Climb Everest? Old hat. Explore the
Amazon? Too many loggers. Race to the South Pole? You'd probably bump into a TV
presenter. So, in search of a big challenge in a small world, Dan Martin has a
suitably lunatic idea: a triathlon around the world.
An extreme
adventurer from England, Martin's plan for glory is to swim across the Atlantic
from the US to France; cycle from Europe through Russia to the Bering Strait;
either sledge across the frozen strait or swim further south; and then trek and
run to New York.
Martin's global ambition reflects just how much the
traditional frontiers of the world have shrunk. Last week Jordan Romero made a
satellite phone call to his mother in California and said: "Mom, I'm calling you
from the top of the world." Romero, an American, was on the summit of Everest.
He is 13. Thanks to all the support and modern equipment that money can buy, he
had become the youngest person to climb the world's highest
mountain.
Bonita Norris, 22, also reached the summit last week,
becoming the youngest British woman to climb Everest even though, two years ago,
she had done no mountaineering.
Although Everest remains a serious
proposition, the numbers that now crowd the peak symbolise the dilemma for those
seeking to boldly go where no man has gone before. Are there any real challenges
left on Earth? Leaving aside space, what frontiers remain?
Plenty, is the
answer — if you are determined and crazy enough. As Ben Saunders, the
British polar explorer, says: "There is this kind of myth that it's all been
done before and every man and his dog has been to the North Pole. Yes, it has
become more accessible, but there are still some big challenges out
there."
In 2004 Saunders became one of only three people to have made it to
the North Pole alone and unsupported. Since then nobody else has
succeeded.
To some, the key to modern challenges lies in how
objectives are achieved: solo, unsupported or faster, lighter, more stylishly
than ever before. For others the challenge lies in exploring not unknown lands
but the limits of endurance.
Last year, the comedian, finished 43
marathons in 51 days — after training for just five weeks. He plodded
pretty slowly and at the end said he felt "exhausted".
Others choose
to run in punishing conditions such as entrants to the Badwater ultramarathon:
135 miles along a highway starting in the blistering heat of Death
Valley.
Running is just putting one foot in front of the other. For a
more demanding test you might prefer the Deca-Ironman. The original competition
in Hawaii consisted of a 2.4-mile swim across one of the island's bays, a
112-mile cycle ride and a 26.2-mile marathon run to finish. The Deca-Ironman is
10 times as long: a 24-mile swim, followed by a 1,120-mile cycle ride and a
262-mile run. Mad? One will be held in Hampshire next year.
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