Singaporean seeks seventh heaven at Antarctic marathon

SINGAPORE — By tomorrow, civil servant Yvonne Chee hopes to have completed the Antarctic Ice Marathon (AIM), the last and toughest leg of her self-funded Seven Marathons and Seven Continents drive to raise S$35,000 for charity.

The AIM — the only marathon held in the interior of the continent — takes place only a few hundred kilometres from the South Pole at the foot of the Ellsworth Mountains and has daunting conditions of -40°C and howling winds at an altitude of 700m.

In an email interview yesterday with TODAY from the Chilean town of Punta Arenas — the gathering point for AIM runners, where they will be flown to the Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica — Ms Chee said she has prepared gloves, goggles, a face mask, thermal hat and insulating layers for the run, which starts at 9pm (Singapore time) tomorrow with 50 other runners.

The Singaporean, who turns 34 today, thought of this charity drive after she helped raise funds for cancer research in the build-up to the 2008 New York Marathon.

“Back then, I was not sure if anyone had done this in Singapore and how I would go about doing it,” she explained.

“I am also inspired by my late grandmother, who always has so much determination and grit in her, so I am running for her too.”

That became the first leg of her campaign, which now includes the 2009 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, the 2010 Blackmores Sydney Marathon in Australia, the 2012 Paris Marathon and this year’s International Marathon of Marrakech in Morocco and the International Marathon of Rio de Janeiro.

Only two Singaporeans — Dr William Tan (in 2007) and Ms Gloria Lau (in 2012) — have managed the feat of running seven marathons on seven continents and joined the Seven Continents club, which has more than 500 members.

So far, Ms Chee has raised about S$11,700 for the Tsao Foundation, a charity organisation that provides healthcare and other eldercare services.

Her efforts have drawn the support of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who praised her on his Facebook page last week after they met at the Singapore Embassy in Paris.

Mr Lee wrote: “I admire this young lady’s mental strength, determination and compassion as she pursues her dreams. I wish her all the best in her fund-raising campaign and her upcoming run in Antarctica!”

His post garnered more than 5,000 “likes”.

To prepare for the AIM, Ms Chee has been running on beaches to simulate the soft grounds in snowy conditions and hopes a knee inflammation she sustained in Rio de Janeiro will not hinder her in Antarctica.

“I’m definitely anxious about the weather conditions (in Antarctica). Some runners have even trained in industrial ice fridges, so I do feel somewhat inadequately prepared,” she said.

“(But) I’ve come so far and really hope to finish the run in Antarctica, which will be my hardest race ever ... But I want to show nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it.”

TO DONATE:

The public can make donations to support Chee’s effort to raise funds for the Tsao Foundation via her website at: http://www.yvonne7marathons7continents.com/