84-year-old Canadian completed grueling Antarctic Ice Marathon

If this doesn’t prove that age is just a number, then what will?

At 84 years old, Roy Jorgen Svenningsen became the oldest person ever to complete a marathon in Antarctica when he crossed the finish line of the Antarctic Ice Marathon on Friday. Greeted by a chorus of people chanting his name at the end, Svenningsen finished the race in 11 hours, 41 minutes and 58 seconds as one of 56 runners representing 17 different countries.

The senior runner braved windy conditions as he conquered two laps around the Union Glacier exploration camp, which is just 600 miles away from the South Pole. The Antarctic Ice Marathon is the southernmost marathon in the world, where runners can face temperatures as low as -4 degrees Farenheit.

Race organizers said that Svenningsen, who is almost 85 and a retired oil executive, has raced in more than 50 marathons on five different continents. Svenningsen began racing in 1964, when he competed in the Calgary marathon. His fastest marathon time was 2:38 in Helsinki, Finland.

William Hafferty of the United States also set a new record in the Antarctic Ice Marathon, clocking a new record time as he finished first in 3 hours, 34 minutes and 12 seconds. Lenka Frycova from the Czech Republic, who was the first woman to cross the finish line, finished in 4 hours, 40 minutes and 38 seconds.

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