Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race 2008

In the footsteps of Scott and Amundsen. In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his English rival, Robert Falcon Scott, made history in an epic race to be the first man to conquer the Geographic South Pole, ending in triumph for Amundsen who reached the pole on December 14th, and tragedy for Scott who arrived a few days later and perished in the attempt. For the first time in almost a hundred years, this historic duel will be recreated in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race 2008, which will witness both Norwegian and British competitors following in the footsteps of Scott and Amundsen.

Leaving in December 2008 and set to travel 483 miles across some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, the 10 teams will have to survive in temperatures as low as – 50C degrees, navigate, ski and pull 70kg pulks (sleds) and face tough climbs of up to 9,300 ft in the race to get to the South Pole first.

The teams of both men and women come from all over the world, with one of the U.K. teams including TV presenter Ben Fogle teaming up with former double Olympic gold medal winning rower James Cracknell to undertake another major challenge together after the success of their 49 day 2,930 mile row across the Atlantic Ocean.

This challenge will again push both men to their limits of physical and mental endurance or, as James states, “I wanted to have a crack at something that didn’t involve sitting down!”

All teams entering will undergo intensive Antarctic training to enable them to cope with the dangerous terrain and crevasses that they will face, as well as to acclimatise them to the extreme temperatures that they will have to survive in for 30-45 days.

The Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race is sponsored by Amundsen Omega 3 AS, a Norwegian based company that develops, produces and sells high quality omega-3 products from Norwegian fish oil.

CEO Rune Skjoldal says: “It is an honour for us to be the title sponsor for the first race in the foot steps of the two great explorers, Scott and Amundsen. The importance of correct nutrition is absolutely key and Amundsen Omega-3 are using this sponsorship as an extremely apt way to broadcast this to the world.”

Additional sponsors are extreme clothing wear company Missing Link, extreme equipment suppliers Nanok, and equally appropriately, Tesco’s Captain Scott’s Strong Blend Tea.

For further information, please visit www.amundsenomega3southpolerace.com