South Pole race selection hots up

By Claire Curtis
BBC News

Soaking wet and exhausted we keep smiling (Pic: Alexis Girardet)

It is not everyone's idea of an opportunity, but when I saw the advert for a third person to become part of a team of three racing more than 400 miles to the South Pole, I applied.

TV presenter Ben Fogle and Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell were looking for someone to join them.

The plan is that international teams of three will retrace the routes of the British explorer Captain Robert Scott and the victorious Norwegian Roald Amundsen, starting from the same start line this Christmas.

I was pleasantly surprised when a call came last week inviting me to a selection weekend at the Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester as one of a shortlist of 40 candidates.

Goal 'to win'

I have a sporty background but absolutely zero polar or expedition experience, so I figured they must have had 41 applications - in fact as it turned out they had received 653.

The weekend instructions were minimal and warning bells began to ring at the bit about bringing a headtorch and a sleeping bag "but NO tent". Clearly conditions were going to be harsh.

Cracknell is a class apart when it comes to sport (Pic: Alexis Girardet)

I arrived on the Sunday at 0700 BST to find a room full of people who had already achieved extraordinary things in their life - climbed Mount Everest, trained as arctic survival experts, or skied to the North Pole.

I suddenly felt very humble, nervous and utterly out of my depth.

Race organiser Tony Martin set the tone for the next 36 hours. He said they were looking for people who would complement Fogle and Cracknell and he stressed that this team's goal was to win - second place would not do.

And with that we were divided into four teams of 10 and sent off to complete a series of team-building exercises for the morning, accompanied by some of the 31 instructors jotting down our every comment and action.

Night navigation

One constant theme for the weekend was being wet. It rained torrentially for the duration (a situation which pleased the instructors) and every other hour there was a command to jump fully clothed into the lake.

Fogle gritted his teeth and joined in (Pic: Alexis Girardet)

Lunch, a term I use loosely, was apparently typical Antarctic fare: lots of jelly babies, chocolate, chunks of cheese and salami, which took some getting used to.

The afternoon continued gently with everyone giving a talk about themselves to the rest of the group.

I had just about lulled myself into believing that I had grossly overestimated the severity of the weekend when there suddenly came a command to get our running shoes on.

What followed can only be described as 12 hours of physical torture - running, swimming, pushing cars, hundreds of press-ups, tyre pulling, and an overnight navigation exercise which brought us home after dawn.

And then there was more running and swimming fully clothed.

The aim was to make us physically exhausted and hungry, and then put our mental skills to the test again.

The day ended with the announcement of the four candidates selected to go through to the next stage - all four had stood out during the two days, but unfortunately I was not one of them.

I left with soggy feet, but an amazing sense of inspiration and the desire to try new things.

Racing to the South Pole will be the ultimate test of a team's toughness and mental stamina and I will be following the race from the warmth of my own home, with not a jelly baby in sight.

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The race to the South Pole is being filmed by TwoFour for the BBC. "On Thin Ice" will be broadcast in the spring of 2009.