Polar Challenge

The Polar Challenge was a competitive, 350 nautical mile (650 kilometer) team race taking place in the Arctic, to the 1996 location of the Magnetic North Pole. The race ran between mid-April and mid-May each year, taking teams approximately 4 weeks to complete, including the training time. This event should not be confused with the Polar Race, which was a different event taking a different route, and run by a different organisation.

Competitors race in teams of 3, many joining as individuals and forming teams when they meet other individuals during the training that leads up to the race. The competitors are from different walks of life (not necessarily explorers or people with mountaineering experience), sharing a quest for adventure and to achieve something that only a few others have done. The race takes place in one of the world's most extreme and hostile environments, with temperatures dropping as low as -35 °C, and where 80% of the world’s population of polar bears live. Competitors race on skis, pulling their supplies in 120 lb pulkas, stopping on route at 3 manned checkpoints to re-supply.

In 2003, Chris McLeod and Tony Martin captained the first and second place teams, respectively, in the first ever Polar Race. On their return to England, they decided to set up and run an alternative challenge themselves, and formed Polar Challenge Limited. Since then, they have organised and run the Polar Challenge every year. In 2004 the race was filmed for a BBC documentary series called ‘The Challenge’ which aired on worldwide television. Paul “Seamus” Hogan, a sales manager from London, England, with no experience of the outdoors whatsoever, was asked to enter the Challenge for the program. His team, Team Fujitsu led by Chris McLeod went on to win the race. In 2007, at the same time as the Challenge, the BBC's Top Gear programme presenters became the first people to drive to the 1996 location of the magnetic north pole in the Hilux Arctic Challenge. It was later broadcast as the Top Gear: Polar Special.

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