Barefoot Marathon in Antarctica, History in the Making

Hello Fellow Barefoot Runners ,
Our Antarctica Marathon finally pushed through yesterday, 2/27. I will provide you with a race report in a day or so because I still have to catch up with work. This whole week is not really a vacation for me. Anyway, to make a long story short I was able to complete only 8.5 miles running barefoot and then I was forced to wear shoes for the remaining 17.6 miles, otherwise, I would've never finished. Here's a picture of my feet so you can see why. Just imagine trying to complete another 17.6 miles with these feet? A worthy sacrifice in order to raise awareness for the poor and impoverished.
See attached picture of my feet. Notice the two white areas with open wounds are actually the same areas where I blistered 3 weeks ago in Sedona as shown in my profile picture. They weren't even completely healed that's why it reopened and it's much deeper than a regular blister. I will have to cancel Little Rock Marathon this Sunday and Graveyard 100 on 3/9 and possibly Wrightsville Beach Marathon on 3/17. That's the big difference between this injury and Sedona's because I was able to run again within 6 days. But, in this case, I sincerely doubt that's even remotely possible.
I'm hoping that when this heals my feet will develop thicker callouses. I am definitely not giving up barefoot running. As a matter of fact, it has given me incentive to keep going especially after hearing positive comments from fellow runners at the Antarctica Marathon. Here's one from Brent Weigner, who ran a marathon/or and ultra marathon in all 7 continents 8 times over:
"
Even after his feet were bloodied trying to run a barefoot marathon in Antarctica, Eddie Vega persevered and finished the marathon wearing much needed shoes. A courageous example of grit and determination."
Thank you all for your support.
11-Star Vega
Barefoot -  Antarctica (small).JPG
Finisher\'s Medal - Small.JPG
 
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CONGRATS to you, Eddie. I must say, that hurts me just to look at it. Glad you are well and can now start to heal. Good decision to let go of the other races for now. :barefoot: :stinkyfeet:
 
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I was in Antarctica last week - seriously - on the cruise ship Infinity. We cruised into Paradise Bay - on the Antarctic Peninsula. I stepped onto our cabin balcony barefoot - and it was not very long before I made a hasty retreat to the cabin to put some shoes on and dress up like the Michelin Tire Man!! My wife (who still thinks I am nuts for running BF) had a chuckle as I beat that hasty retreat. Dude - you have got to be part sea lion, penguin and definitely more nuts than me! Good luck and just doing a hundred yards makes you my hero!
 
Hi All,

I've got GREAT NEWS!!! My feet is healing fairly quickly and I think I'm ready to run another marathon this weekend. I will be wearing my Vibrams, though, as my feet is not quite ready to go 26.2 miles totally barefoot.

Here's couple of pictures taken during my epic attempt to make history by running a full marathon barefoot in Antarctica. I'm carrying the Guam flag on the left and the Philippine flag on the right. This picture of me running on snow and ice was actually a welcome relief on my feet compared to the roughly 90% of the course that was comprised mostly of gravel and jagged rocks.

I think it was around mile 6 as I was treading over some jagged rocks when I notice the blisters on my right sole pop and splattered blood all over the toes of the opposite foot. It was less than a half mile later when the blisters on my left sole popped, as well. From there, it was a long and excruciating trek back of approximately 2.7 miles to the base camp or the start of the loop where I could have my feet checked and cleaned and put on a pair of shoes. The course was designed as an out and back comprising of 6 loops measured at 4.37 miles per loop.

I did not realize that I was leaving blood trails along the course that was clearly noticed by the other runners. We were informed prior to the race that the White Continent is a “no impact zone”, meaning that what comes onto Antarctica leaves Antarctica, i.e. anything you needed to consume or let go of had to be carried on your body all the way back to Chile. No spitting was allowed and you had to carry your own pee bottle and pooh bag. The fact that I was leaving blood trails the entire length of the course was clearly in violation of the “no impact zone” policy. This obviously became the joke of many conversations on our flight back to Punta Arenas, Chile.

Although, I did not finish the race on barefoot I am still proud of the fact that I made a valiant effort and ran as far as I could on barefoot and still finished the marathon even with my feet all torn up and I did not succumb to giving up no matter how painful and excruciating it was after every step. For the first time in my 76 marathon career, I came in dead last with a finishing time of 11 hours 22 minutes. It was my personal worst time but, it was my best finish ever. I literally had more crowd support at the finish line cheering me on and congratulating me than a last place finisher ever had in any marathon race that I had participated in.

It is my fervent hope that my sacrifice helped raise awareness and support for my charity, Gawad Kalinga, whose mission is to eradicate poverty in the Philippines. I hope that I can continue to be a source of inspiration as I pursue my quest to run a barefoot marathon on all 50 States and 7 Continents as an advocate of Gawad Kalinga: http://gk-usa.org/.

For what it's worth, something magical happened that day...my barefoot marathon stunt was supposed to inspire only the average folks and especially the non-running community but it somehow transcended into inspiring the elite athletes, as well. Here's my favorite comment on my Facebook account posted by an Elite Marathoner who ran 71 marathons in 2012 and completed a marathon in all 50 States twice over and is on her way to doing it 3 times:

"Eddie Vilbar Vega is my hero! He persevered and overcame obstacles on his double continent quest and succeeded in completing 2 continent marathons which began in less than 24 hours apart! He lives by my motto..."Quitting is easy! Never give up!" I'm thrilled he didn't give up. And seeing him finish had me in tears! An amazing athlete is Eddie Vega!”

Barefoot - DAP photo.jpgBarefoot - on Ice (Small 2).jpg
 
I'm curious what kind of cold weather/ice training you did before making this attempt. I have to assume by the state of your feet either you were't as prepared as you would have liked or the terraine was not as you expected?
 
A little bit of both.

First of all, I was not as prepared because it was only 3 weeks earlier when I had suffered from deep blisters from running barefoot at the Sedona Marathon where half of the course was dirt gravel road and asphalt. I lost an entire 3 weeks of barefoot training because I was more concerned about making sure that my feet was fully healed for the Antarctica marathon.

Secondly, the course differed from what I was told by another marathoner who had ran this same marathon in King George Island 7 years in a row. According to him, the terrain on this modified course was much tougher with jagged rocks lining at least half of the course. It was the jagged rocks that did me in.
 
It was my personal worst time but, it was my best finish ever. I love that. Congrats again, Eddie!
 
I think this shows the importance of barefoot runners, more so than shod runners, to know well and train for the terrain they will encounter. While it's a great feat to complete any marathon, it can be a dangerous proposition when not properly prepared.
I do congratulate you on your finish!