Yahoo Sports Teacher to run Arctic Circle marathon to raise £2m
A PE teacher has travelled to the Arctic Circle to run a marathon in a bid to reach her lifetime fundraising goal of £2m for Cancer Research.
Gill Punt from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, started taking part in endurance events in 1999, after her father passed away from bile duct cancer.
On Saturday, she will be running the polar night marathon, which takes place in almost total darkness in the Norwegian city of Tromso.
Ms Punt said she was "excited but trepidatious" about what lay ahead, but knew she had to "take on something slightly crazy to get that figure over £2m."
She has completed 26 marathons and 70 half marathons but said this race would be "a first for me", as she would be required to wear spikes, similar to crampons, over her trainers in order to "deal with the conditions".
Knut Perander, the race manager, described the challenges that almost 2,000 runners will face on Saturday.
"You have to cross a mountain pass that could be quite harsh in the winter, really windy and cold, it will be -10 degrees, so it's more of an adventure race."
He added that the race has "a night-time feeling" despite the race starting at 13:00 local time (12:00 GMT), as there are so few hours of daylight in Norway during January.
'Special time alone with my Dad'
The PE teacher, who is running the 26.2 mile (42.2km) race in polar bear fancy dress costume, said it is not just the weather conditions she will have to contend with.
"The visibility in the polar bear head is not great...but in the darkness, on ice, what could possibly go wrong".
Ms Punt has raised £1.94m over the last 26 years and said taking part in running challenges enables her to have "special time alone with my Dad".
"There is probably not a family in the whole country, if not the whole world, that's not been touched in shape or form by this truly brutal disease."
She added that in recent weeks she had lost "a very, very dear family friend" to cancer.
"Yes it will be hard, I will have to dig deep, however it's temporary and it's for people like her that I will do it."
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