went out running and at 200m she was wrecked, but she kept at it and 5 years later she was a 100k finisher in Antarctica, a 7 Continents Marathon Club member and an Ironman finisher. The North Pole Marathon is her last race and she hopes to become a Grand Slam Club member, and bipolar person :) What’s next for Adriana? She hopes to continue reinventing her future in order to become the best version of herself.
Mohan Iyer
Mohan is a member of the 7 Continents Marathon Club. He has run a marathon in all 50 states, on all the 7 continents and in 27 countries. He has run at least one marathon every month since October 2010 when he ran his first marathon in Chicago. He ran his 100th Marathon in Chicago in October 2017. Although Mohan's job as the CIO for a Financial Services firm in Chicago does not let him train as hard as he would like, he has been lucky enough to remain injury-free and keep the streak going. By the time he runs the North Pole Marathon in April 2018, he will have run a total of 105 marathons (and a total of 150 races). His personal website - www.mohaniyer.com - has a listing of all the races he has completed.
Misaki Izuoka
A member of the FWD team. Misaki is a model from Japan who has competed in eight half and full marathons around the world. Passionate about raising funds for charity, Izu donated all the profits made from selling T-shirts she had created to those affected by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.
Ted Jackson
Ted is one of the finest athletes in the field and has led the North Pole Marathon on two previous occasions in 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately he was knocked of the lead position after 100 yards and never really recovered... failing to finish in 2008 due to being too massive and slow, but was lucky enough to finish before the polar day became night in 2009. Ted was among the first competitors to take on the World Marathon Challenge (777) in 2015 and rose to global fame after ESPN featured his epic journey in a short film. http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=13188636. A veteran of Ironman UK and the Marathon des Sables, who has also completed all 21 stages of the Tour de France a week ahead of the pros in 2006, Ted was recently helicoptered to safety along with his son during a hazardous attempt to row across the Atlantic in a homemade catamaran. Ted is surely one to look out for this year but he is notoriously shy so he could be tough to spot. Did we mention that he has raised nearly £250000 for charity over the years? To top it all off, he is dashingly handsome and very funny. What a guy!
Hiroshi Kei
Hiroshi is full time office worker and an ultra trail runner. He has finished the Nobeyama 100K marathon in Japan, the Trail Jeju 100K in South Korea and the Ultra Trail TaiMoShan 115K in Hong Kong in 2017. Hiroshi also loves traveling and has visited approximately 100 countries and regions. His challenge is to run and enjoy everywhere in the world. Hiroshi was born in, and lives in Tokyo, Japan.
Todd Latta
A member of the FWD team. Todd is a president of a product development company and an experienced marathon runner based in Taiwan. He believes that even with demanding jobs, people should find time to be active to achieve a healthy and sustainable life. He completed his first Olympic distance triathlon in 1987 and has completed many (ultra) marathons. Todd will be fundraising for Handicap International.
Siu Wai Leung
A member of the FWD team. Siu Wai holds the records in the visually impaired category for 20km, half marathon, and full marathon in Hong Kong. He was the first visually impaired runner to complete the Antarctic 100km, where he placed sixth in 2017.
Xiaobai Li
Xiaobai is the founder and Honorary Chairman of New Silk Road Fashion Group, the 2016 Marathoner of the Year in China, an Ambassador of China Children's Charity Foundation, finisher of the World Marathon Majors, and finisher of 2017 World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days).
Xiaobo Li
Xiaobo is a member of the Lions Club, marathon runner and partner of Fenghe Capital. In 2016, Xiaobo completed the World Marathon Majors and in 2018 he finished the World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days). After completing the North Pole Marathon, Xiaobo will join the Marathon Grand Slam Club.
Hendrik Lückmann
Hendrik is 27 years old and grew up in Germany. Running has always been a part of his football training while playing for the local club Fortuna Walstedde in Germany. However, he recently he became aware of his real passion for running after moving to Switzerland in 2017 and completing the half-marathon in Lausanne. After that race, he decided to run a full marathon in Cologne (Germany) and the North Pole Marathon will be his second full marathon. Aside from running, Hendrik is passionate about hiking and did some of the Great Walks in New Zealand and some adventurous trails in Hawaii.
Shuzhi Mao
Shuzhi is a designer and general manager of Xin Tian Tian Di Cloth Company and founder of Panda Running Club to promote healthy lifestyle in Chengdu, China. In 2017, Shuzhi completed the World Marathon Majors together with her sister Sha. She looks forward to running around the world in one minute at the North Pole!
Sha Mao
Sha is a yoga practitioner, travel enthusiast, and marathon runner. In 2017, she completed the World Marathon Majors with her sister Shuzhi Mao. Her goal is to travel around the world via running activities and to contribute to the promotion of environmental protection. See looks forward to running this marathon on the top of the world and especially to feel the beauty and might of nature.
Kevin McGeeney
Kevin has had a number of running goals since taking up long-distance running in 2001. The North Pole Marathon completes the wish list, having already run the Marathon Des Sables, The Western States 100, Antarctica 100k, The Longford Ultra and running on all seven continents.
Joanna Medras
After crossing the finish line of the freezing Baikal Ice Marathon in 2016 and becoming the Antarctic Ice Marathon champion in the same year, the time has come for Joanna to fulfill her biggest “running” dream: running the North Pole Marathon and later becoming a member of the Marathon Grand Slam Club! On her bucket list of adventure, Australia and South America are still waiting for visits. Joanna is also half way to finishing the Abbott World Marathon Majors after finishing marathons in Berlin, London and Chicago. Her passion for running came from a passion for the mountains. As such, the Volcano Marathon is also on the cards for Joanna!
Steven Munson
Steve likes the experience of always pushing himself via running. He says he’s a bit slow but persistent and that's just fine with him. Steve finished the 7 continents last fall and he’s ready to finish the Grand Slam at the FWD North Pole Marathon. After that, it’s onward to more adventures!
Jon O'Shea
Jon is a member of the Intercontinental Marathon Club and is looking to completing his 2nd Grand Slam at the Pole. He is running the London Marathon this year barefoot to raise fund for Teenage Cancer Trust and obviously saw this as the perfect warm up event. In 2015 he ran solo across Ireland in the One Man One Small Country event. He claims he is better than Simon Wrenn and Ted Jackson, who are also running the North Pole Marathon.
Argyrios Papathanasopoulos
Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Argyrios is an Emergency Physician who is now living in England. He started running marathons when he was studying medicine and achieved his personal best at the Venice Marathon 1994 in 2:44’. In 1995, he turned to ski mountaineering as an alternative sport for his training, and a few years later, was selected to the Greek national team of ski mountaineering and had competed in many European and World Championships from 2002 to 2004. He started running on the trails in 2005, and has since participated in some of the most challenging ultramarathon races around the world - Marathon des Sables, Atacama Crossing, Al- Andalus Ultimate Trail, Hong Kong Vibram 100, Namib Desert Challenge, Western States 100, El Cruce Columbia, Leadville 100, Tarawera Ultramarathon, Ultra Caballo Blanco, esprtathlon, The Last Secret Bhutan, Badwater 135, The Hidden Treasure Albania, Bromo Tengger Semeru Ultra, and Ultra Trail Pelion. He hopes to survive the freezing conditions of the North Pole Marathon, so that he can participate in the Antarctic Ice Marathon next, to complete his dream of running in all the 7 continents. He keeps a Blog of his running adventures at: www.ultra-pegasus.blogspot.co.uk.
Eleanor Pienaar
Eleanor and her husband Steve are passionate about running and travel. The couple have combined the two hobbies into an international adventure across the globe. Eleanor joined the 7 Continents Marathon Club in 2016 when she completed the Antarctic Ice marathon. She has completed many marathons in her home country, including the Comrades Marathon (89km race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban) on 2 occasions. Eleanor has also completed the London , New York , Great Wall of China, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro marathons. She is anxious and excited about her adventure to the North Pole and feels extremely blessed to have the chance to become a member of the marathon Grand Slam club in April.
Stephen Pienaar
Steve is an energetic adventurer and has taken part in many ultra cycling, canoeing and running races. He and his wife, Eleanor are passionate about running and travel. The couple have combined the two hobbies into an international adventure across the globe. Steve joined the 7 Continents Marathon Club in 2016 when he completed the Antarctic Ice marathon. He has completed many marathons in his home country, including the Comrades Marathon (89km race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban) on 10 occasions. Steve has also completed the London, New York , Great Wall of China, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro marathons. Steve is looking forward to what will possibly be his biggest adventure yet, when he takes on the North Pole Marathon to complete his "Grand Slam".
Steve Policky
To be added.
Larry Rich
Larry is the Founder & CEO of Sweat Tracker. He started the company several years ago to provide athletes with the benefits of a dedicated run coach in an online environment. This facility reduces the cost to runners and allows them to train when it is convenient for their schedule. Larry enjoys the challenge of the marathon distance and has completed more than 80 marathons, typically running at least six per year. He officially kicked off his #quest4seven in 2013 with the Athens Classic Marathon and completed it in 2017 with the Australian Outback Marathon. The North Pole Marathon is the final step to join the Grand Slam Club. To follow Larry's Quest 4 Seven, please visit http://www.sweattracker.com/quest4seven.
Alexander Rüdiger
Alexander is an Austrian television presenter, entrepreneur, adventurer and motivational speaker who is known to a large audience on the public television show Moneymaker. He is an avid adventurer who is just as happy in the mountains as on the road. Alexander completed the North Pole Marathon in 2013 as well as the Volcano Marathon in Chile in 2014. Her was born in Vienna in 1969 and is the father of a fourteen-year-old boy.
Luisito II Sangalang
A member of the FWD team. Luisito is a cancer survivor and an advocate of healthy nutrition and active lifestyles among Filipinos. Louie is a triathlete of SanteBarley Triathlon Team and former Featherweight Champion of Universal Reality Combat Championships. The Special Olympics is Louie’s advocacy partner.
Kyo Satani
A member of the FWD team. Kyo is a 43-year-old entrepreneur who has completed several ultramarathons including the 89th Comrades Marathon (89km) in South Africa, and the 30th Marathon des Sables (250km) in Morocco. He also ran about 890km from Kamaishi to Inubosaki - the coastline afflicted by the tsunami caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, whilst reporting the current situation and positive aspects of the afflicted areas/people. Kyo created the Cial- Thon, a social marathon, in 2012 which has been held 80 times in more than 50 cities. In 2011 / 2012 he held an ultramarathon, “Ultra Cial-Thon”, to help raise funds following the great east Japan earthquake. He is also the founder of the world’s first paxi (coriander) specialty restaurant and Tokyo’s first coworking espce. His activities of the last ten years have been covered more than 1000 times by the media.
Benjamin Scully
A member of the FWD team. Ben is an experienced marathon runner based in China. He has, to date, participated in 36 marathons including New York, Boston, Paris and the Great Wall as well as 12 ultra-marathons. Even with his busy work schedule, as a senior management professional, Ben still finds time to run and train for marathons. Ben will be fundraising for Handicap International.
Jingbiao Shan
Jingbiao is a World Marathon Majors and Antarctic Ice Marathon (world’s southernmost marathon) finisher. Jingbiao believes you "measure the world by foot and everything happens for the best".
Rob Shenton
Rob's father passed away in 2009 from Lung Cancer. From that point onward he vowed that every time he was short of breath he would make it count. So he decided he would run possibly the Toughest, Highest and Coldest footraces on earth to raise money for charity. So far he has done two of the three challenges:● The Toughest - The Marathon des Sables in 2011, 155 miles across the Sahara in 6 days. ● The Highest -The Everest Marathon in 2013, start point at 5184m (17,000 feet). ● The Coldest - Rob will be competing in the North Pole Marathon in April 2018. Rob was medically retired from the military after 25 years of service in 2016. He saw operational service in Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. Since retiring he has relied heavily of the charity Help for Heroes for support. He is now an ambassador for the charity and is running at the North Pole to try and raise money for the continued support they give to veterans. He is also an orienteering coach, with experience of doing mountain marathons and ultras, and likes playing around with triathlons when he needs a break from running.
Simon Silin
Over the last 4 years Simon has been fortunate enough to run ultra-marathons in various places around the world including 3 continents. He says the most memorable to date has been “the Antarctic run organized and hosted by Richard Donovan”.
Joe Squires
Joe is 43 years old and lives in London with his wife Jenny and kids Mason and Lola. Despite city life, Joe likes to be outdoors on foot, on a mountain bike, or both. Joe has completed quite a few endurance events over the years, but he has never run a marathon before the North Pole, so he reckons the experience will be interesting. A few years ago his daughter Lola was critically ill with sepsis. Her sickness was a reminder that life can be fragile. As a result, Joe has spent the last 3 years getting fit. He is running the North Pole Marathon to raise money and awareness for the UK Sepsis Trust. You can read more at www.joesquires.co.uk.
Catherine Sun
Catherine has been running for over 5 years, completing more than 100 marathons. She completed 7 marathons on 7 continents twice (2015 and 2017), with the latter being the World Marathon Challenge. Later in 2017, she ran 800 kilometers Camino de Santiago within 16 days, and completed the Kilimanjaro Extreme Marathon from 5890 meters high, the roof of Africa. She is a Guinness World Record Holder.
Nguyet Minh Tang
A member of the FWD team. Nguyet is a mother of two and an owner of a fashion boutique in Ho Chi Minh City. She believes running helps her find balance in life and as soon as she found her passion in running she completed her first full marathon with only 1.5 months of training. Minh has not only inspired her two kids to complete a marathon but also seeks to inspire others through TV interviews.
Dmitri Voloshin
Dmitrii is a 43-year-old amateur sportsman from Moldova. He is an ultramarathoner, Ironman finisher and the organizer of Chisinau International Marathon. In fact, he has completed more than 50 different competitions including Comrades - 90 km, Marathon des Sables - 250 km, Ironman, OtillO 65 run + 10 swim; swimming competitions, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, OceanMan. Dmitri also participated in the competition Tough Guy, and climbed Montblanc and Mount Elbrus. As a child, he always dreamt of visiting the North Pole, and he hopes this dream will come true soon! Aside from his sporting life, Dmitri is the CEO of Simpals, an IT company which owns the largest websites in the Republic of Moldova, creates animated cartoons (https://vimeo.com/album/3539307) and organizes various sports events in the Republic of Moldova, under the aegis of SPORTER.md. More information about all these activities can be found in Dmitri’s personal blog: voloshin.md.
John Ward
Johnny is a travel blogger from Ireland who recently completed a 10 year journey to every country in the world (yes all 197 of them!). You can read about his adventures at www.OneStep4Ward.com. His goals of North Pole, South Pole and Everest have brought him to try the marathon. A keep-fit enthusiast, Johnny has little to no experience in anything over 20km. Sheer fear and thoughts of "What have I got myself into" currently live inside his head since signing up!
Wojciech Wiwatowski
Wojciech is married to fellow competitor Joanna and is father to 6-year old Maria. His passion is mountains and climbing. He is a triple conqueror of McKinley and Aconcagua; he has climbed Mount Blanc some twenty times; and is he an author of many climbing routes in various corners of the world. Professionally, Wojciech runs a company, www.ekspedycjaindustry.com, which provides work services at height, including the use of advanced rope access techniques, performing extreme construction works, and rescuing workers at huge construction sites such as power plants and shipyards. He runs because mountains are sometimes too far to travel to, and his running dream is to run through his life smiling, In March 2016, Wojciech successfully crossed the finish line of the freezing Baikal Ice Marathon, and in November 2016, Wojciech successfully crossed the finish line of the Antarctic Ice Marathon.
Simon Wrenn
Simon maintains he has been running marathons, very badly, for the last 15 years. He has recorded appallingly slow race times at many marathons around the world. His list of race finishes includes the Volcano Marathon in the Atacama desert, the 100km Antarctic Marathon, the Marathon De Sables held in the Sahara Desert and the Eilat Marathon held in Negev desert in Israel. This will be Simon's third time on the start line of North Pole Marathon, following visits in both 2008 and 2009. In a dramatic break with tradition, Simon is intending to actually finish the race this year.
Guoping Xie
Guoping is the founder of Sai Wu You and Chong Chong Run. She has completed both the World Marathon Majors and World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days), where she was runner-up in 2017.
Eric Xin
Eric has been running for over 5 years, completing numerous marathons and ultramarathons. He completed 7 marathons on 7 continents twice (2015 and 2017), with the latter being the World Marathon Challenge (7 Marathons 7 Continents 7 Days). Eric is a Guinness World Record Holder.
Jiawen Xing
Jiawen will run her first marathon ever at the North Pole and she "never expected it to be up there!" She is currently a freshwoman in the School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiaotong University, a speaker at the Forum of Shanghai Listening, a member of the 100 Young Talents Training Program of China, a member of Shanghai Youth Development Program, participant of Gobi Coming-of-age Ceremony, and finisher of Nepal ABC walk.
Bo Xing
Bo is Vice President of Neusoft Group, author of the Chinese edition of Harvard Business Review, President of the Shanghai Financial Information Association, President of the CEIBS AMP Club, member of the Marathon Committee of China Athletic Association, co-founder of the "400KM Ultra Gobi", and founder of Chinese Entrepreneurs 24-hour Extreme Challenge. He is the first Chinese to complete the 4 Deserts and is the record holder of the Lightest Equipment in the 4 Deserts. For the North Pole Marathon, Bo’s goal is to "run on the top of the world with reverence, let footsteps not be frozen, and let spirit fly."
Song Yang
Song began his running journey at the Athens Marathon in 2014 and has since completed 25 races, including a 200-mile trail run and a full Ironman. In 2016, he became the Chinese male champion in the Marathon Des Sables and ranked 127th in the Ultra Trail World Tour. In 2017, he was the sole Chinese runner to finish the Ultra Trail Mont-Blanc and Tor Des Geants back-to-back races. In 2018, Song planned to cover a total race distance of 2000+ km. He is a multifaceted businessman, a sailor, a pilot, a diver, a climber, a future North Pole swimmer, and a runner who simply loves adventures.
Marat Yusupov
Russian paratrooper.
Cong Zhang
Cong is the co-founder of Beijing Harumi Culture. He started running in 2005 and completed the World Marathon Majors in 2016. With a “grateful heart and unstoppable feet”, he enjoys every marathon he runs in the world. Cong believes that "At the top of the world, I will measure the colorful earth with my running feet."
Xu Zhang
Xu has finished the World Marathon Majors and looks forward to completing the northernmost marathon in the world, the North Pole Marathon.
Hua Zhang
Hua is the founder and chairman of Guangzhou Shibang Group, a human resource company, an executive director of Guangdong Women Entrepreneurs Association, a member of Guangzhou CPPCC, and is also on the working committee of Zhujiang Center of Alashan SEE Ecological Association. In 2018, Hua finished the World Marathon Majors. At the North Pole Marathon, Hua hopes to "aggregate the power of talents through running and illuminate the Arctic sea with heart."