Mark Pollock Becomes First Blind Man To Reach South Pole

Mark Pollock, of Ireland, became the first blind man to reach the South Pole on Monday while competing in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race according to this story over at SleepMonsters.com.

Mark is part of Team SouthPoleFlag.com, who finished 5th overall in the race, after powering through a 47km straight trek to reach the Pole in 22 days, 12 hours, and 4 minutes. His teammates, Simon O’Donnell and Inge Solheim, worked together to guide him safely across the 700km course that made up the race.

Mark lost his sight in just two weeks back in 1998, but has not let that slow him down much at all. In addition to completing the South Pole race, he has also run a grueling marathon at the North Pole.

All told, six teams competed in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race, setting out for the Pole back on January 4th. Over the course of the past few days, the teams have been arriving at the Pole, with the winning team, Missing Link, reaching their destination in just 17 days.

Congrats to Mark on his amazing achievement, and on his even more amazing outlook on life. He’s an inspiration to us all.

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Kraig Becker

Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.