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About Us
Polar Running Adventures is operated by multiple polar marathoner Richard Donovan. A native of Ireland, he is also the organiser of the annual North Pole Marathon.
In addition to completing marathons in both the Arctic and Antarctic, Richard has participated in other extreme locations such as the Sahara and Atacama Deserts, the Andes and Himalayan mountains and the Amazon Jungle. He has won races such as the Inca Trail Marathon, Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race, Everest Challenge Marathon and South Pole Marathon as well as representing Ireland as an international ultramarathon runner.
In February 2009 Richard set a new record for running marathons on all seven continents when he completed his World Marathon Challenge in 5 days 10 hours 8 minutes. Later that year, he won the Antarctic 100k for the third time and was race director at both the Anglo Celtic Plate 100km and the Commonwealth Championships 100km.
In 2010, he was race director of the official World 50km Final and in July 2011 he organised the IAU Trail World Championships where he was awarded the Order of Merit by the International Association of Ultra Runners. Richard was also race director at the inaugural Commonwealth Championships at Trail Running in September 2011 prior to directing the 7th Antarctic Ice Marathon races in December 2011. He completed the first 100-mile run within the Antarctic Circle on 2nd December 2011 to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of Man reaching the South Pole.
Leading international magazines, including National Geographic Adventure, Sports Illustrated and Runner’s World, have published feature length interviews and reports on Richard’s adventure race performances. He also featured in various documentaries, including the world syndicated BBC programme ‘Desert: The Challenge’, which was narrated by Mike Stroud.
A former economist, Richard was educated in Ireland and the USA and received postgraduate academic scholarships in both countries. He is the current Chairman of UltraRunning Ireland.
While Polar Running Adventures promotes and organises the Antarctic Ice Marathon races, Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions provides all of the associated logistical support.