Antarctic Mike: Interview

Antarctic Mike

Location: San Diego, CA

Occupation: Professional Speaker/Athlete

Endurance athletes are passionate about adventure and self-improvement. Mike Pierce, AKA "Antarctic Mike" epitomizes the very spirit of our sport. Mike possesses a charisma and energy that drives him to the ends of the earth in a quest for inner strength. Mike then shares these lessons of endurance in the business world through his professional work.

Conversations with the Trail spent some time with Antarctic Mike in order to bring you a fascinating and inspiring post about running in some of the most inhospitable places on earth.

Q: Antarctic Mike! Thank you so much for your time.  You are a cold-weather specialist...you've run in Antarctica, Canada, and Siberia. You also train in a giant walk-in freezer! Awesome! Please tell me how this all got started...

A:   Many years ago when I was a kid, about 9 or 10, I remember being in a classroom and staring at a huge wall map of the world.  While most kids were fascinated with places like LA, Paris, Tokyo, London and big cities, my eyes went down to the bottom to a big white spot.  I wondered what it would look like and sound like to be in places called the Weddel Sea, Ross Ice Shelf and others I saw in the middle of a big white place.  I then in 2001 picked up a book in a Barnes & Noble called Shackleton's Way.  The picture on the cover had a group of men playing soccer in the middle of an ice field with a ship stuck in the ice lying in the background.  The subtitle said "Leadership lessons from the great Antarctic explorer, Ernest Shackleton."  I did not see the correlation between leadership lessons for today and this black and white picture shot some 100 years ago, so I bought the book.

Q: What types of events have you completed in these extreme cold conditions?

A: In Antarctica, I ran back-to-back marathons on the first trip. A year later, I returned to Antarctica to run the 100km. Since then, I have run a marathon in Siberia and, also, the Canadian Arctic Marathon. I ran a marathon on the summit of Mt. Washington. Mt. Washington is home to some of the most dangerous and worst weather on the planet.

Q: Those are long events! What type of specialized equipment or nutrition plan do you have?

A: I wear Merino Wool... it doesn't stink. Seriously, we had to live in those clothes in Antarctica. I wear about 4-5 layers with a hard-shell goretex on the outside.  The hard-shell doesn't let anything get in...but it doesn't let anything out either.  When I stopped running in Antarctica for any length of time, the hard-shell would just freeze. I could hear it cracking.

Q: Nutrition and hydration?

A: That's funny. Do you know Hammer Perpetuem?

Sure!

A: I trained myself to eat Perpetuem in powder form.  I basically had these little containers of powder and I just gulped it down and chased it with water. In Antarctica, I had that stuff all over me...I was sticky all over! The organizers had hot water thermoses about every 5 miles...so, I carried a bottle full of snow on my back and then poured the hot water on the snow to melt it.

  Q: Incredible...I can't even imagine these environments other than using images from movies or pictures.  You seem to prefer creating your own events...what others have you done?

A:  I have also branched out to other endurance events.... in 2007, I broke the world record on a spin bike at 120 continuous hours. 

Q: Awesome! Any other events?

A: I also began swimming marathons. They are very difficult since covering 26.2 miles in a pool takes about 13 hours on average.  I have swum two marathons... one freestyle and one breast stroke. The only ultra I have swum was a 102km non-stop. That was insane...it was 31 hours of non-stop swimming. Very hard, yet rewarding. One other event was basically an Ironman...well, a bit longer than an Ironman. It was a 5k swim, 120 mi bike, and 50k run..and I did it in a freezer. I'm not kidding you! I swam in an Endless Pool...they drop shipped the pool in a giant box the size of a Volkswagen and a water truck filled it up.


Endless Pool



Dude, you're insane and totally awesome at the same time...

Q: How did you prepare for your first Antarctic marathon?

A: I had not run a marathon in 20 or more years, so...I had no idea how to train for such conditions and no one to call. I talked my way into the largest cold storage facility in San Diego, Miramar Cold Storage. I ran laps back and forth there for a year, only having 59 feet to work with; I would go back and forth, back and forth, for hours.  I have done runs inside that box that were 5 miles, 10, 15, 20, and even one 26.2 mile marathon, and two 50k runs! Very long and boring...but I learned a huge lesson. "If I made the practice harder, the game would go easier."

Q: So what's your why? What's it all about Mike?

A: In reality, what I do is really not about marathon running, cold weather, or the like. It is really the setting that I enjoy to really build my mental strength and build my muscles of self-confidence and muscles of discipline. It is the challenge to do what very few, if any, people have ever done or thought of. It is not about time or competing against other runners.  It is really a one man race for the finish. To me, it is all about finishing and using each event as a way to open my mind to the possibilities of another challenge.

Mike, thank you for spending some time with me.  Conversations with the Trail seeks to share inspirational stories and people.  You are a modern explorer...fascinating and passionate.  We wish you great happiness and many more long isolated miles of frozen torture.

Interview by: Jerry Armstrong