Polar challenge for West Sussex man

YOU won’t hear Mike Gadd complaining too much if the temperature plummets once the current mild spell is over.

The former Worthing College student is looking forward to there being a nip in the air, to help him acclimatise for a 350-mile race to the North Pole in the spring.

The gruelling event, for teams of three and described as “the ultimate endurance race on the planet”, will see Mike and his team-mates pitted against melting sea ice, temperatures down to minus 50C and the possibility of encounters with polar bears – 80 per cent of the world’s population of them lives in the region.

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Mike, 21, of Sea Lane, Rustington, has been training since August for the 2011 Polar Challenge, which takes place in April.

He has become a familiar sight on the foreshore near his home, pulling a heavy 4x4 car tyre along behind him to train for dragging the heavy sled which will carry his food and expedition kit.

He and his team-mates will be one of the youngest teams taking part and one of the youngest to reach the pole, should they make it.

To stand a chance of winning, they must make complete the journey within two weeks, covering at least 25 miles a day.

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“The quicker we get there, the better. You can’t really prepare for just how cold it will be out there,” said Mike, who graduated with a maths degree from Birmingham University in the summer and is currently working as a waiter at the East Beach Café, Littlehampton, and as a climbing instructor.

Each member of Team Pole Position, as Mike and his friends have styled themselves, needs to raise £22,000 to take part, to cover all the Arctic clothing, boots, sledges and other kit.

They are working hard to secure corporate sponsors, as well as welcoming individual donations, and also hope to raise £15,000 for the charity WaterAid.

A former student of Littlehampton Community School and Worthing College, Mike took part in his first expedition on the South Downs aged 14, as a Scout, and since then has trekked in the Pyrenees, cycled through Snowdonia and the Austrian Alps and canoed in the American Great Lakes.

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“I’m least looking forward to the cold, which just saps your energy, and most looking forward to going over the finishing line and that feeling of achievement,” he admitted.

Team Pole Position would like to hear from sponsors, initially to meet the costs of entering the race.

To find out more, visit www.teampoleposition.net

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