THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA)
ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE

26 November 2024

DAYS TO GO

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

The Last Desert Home

Robin MURPHY

Human Resources

United States

Terence GINN

Finance

United States

Sangmin SHIN

Korea (South)

Catherine HEATH

Doctor - General practice

Australia, Resident in China

Erica RUSBRIDGE

United Kingdom, Resident in Australia

Jon INGALLS

United States

Annick WELFRING

Luxembourg, Resident in Germany

Carson GRIGGS

United States

Carrie OWER

Housewife/Adventurer

United States

Agni ZIOGOS

Teacher

Australia

Stephen WYATT

Retired

Australia

Nicholas TRIOLO

Writer/Editor

United States

Cynthia THOMAS

Educator

United States

Hoi Ling CHAN

Communications Coordinator

Hong Kong, Resident in Canada

Fanny LUK

Canada

Theodore LEE

Investment Manager

Hong Kong

Elizabeth KOSTIUK

Retired

United States

Douglas KAMP

Software Development Manager

Australia

Robyn KAMP

Australia

Robert HUFFMAN

Retired

United States

Keith HALL

United States

Gunnar FAEHN

Norway

Stephen CROWE

Software Engineer

United States

Brendi Maria COBB HUGO

United States, Resident in Switzerland

Liza CHIN

Anaesthetist

Australia

Robin MURPHY

Human Resources

United States

Robin Murphy works in HR for Alaskan Copper. Robyn is participating in the Antarctica Ultramarathon, while her husband, Michael, who has been on the official media team as videographer mutiple times, most recently at RacingThePlanet: The 20-Year Race, will be the official videographer in Antarctica.

Terence GINN

Finance

United States

American Terence (Terry) Ginn is a financial planner from Louisiana in the United States. Terry completed the Atacama Crossing in 2019 and joined the Namib Race 2024. Terry will be competing in the Antarctica Ultramarathon.

Sangmin SHIN

Korea (South)

Sangmin Shin, from Korea, is in Antarctica to support her friend, Seijin (Sarah) Oh, who is taking part in The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2024.

Catherine HEATH

Doctor - General practice

Australia, Resident in China

Catherine (Cathy) Heath is an Australian GP who has lived in Hong Kong for 45 years. The mother of four children is a volunteer with the Girl Guides and the China Coast Community which provides aged care residence support. Cathy enjoys travelling, reading and outdoor activities. Cathy joins us for the Antarctica Ultramarathon; her daughter, Olivia, will be competing in The Last Desert.

Erica RUSBRIDGE

United Kingdom, Resident in Australia

A Briton living in Australia, Erica Rusbridge is running the Antarctica Ultramarathon as part of her 60th birthday celebrations. She is running with her close friend, Liza Chin.

Jon INGALLS

United States

Annick WELFRING

Luxembourg, Resident in Germany

Luxembourger Annick Welfring joins us for the Antarctica Ultramarathon having successfully completed RacingThePlanet: Lapland 2022.

Carson GRIGGS

United States

Carson Griggs, from Texas in the United States, joins us for the Antarctica Ultramarathon whilst travelling with his father, Patrick, who is taking part in The Last Desert (Antarctica) 2024.

Carrie OWER

Housewife/Adventurer

United States

Carrie joins us to support her husband, Royce, who is taking part in The Last Desert, and to run in the Antarctica Ultramarathon. We first met Carrie previously at the Gobi March 2023 as part of the Friends and Family group and she is due to be on the volunteer team at the Atacama Crossing 2025. Carrie says she is "super excited to see this pristine part of the planet and the tranquility it will offer."

Agni ZIOGOS

Teacher

Australia

Agni (Anne) Ziogos is a teacher in Melbourne Australia. She successfully completed the Gobi March (Mongolia) in 2023 and now joins us for the Antarctica Ultramarathon.

Stephen WYATT

Retired

Australia

Stephen is a Development Economist by training with his early work in development and underdevelopment. Stephen then moved to the dark side of banking with a US bank - Merrill Lynch. Due to extreme boredom and male menopause, he completely changed his career and became a financial journalist. Stephen wrote mainly for the Australian Financial Review for 20 years with his last assignment as joint China Correspondent for the paper for 6 years through to 2010. Stephne is excited to join the Antarctica Ultramarathon.

Nicholas TRIOLO

Writer/Editor

United States

Top contender Nicholas Triolo is a writer, editor and long-distance mountain runner travelling to Antarctica to run the Antarctica Ultramarathon from Montana in the United States. Nicholas has finished three 100-mile races including the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (18h50m). He was the winner of the Oregon Trail Series, a two-time finisher of the TransAlpine Run, and has finished in the Top 3 at several ultramarathons. He’s also worked at Outside/Trail Runner Magazine as Senior Editor, Orion Magazine as Digital Strategist, and Senior Guide for Aspire Adventure Running. His writing and films have been featured in Outside, Orion, The Dark Mountain Project, Patagonia’s Dirtbag Diaries, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, and others. He holds a Master’s of Science in Environmental Studies.

Cynthia THOMAS

Educator

United States

The Antarctica Ultramarathon, and the expedition around it, is a dream come true for American runner Cynthia (Cyd) Thomas. This is her second bucket list trip of the year having been to Tonga and Fiji in September where she swam with whales.

Swimming is a big part of Cyd's life and it's through her swimming buddy Richard Behringer that she joins us on in the white desert along with their good friend, Elizabeth Kostiuk.

Hoi Ling CHAN

Communications Coordinator

Hong Kong, Resident in Canada

Hong Konger Hoi Ling (Irene) Chan is a communications specialist living in Calgary. Before her recent move to Calgary, she spent 3 years in Winnipeg, one of the coldest cities in Canada, great preparation for the Antarctica Ultramarathon! Irene is travelling with her two childhood friends, Natalie, who is taking part in The Last Desert, and Fanny, who is also running in the Antarctica Ultramarathon. Irene says: "I love travelling and exploring nature, and Fanny was my best travel buddy on many tours. I am looking forward to experiencing Antarctica with my best friends and meeting other new friends on this expedition!"

Fanny LUK

Canada

Fanny hails from Canada and joins us with her childhood friends Irene, who is also running in the Antarctica Ultramarathon, and Natalie, who is taking part in The Last Desert.

Theodore LEE

Investment Manager

Hong Kong

Theodore (Ted) Lee is originally from Hawaii but lives in Hong Kong. Ever since he was a child he has enjoyed travelling and always wanted to visit every continent. The last continent for him to visit is Antarctica and through this trip for the Antarctica Ultramarathon, the list is complete. He has also been a fan of RacingThePlanet from afar, and he is looking forward to spending time with the athletes and learning about their lives and physical abilities.

Elizabeth KOSTIUK

Retired

United States

American runner Elizabeth Kostiuk has recently begun her second retirement. She spent 30 years as an engineer, mainly in Houston, and then two years as a National Park Service Ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. She plans on spending her retirement years hiking, backpacking and skiing in her beloved Colorado mountains as well as volunteering with local organizations focused on trail maintenance and wildland preservation. She also plans to have many more amazing adventures around the world.

While in Houston, she took up swimming where she met Richard Behringer, who is taking part in The Last Desert, and Cynthia (Cyd) Thomas, who is also running in the Antarctica Ultramarathon. Both inspired her to keep swimming and to push herelf to do some amazing open water swims.

Douglas KAMP

Software Development Manager

Australia

Douglas (Doug) Kamp was born in Zimbabwe. He emmigrated to, and grew up in, Perth, Western Australia, in his teens. He has lived in five countries so far (Zimbabwe, Australia, USA, Thailand and New Zealand) and visited quite a few more. He describes himself as an adventurer by heart who loves new experiences where he meets people and makes friends whilst travelling.

Doug says: "I like to take myself out of my comfort zone by trying new things, particularly if they are challenging physically or mentally either as an individual or in a team. I love outdoor sports and activities such as SCUBA diving, sailing (I sailed with my brother in his catamaran from Sydney to Auckland), hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering, flying, running, and motorcycling."

Doug has only ever run a half marathon but has dreamt of one day participating in a RacingThePlanet event. He plans to use this expedition to Antarctica as an opportunity to participate in the Antarctica Ultramarathon so he not only gets to meet new people and go to new places, he also gets to see how its done firsthand which he knows will spur him on to his end goal of actually participating in a 250km hot desert race.

When describing himself, Doug says: "I am an adventurer with some awesome adventures under my belt, and the energy and passion for many more. I am a peacemaker, always smoothing out friction and trying to help everyone get along. I am an intelligent, hard worker and have an excellent work ethic. I get the job done and can think out the box."

Robyn KAMP

Australia

Australian competitor Robyn Kamp is running in the Antarctica Ultramarathon along with her husband, Doug.

Robert HUFFMAN

Retired

United States

Robert (Bob) Bob Huffman, from Washington in the United States, is a retired nuclear physicist and physics teacher (US college and high school). With the freedom of retirement, he now takes on challenges that he could never fit into his academic schedule or was even aware of. He sees them as opportunities to test himself physically and mentally. Antarctica is a place that Bob has always wanted to visit, especially after hearing about a colleague's visit decades ago. The Antarctica Ultramarathon is the perfect way to provide a unique perspective of the continent - not just the normal tourist experience. Bob has competed in the Atacama Crossing 2022, Gobi March (Mongolia) 2023, Namib Race 2024 and RacingThePlanet: The 20-Year Race. Bob's wife, Kristina, is taking part in The Last Desert 2024.

Keith HALL

United States

Keith Hall is from Louisiana in the United States. He played sports his whole life but did not start running until he was 45 when someone challenged him to run a 10K. He completed that race and since then has done multiple marathon- or longer-distance races. He enjoys doing destination races including NYC, Berlin and Chicago. He loves the challenge and adventure of a different type of race in an exotic location, and can't wait for the Antarctica Ultramarathon.

Gunnar FAEHN

Norway

Seventy-five year old Gunnar Faehn of Norway is a RacingThePlanet powerhouse and a model for what is possible. As if a career as a medical doctor wasn't tough enough, Gunnar took on the challenge of RacingThePlanet and just kept going. A husband, father of four daughters and grandfather to seven, Gunnar knew as soon as he set out on the Atacama Crossing in 2004 that he would eventually cross the finish line of The Last Desert. Gunnar met that goal and more as he joined the 4 Deserts Club after The Last Desert in 2010, and has gone on to complete nine RacingThePlanet races so far, and volunteer at three. He returns to Antarctica in 2024 to compete in the Antarctica Ultramarathon. Once the Antarctica Ultramarathon 2024 is done and dusted, we'll be very interested to see what Gunnar does next and hope that he continues to enjoy his long and memorable time as an ultrarunner.

Stephen CROWE

Software Engineer

United States

American runner Stephen Crowe is a software engineer at Amazon. Stephen will be competing in the Antarctica Ultramarathon. He joins the expedition with his father, James, who is taking part in The Last Desert.

Brendi Maria COBB HUGO

United States, Resident in Switzerland

Brendi Maria is an American living in Switzerland. She joins us for the Antarctica Ultramarathon. Brendi Maria's husband, Reinhold, is one of the favourites to with The Last Desert 2026.

Liza CHIN

Anaesthetist

Australia

Liza Chin is a self-employed anaesthetist from Perth, Australia. Liza ran the Polar Circle marathon and half marathon in Greeland in 2018, and it's then that she fell in love with snow and ice. She has also completed a 7-day stage race in Nepal covering 200km, 12,000m of elevation, and altitude up to 5,200m.

Of the Antarctica Ultramarathon, Liza says: "It has been a bucket list dream for me to go to Antarctica. As an ultra runner, to be able to run there would be unbelievably amazing. When my close friend, Erica Rusbridge, chose this as her 60th birthday celebration, I knew I had to join her, to celebrate and share, and experience this last desert."

THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA) ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE

DAYS TO GO

Race Coverage

RACE Coverage

Robin MURPHY

Human Resources

Terence GINN

Finance

Sangmin SHIN

Catherine HEATH

Doctor - General practice

Erica RUSBRIDGE

Jon INGALLS

Annick WELFRING

Carson GRIGGS

Carrie OWER

Housewife/Adventurer

Agni ZIOGOS

Teacher

Stephen WYATT

Retired

Nicholas TRIOLO

Writer/Editor

Cynthia THOMAS

Educator

Hoi Ling CHAN

Communications Coordinator

Fanny LUK

Theodore LEE

Investment Manager

Elizabeth KOSTIUK

Retired

Douglas KAMP

Software Development Manager

Robyn KAMP

Robert HUFFMAN

Retired

Keith HALL

Gunnar FAEHN

Stephen CROWE

Software Engineer

Brendi Maria COBB HUGO

Liza CHIN

Anaesthetist

Robin MURPHY

Human Resources

Terence GINN

Finance

Sangmin SHIN

Catherine HEATH

Doctor - General practice

Erica RUSBRIDGE

Jon INGALLS

Annick WELFRING

Carson GRIGGS

Carrie OWER

Housewife/Adventurer

Agni ZIOGOS

Teacher

Stephen WYATT

Retired

Nicholas TRIOLO

Writer/Editor

Cynthia THOMAS

Educator

Hoi Ling CHAN

Communications Coordinator

Fanny LUK

Theodore LEE

Investment Manager

Elizabeth KOSTIUK

Retired

Douglas KAMP

Software Development Manager

Robyn KAMP

Robert HUFFMAN

Retired

Keith HALL

Gunnar FAEHN

Stephen CROWE

THE LAST DESERT (ANTARCTICA)
ANTARCTICA'S ONLY MULTI-STAGE FOOTRACE