Stephanie Case Becomes 1st Woman to Finish Antarctic 100-mile Ultra

Ultra-running champion Stephanie Case made history by becoming the first woman to run the 100-mile Antarctic Ice Ultra. The race held in Schirmacher Oasis of Queen Maud Land in East Antarctica, the competitors had the task of running 100 miles through 38 repetitions of a 4.2km route.

The runner also ran alongside penguins in these freezing conditions, eventually finishing the race in the second position with a record time of 17 hours 31 minutes and 39 seconds. Due to the harsh weather conditions, the organizers advanced the race start to 1 am on Sunday. Stephanie said that the race was more than just an endurance challenge since safety was also a priority for the runners.

 Key Highlights:

• Stephanie Case becomes the first woman to complete the 100-mile Antarctic Ice Ultra
• The Canadian ultra-runner finishes second overall in 17 hours, 31 minutes
• Stephanie conquers -35°C temperatures and extreme winds to make history

Stephanie achieved this feat at the age of 43 battling the challenging conditions of strong winds and freezing temperatures as low as -35° Celsius. As per the organizers of the event, this temperature is the lowest they ever witnessed at the race venue.

Antarctic Ice Ultra is one of the toughest competitions in existence, thus the extreme environmental conditions allow very few individuals to dare a full 100-mile length. One has to endure tough conditions such as the freezing temperatures, tough terrain, and competition conditions. She may consider herself a mountain goat but she discovered that finding time for the bathroom breaks in such freezing conditions was the most challenging.

Previously, only men competed in this competition but this year saw the participation of three women athletes. Stephanie who is from Canada, became the only woman who succeeded to compete in this event.

Antarctic Ice Ultra ended with Yusheng Ni as its winner who completed the race 29 minutes ahead of Stephanie. Yusheng also made a new world record, breaking his own record made the previous year by more than five and a half hours. Stephanie was aware that her opponent would be hard to beat.

Yusheng has more than 500 ultra-marathons under his belt. However, Stephanie managed to keep pace with her opponent several times during the race. As per Stephanie, there were moments when she was just 60 seconds away from him and at times 200 meters.

"There were parts where I was 60 seconds behind him or I was sometimes just 200 metres behind him. It was a real race. But whenever he saw me getting close, he would look behind and he would just take off. I think we really pushed each other to get our best performances. I feel super proud of what I was able to do," she said.

She expressed her pride with the historical accomplishment of being the first woman to finish 100 miles in Antarctica. The athlete had been in the news previously because of her viral image of breastfeeding her daughter, Pepper, while running in an ultra marathon that she had won in Snowdonia. "I know that when I'm going out and doing the things that make me feel happy and whole, it makes me a better mum and I can come home and and show my daughter all the things that she might want to do and all the things that are possible for women," Stephanie said.