Marathon runner's North Pole test

By David Schaffer BBC News Online, Manchester

Mr Bresland's body temperature was monitored in the freezer

Running a marathon would not be a good time for many, so doing the same in the Arctic is possibly sheer madness.

But not only is Noel Bresland hitting the ice on Saturday to do just that, his training includes running 26.2 miles on a treadmill in a freezer.

Hair-brained that might be, but he knew the pursuit would get publicity for his �10,000 charity fundraising bid.

Plymouth-born Mr Bresland, who lives in Manchester, also knew the North Pole Marathon cannot be underestimated.

"Obviously it takes a little bit of a strange character to do this kind of thing," he says, having just recovered from a training injury that could have put him out of the race.

There's the threat, and it is a very real threat, from polar bears. So every 500 metres along the course we have an armed guard Noel Bresland

If preparing for that, alongside his job as a management consultant, is not enough, Mr Bresland will run the London Marathon days after he is back from the Arctic and is also busy organising the civil side of his marriage to wife Maha.

"Maha, and her family, are Muslim, so last year I converted to Islam in order to do the Nikkah, which is the [official] Muslim commitment to marriage," he says.

"And this year, not that I haven't got enough on my plate already, we're also doing the civil ceremony."

Ice cracks

The North Pole Marathon - which will feature the likes of explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes - is in its third year.

It is the only marathon to be run on water - the ice is just six feet thick in places and is the only thing separating competitors from 12,000 feet of icy water.

The race involves about 20 athletes who will run laps on a two-mile circuit marked on the ice, which poses some real hazards.

"The first is leads, or cracks, in the ice," says Mr Bresland.

Mr Bresland turned heads running in his Arctic goggles in Manchester

"Secondly there's the threat, and it is a very real threat, from polar bears. So every 500 metres along the course we have an armed guard.

"Hopefully he won't have to use his gun, but if a polar bear should take a fancy to one of my legs he's there to help me out."

The 28-year-old's preparations for the race started last September.

"In the North Pole we're being told to expect anything from -35 to -60 degrees centigrade," he says.

It was probably a hamstring pull, which was just through overtraining really Noel Bresland

This led him to consult top level experts, like the English Institute of Sport's (EIS) Dr Greg Whyte, who was on hand in the freezer warehouse to monitor how Mr Bresland's body coped with the cold.

"If you get a skin temperature below six degrees centigrade you start to get skin damage[which means] you're in trouble," says Dr Whyte, national sports science co-ordinator at the EIS.

Mr Bresland's physio treatment included acupuncture

While the freezer run went smoothly - Mr Bresland completed it in four hours eight minutes - his training was later marred by a knee injury.

Physio treatment - including acupuncture - has helped him get back in shape for Saturday.

"It was probably a hamstring pull, which was just through overtraining really," he says.

"But it feels good now - it's a lot better. I just want to get out to the pole now."

'Lap of honour'

His confidence also extends to being ready to tackle the London Marathon.

But there is still the question of why he does any of it.

"It's competitiveness I think," he says. "I look out there and see people doing these things and think I should be able to do them, and then I'm just too stubborn not to see them through.

"I fly back from the North Pole on the 13th and then on the 18th I run the London Marathon.

"That will be fun, someone mentioned to me, 'It will be your lap of honour' and so that's the way I'm thinking of it."

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