Come the 9th April this year, motivational speaker MD Shariff Abdullah, 49, will be facing extreme temperatures of between minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius when he runs 42.195km in one of the remotest places on the planet – at the FWD North Pole Marathon.

Billed as the world’s coldest marathon, runners who will be taking part in the FWD North Pole Marathon will be faced with Arctic ice floes, with just six to 12 feet separating them from 12,000 feet of Arctic Ocean.

Shariff is looking forward to the adventure 

More famously known as the Singapore Blade Runner because he runs with a prosthetic running blade, Shariff is looking forward to having the adventure of his life.

He said, “I am really happy to have this chance to go there. I can’t wait to take plenty of photos and I am also looking forward to seeing some polar bears. I realise that will be different to any marathon that I have run before; other marathons are about people cheering and high five-ing you but at this race, it is all about yourself and everyone will have to overcome extreme challenges to make it to the finish line.”

Added Shariff, “But this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity. Unlike the Boston Marathon, where you can return every year, the North Pole Marathon is something that you can only experience once – primarily because of the high costs involved; most people can only afford to run this race once.”

Costs involved are not cheap

The costs involved, not only include paying for the marathon registration fee – which amounts to EUR €16,000, but also for the winter gear to stay warm whilst at the North Pole and the flights and accommodation costs to travel to and stay in Norway, where North Pole Marathon participants will depart from.

So the overall cost of the trip amounts to a costly EUR €40,000 (SGD 65,000).

FWD Insurance is sponsoring his trip

Shariff however is quite fortunate in this regard, because his participation in the FWD North Pole Marathon is fully sponsored by FWD Insurance, a new life and general insurer that arrived in Singapore in 2016 with the hopes of transforming the insurance business by simplifying the process of buying insurance policies.

FWD Insurance are also the title sponsors of the North Pole Marathon.

Said Shariff, “I want to thank FWD Insurance for their support. I was surprised to get their first email in mid-November. When I met their Chief Marketing Officer, David Broom, and Daniel Tan, from their Brand & Communications Marketing department, they explained to me the sponsorship. I decided to take up the opportunity and do whatever it takes to do well in this marathon.”

Added Daniel, “We had pitched the idea to Shariff and Shariff was keen. The North Pole is the coldest place on Earth and as a brand, FWD is about pushing limits and taking a different lead. A lot of companies do marathons but we wanted to push the boundary of what a marathon is.”

Shariff is an inspiration 

As a physically challenged runner, FWD had picked Shariff for the sponsorship as a way of inspiring not only the local running community, but the general Singaporean out there – that is, if a runner with a prosthetic leg can push his limits by conquering the North Pole Marathon, what is stopping an able bodied person from challenging themselves and pushing their limits too?

Said Shariff, “With the unique challenges that I face as a physically challenged athlete, I hope to go to the North Pole to inspire others. I want to send the message that if I can run a marathon, then you should be able to do so, too.”

His Prosthetic Leg

One of the unique challenges for Shariff includes having a prosthetic leg that will be able to withstand the extreme cold temperatures.

And after speaking with ÖSSUR®, an Icelandic company that develops, manufactures and sells non-invasive orthopaedics equipment, Shariff has opted to use the newest model of the brand’s Flex-Run™ heavy-duty prosthetic leg that comes with a Nike sole attached.

This leg is supposed to be built to withstand extreme temperatures such as the North Pole, but it has never been formally tested there. So Shariff added that  ÖSSUR® is particularly excited that he will be running the North Pole Marathon with the new Flex-Run™ prosthetic leg.

ÖSSUR® has been providing prosthetic legs for Shariff since he had first ventured into running.

And for his training in Norway, Shariff will also be bringing along his normal heavy-duty Flex-Run™ prosthetic leg which he had received last June from ÖSSUR®.

To prevent his stump from becoming frozen, Shariff will also be using silicone socks that are able to keep out the cold.

Some Other Challenges 

But like any other runner at the North Pole, Shariff will also face common challenges.

For instance, in order to cope with the blinding snow and the howling wind that he will face, Shariff will have ski goggles and a ski mask. These will protect his face from frostbite.

To stay warm when he is at the North Pole, Shariff’s winter gear will include thermals, as well as a down jacket and a vertex jacket. And also, in case he gets wet halfway during running the North Pole Marathon, he will prepare a separate set of attire to change into, at the halfway mark. This is because continuing to run in wet clothes according to Shariff, may increase his chances of falling ill.

As well, Shariff will also be taking medication in order to prevent problems such as giddiness for when the plane lands at the North Pole – this had been something that he had learnt from his failed attempt of the Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon, where he had not been able to take part in the race then, because of personal health and safety issues.

Said Shariff, “The moment that the plane lands at the North Pole, I may feel giddy so the medication should help to prevent that from happening – so that I will be in good condition to run.”

Lessons gleaned from Everest

Other things that Shariff had gleaned from his experience at Everest, include the need to pack light. Shariff admitted that when he went to the Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon, he had packed four to six bags of gear and equipment with him but ended up giving away more than 50 per cent of the stuff because he realised that he didn’t actually need it.

He said, “Then, I did not know any better because I had never been to such a cold country before. But this time round, I will only bring the necessary stuff. I’ll only have two to three bags which will include my mandatory running gear, a change of attire and my running legs.”

Foods to ward off colds

Also, based on his Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon experience, Shariff learnt that taking in certain foods can keep his body warm and can ward off colds at the same time. He said, “Taking garlic soup works for me – it helps to keep colds away and helps me to remain warm. I learnt this from my Everest experience.”

Garlic soup consists mainly of chopped up garlic with some herbs added to it.

Besides having garlic soup, Shariff will also be taking honey and dates daily. He said, “Every morning I took two tablespoons of honey and dates to keep the colds away. I also had Young Living Essential Oils and this worked too. In fact I have already started taking all these foods to prepare my body.”

His Training 

Besides taking in the necessary foods for preparation, for the North Pole Marathon, Sharif – who has been an active runner since 2009, has been training hard to condition his body to be physically fit to not only complete the 42.195km distance but to withstand the extreme cold.

Said Shariff, “The moment I got the message from FWD in mid-November, I started researching immediately on what type of training would be involved and embarked on a training programme at once.”

So Shariff has been doing a variety of training sessions that range from gym sessions to long runs with a backpack and running on the sand.

In terms of his workouts, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Shariff does a 10km run with a backpack of about 5kg – 8kg.

He trains his upper body at the gym on Tuesdays and does the same for his lower body on Thursdays. During his gym sessions, he will run on the treadmill and lift some light weights.

Said Shariff, “I can’t run for long on the treadmill; so it will be mostly 5km of running, just to get the feel of things. I find it much easier to go for long runs outdoors.”

Thus, Saturdays are for his long outdoor runs and Shariff will cover around 21km – 30km depending on the stage of his training programme that he is at.

His sand training sessions are usually at Palawan Beach in Sentosa and occasionally East Coast Park. Said Shariff, “I run on sand because according to runners who have been to the North Pole before, sand running is one of the best ways to stimulate running on snow.”

Shariff added that he prefers to train every day because the moment he stops running for at least two days, his body will begin to feel very sluggish, thus making it hard to re-start his engine again. Sometimes he trains twice daily, too.

But Shariff also makes it a point to get at least eight hours of sleep per night, so that his body can recover after his training sessions.

Acclimatisation to the cold

In addition, Shariff also spends time at Snow City and the ice-skating rink at J-Cube in an attempt to acclimatise to the cold temperatures at the North Pole.

While Shariff admitted that Snow City and J-Cube will not be able to completely mimic the temperatures that he will face at the North Pole, this is the best that he is able to prepare himself, here in tropical Singapore.

For example, Snow City is about five degrees Celsius, but the North Pole temperatures are at least five times colder than that.

According to Shariff, running in the rain also somewhat helps him to get used to the cold and wet temperatures that he will experience the North Pole. He said, “When there is heavy rain, I would usually use that as a chance to do my long runs.”

But in the days prior to leaving for the North Pole though, marathon runners will have the chance to clock some cold weather training sessions at Svalbard, Norway, where they will have the chance to try out their winter wear and prepare their race strategies.

Shariff can’t wait to go to the North Pole

And Shariff feels that he is definitely preparing well for the North Pole Marathon; in fact, he can’t wait for the day when he will depart.

Said the marathoner, “I am really excited about this event and I am hoping to do my very best. In fact, I took unpaid leave from my work from now till April so that I can focus fully on my training. I want to do my best and put 100 per cent into this endeavour. I also hope that I can inspire others by doing this.”

He continued, “And I hope to share my story about my training and running at the North Pole too, so that other runners who are thinking of taking on this marathon, can better prepare for it and know what to expect.”

Photos are from Facebook & MD Shariff Abdullah.

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