Training in -23C all part of Antarctica Marathon

For most runners a summer morning jog in the Western Bay is along the waterfront or in one of our beautiful parks.

But an intrepid group of Tauranga runners are training in -23C temperatures in a Sanford's cool store.

No they are not totally mad; Simon Hodgson, Liz Ireland, Sharon Hilton, Justin Cheyne and Andrew Scott are testing what their bodies can endure in preparation for taking on the Antarctica Marathon next March.

Hodgson said apart from preparing for the freezing conditions during a Tauranga summer, just getting to Antarctica was the biggest challenge for the group who will be among only 100 athletes competing.

It is not as simple as jumping on a plane to Christchurch and taking it from there. Instead they have to travel to Argentina to meet up with the other international runners competing and travel together by ship.

"We've latched on to a US company that organises it," Hodgson said.

"We fly to Buenos Aires and have a bit of a training run there to break the ice and then to Ushuaia, board two Russian research ships and take two days to get to Antarctica. That is our hotel and we will IRB between the ship and the mainland.

"They limit the number of people on the mainland for environmental factors and they restrict what we can take on there for minimal impact.

"Cost is another issue as it is quite a pricey thing to do."

The course on King George Island is located off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and has marked gravel roads that connect the scientific research bases of Uruguay, Chile, China and Russia.

Very few people have experienced the delights of running across Antarctica's unique landscape but Tauranga's Ross Steele is one.

The veteran runner has achieved the goal of competing in marathons on seven continents. His inspiring speech and photo slideshow to the Tauranga Road and Trail Runners club three years ago was the spark that lit the collective imaginations of the group taking on the Antarctica challenge next year.

The 18th Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon is scheduled over two days on March 10 and 11 to minimise environmental impact and runners can expect to come face-to-face with icebergs, penguins, seals and whales.

"There is a bit of ice that we run on, there is a glacier that we run up and down about a couple of hundred metres so that is going to be challenging," Hodgson added.

The coolstore trainings have taught some important - and painful - lessons.

"If you are not prepared you will get pretty cold bits very quickly. Anything that is exposed like nose, fingers, it is pretty tough," said Andrew Scott.

Training in -23C was best summed up by Hodgson who said "running with an ice-cream headache is a new experience".

It will be a new challenge for the Antarctica runners who have already experienced the other side of extreme marathon-running in the heat and humidity in the Great Wall Marathon in China.

Once they have ticked Antarctica off, the group will continue their quest to run a marathon on each of the seven continents and join their good mate Steele in the Seven Continents Club - one of world athletics' most challenging achievements.