Ning Chen

china

Ning Chen is completing his Grand Slam by running the North Pole Marathon 2026. He has conquered the 777 Marathon Challenge twice among his 107 full marathons to date. Not a fast runner by his own admission, Ning believes the patience, endurance, and resilience forged through these journeys are essential qualities for navigating — and thriving in — our accelerating, ever- changing world.

Xuexiang Cheng

china

Xuexiang Cheng is Chairman of Beijing Chengyi Investment Co., Ltd., Chairman of Beijing Anting Pharmaceutical, and Chairman of Hubei Phoenix Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical. He serves as President of the EMBA Alumni Association of the School of Finance at Renmin University of China, President of the Gobi Alumni Club, Honorary President of the Beijing Alumni Association of China Pharmaceutical University, and Vice President of the Anhui Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. He is the recipient of the honorary title "Hubei Provincial Outstanding Builder of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" and holds the title of Industrial Professor of Hubei Province. He has run a public welfare fund for Huangshan Special Education School for 17 years, founded the Eagle Cultivation Fund at Huangshan University and the Macheng Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, and established the Anting-Guanping Teaching Award Fund at China Pharmaceutical University. An accomplished endurance athlete, Mr. Cheng is a finisher of the 777 World Marathon Challenge and the Antarctic Ice Marathon. He is the founder of the 120 Health Elite Club and a leading advocate of the “Four Nots, Two Withouts” health philosophy, promoting a healthier and more balanced lifestyle.

Rikke Dam

Denmark

Rikke Dam is a Danish marathon and extreme-environment runner and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of ixdf.org. She became the 2026 North Pole Marathon Female Champion with a winning time of 6:54:02 on one of the toughest courses in the race's history: ankle-deep slush ice and meltwater covered half of every lap, with deep, drifted snow and ice covering the rest. She started running 9 months before competing at the North Pole. She chose Antarctica as the perfect place to start running, at age 50, because she loves extreme challenges. She had just two months to ramp up from a fit lifestyle with weight training and zero running to a full marathon. During the Antarctica Marathon, she discovered that she loved running. Since then, she's trained hard and consistently, running several half marathons each week with her sons and her husband, with whom she's been traveling the world for the past 1.5 years. The North Pole Marathon was a key part of this family adventure. Rikke loves wild challenges. When she feared water, she became a professional scuba diver. Born on a pig farm, she used Denmark's free access to high-quality education to build a life of freedom, working and living around the world. For decades, she and her co-founder, husband, and running buddy have worked to give people everywhere access to affordable, high-end education in design, technology, and AI so they can design lives they love too, no matter their background

Qizhen Gu

china

Qizhen Gu is a passionate runner who has completed 77 marathons in China and around the world. He is a Six Star Finisher and completed the 777 World Marathon Challenge in 2025. Later this year, he will take on the Antarctic Marathon, continuing his journey of running to extraordinary places. Through his passion for running, Qizhen hopes to inspire more people to embrace an active and healthy lifestyle.

Christian Haigh

great britain

Christian is an amateur runner and has been running (amateurishly) for the past 10 years, competing in 5 marathons and 2 half marathons. He has tried to stop running multiple times, but has never succeeded, embracing the challenge and energy of every race. If the question is “why?” he’d ask “why not?” And that’s how he ended up running a marathon at the North Pole. When not running, Christian can be found sitting, walking, or doing other things that humans do.

Grace He

united states

Grace is 12 years old and will be joining the North Pole expedition alongside her mother. She loves drawing and running. In 2025, she completed the 68-kilometer Youth Gobi Race, hiking across the desert over three days. While cheering on her mother in the half marathon, Grace hopes to capture their North Pole adventure through her artwork and challenge herself in the 5K race.

Yong Lin

china

My name is Lin Yong, and I come from Fuzhou, China. I have completed over 100 races, including marathons, trail runs, triathlons, and the Gobi Challenge. Running is my hobby, and it has become a part of my life. This time, I am here to run a marathon in the Arctic. not to chase a personal best, not to compete for results. I just want to stand on this vast ice field, feel the light of the midnight sun, breathe the biting wind, and run through white world step by step. I am not here to race. I am here to experience, to feel, and to fully enjoy this Arctic run.

Yusheng Ni

china

Yusheng has completed more than 500 marathon and ultramarathon races across seven continents and over 80 countries and regions, including 20+ 100K races and five 100-mile races. He has run more than 130 sub-3-hour marathons, with a personal best of 2:42, and has completed the World Marathon Majors more than six times. His extreme running achievements include the North Pole Marathon in 2024 and 2025, the 2025 Antarctic Ice Marathon, and the 2026 World Marathon Challenge. He also holds two Antarctica records: 100K in 9:20 at the 2024 Antarctic Ice Marathon and 100 miles in 22:40 at the 2025 Antarctic Ice Ultra. Yusheng is the Chairman of Shenzhen Yuanteng Investment and Development Company, specializing in real estate construction and financial investment.

Hailey Pryor

united states

Hailey is endlessly curious about the world and has spent the past four years exploring it full-time with her husband, Max, visiting nearly 170 countries. A Kansas native, she began her career as a technology executive in the sports industry. Her proudest accomplishment is completing the trek to Everest Base Camp this past April. Fluent in Spanish and currently learning Italian and Japanese, she never misses an opportunity to uncover the history behind the places she visits. When she’s not traveling, you’ll likely find her practicing yoga, scuba diving, hiking ancient pilgrimage trails, or partaking in a trivia competition. Despite seeing nearly 170 countries, her favorite country is still the USA. She's excited to trade hiking boots for running shoes as she takes on the North Pole Half Marathon.

Max Roper

united states

Max is a California native, dual U.S./Canadian citizen, entrepreneur, and lifelong adventurer. Alongside his wife, Hailey, he's spent the last four years traveling the world full-time, visiting nearly 170 countries with the goal of seeing them all. After founding and leading a technology startup to a successful exit in 2022, Max now enjoys building AI projects, playing blues guitar, and planning his next big adventure. As former skydiver, Max also contributed to the Stratos project, helping support the record-breaking first skydive from the edge of space. Max is especially looking forward to checking off another ‘first’ on this expedition—running his very first marathon at the North Pole—and sharing the experience with fellow adventurers.

Katie Sarah

australia

Katie Sarah has completed both the 7 Summits and the 7 Volcanic Summits, as well as Ski the Last Degree at the South Pole. Since 2019, she has hoped to attempt Ski the Last Degree at the North Pole, but access to the region has made that difficult. A former marathon runner, Katie has also completed multiple full Ironman events and trained for several more during Covid that were ultimately cancelled. She is excited to take on this North Pole marathon as an incredible adventure and a unique opportunity to experience the area. Her goal is simple: to complete the distance safely, enjoy the experience, and hopefully finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Chunyu Shao

china

Chunyu is the director of an investment and real estate development company in Shenzhen, China. A newer runner, she has already completed 12 half marathons, an 8-day, 8-state, 8-5K challenge in the United States, the half-marathon distance at the Ice Ultra in Antarctica, and the Antarctic Ice Marathon. After completing the half-marathon distance at the North Pole Marathon, she is now returning to the top of the world to take on the North Pole Marathon again.

Nicholas Tommarello

united states

Nick is the Founder and CEO of Wefunder.

Shengxian Wang

china

Wang Shengxian is the founder and chairman of Hunan Yisheng Technology Co., Ltd. He is a senior engineer, a member of the Xiangjiang New Area CPPCC, and serves as Vice Chairman of the Hunan Normal University Alumni Association. He is also a graduate practice mentor at the Business School of Hunan Normal University. With over 20 years of business leadership, Wang has helped grow his company from a startup team into an industry leader. He is also an accomplished runner, a China Marathon Grand Slam Seven-Star runner, and the first runner from Hunan to quickly complete the World Marathon Majors. He placed second in the 9th World Marathon Challenge 777 and is currently training for the North Pole Marathon.

Cyril Wong

hong kong

Cyril Wong is an amateur who never actually run—preferring tennis and padel instead. Following his experiences in Antarctica and the 777 Challenge, he is thrilled to participate in the upcoming North Pole challenge and looks forward to experiencing this unique and incredible journey

Binbin Xu

china

Binbin Xu has worked in the toy industry for nearly 20 years. He began running in 2019 and has since taken part in a wide range of events, from the Gobi Challenge to the Antarctic Marathon, as well as marathons in cities across China and around the world. For Binbin, running is not only about the race itself, but also about experiencing the unique culture, people, and landscapes of each destination. He hopes to continue sharing the joy of running with more like-minded friends, pursuing a healthy lifestyle together, and exploring new places and perspectives along the way.

Yuan Yuan

china

Yuan is 46 years old and from Chongqing, China. She enjoys painting, playing the seven-stringed guqin, flower arrangement, and Chinese calligraphy. She is also passionate about outdoor sports and travels each year to ski in France and Japan. In 2023, she took up paragliding, and in 2025, she learned scuba diving in Indonesia. This past May, she completed the kora trek around Mount Kailash. Running at the North Pole is a lifelong dream, and she is excited for the upcoming adventure.

Jian Zhang

china

Jian Zhang enjoys a wide range of sports, including strength training, mountaineering, cycling, motorcycling, and boxing. His passion for adventure has led him to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents and complete the Last Degree expedition to the South Pole on foot. The North Pole Marathon will be Jian's very first marathon. If all goes according to plan, it will also mark the completion of his 7+2 global adventure challenge—reaching the highest summit on each continent and both the North and South Poles. Next on his journey are the 777 World Marathon Challenge and the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Believing that life is meant to be lived through new challenges, Jian looks forward to discovering the best version of himself with every mile he runs.