To make the event even more exciting, many people get dressed up or wear costumes and use different modes of transportation. Some people ride bikes, ski, run, and one year, people were even pulled on a couch! Check out the pictures to see some of the amazing costumes people have worn, including an IceCuber dressed as the IceCube Counting Lab! What would you wear if you were in this race? The event is often held on or around Christmas.
I have heard about this tradition and anticipated my own participation. I was so ready to go donning a onesie—a polar bear costume. I must have been the only one on the continent. I joked to people that I passed that they better run faster because a polar bear was chasing them. The mDOM on a sled also made the trek around the Pole. The best part of that ceremonial pole photo was my coworker dressed up as a penguin. I thought if a polar bear and a penguin can be friends at the South Pole, anything is possible.
We were pretty lucky that day to have some good weather. It was not very windy and pretty warm, with temperatures around -30 C. I actually had on too many layers and got pretty warm. The trickiest part was running over the soft snow. FleetOps had done a great job compressing a path with their tractors, but the area to and from the Pole was still a little soft. It felt a bit like running on sand, which I guess makes sense since Antarctica is the largest desert in the world.
