TARGET 151230

ANTARCTIC SANTA RUN



THE EVENT

On December 19, 2012, the British exploration and icebreaker ship, the HMS Protector, paused her survey work at Deception Island to allow the fancy dress runners to race to raise money for sick youngsters and their families in East Anglia, England.

Twenty Father Christmases and one Rudolph ran across the Antarctic ice for charity as HMS Protector staged a Santa dash.

The charity is East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice (E.A.C.H.). The charity provides support to families and care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk counties of England.


HMS Protector

For the Santa dash, the ship first had to break through a sheet of snow-covered ice around Deception Island in order to get to ice that was sturdy enough for the run. Although it was approaching the height of the Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, temperatures by day on Deception Island barely climb above 0°C (32°F) before plummeting back down to nightime temperatures.

Once a suitable place was found, Some of the ship’s company disembarked to test the ice and drill samples to ensure the surface was safe before Protector’s eager Santas and Rudolph filed down accommodation ladder and prepared for their race.


Warming up (yeah, sure!)

Once the ship was safely moored in solid ice, those members of the crew who were going to perform the run climbed down the ladder and did warm-up exercises (in the snow?)


Santa's Sleigh
Then, just to be sure the ship was safely moored, the crew of Santas, led by Rudolph, made a mock pulling of their "sleigh".

Around one third of the ship’s company donned festive Christmas costumes for this Santa dash on behalf of the ship’s affiliated charity, E.A.C.H.


Let the run begin!!

Then, the run began. Amid perfect weather conditions, and under the watchful eye of two seals that had taken up post next to the ship, the Santas completed their run. Their run was one of eight organised on behalf of the children’s hospital. The remaining races took place in the less-exotic surroundings of Essex and East Anglia, raising £34,000 in the process).


Dedicating the event

To dedicate the event to the East Anglia Children's Hospice, the Santas laid in the snow in the form of the charity's initials while a photographer on the deck high above them took the dedication picture.


And after the run, what else but Christmas dinner on the ground in the balmy Antarctic summer air.

THE LOCATION


Actually the rim of a volcano

For those who viewed the location, there are many interesting features for you to have perceived. Deception Island is not actually a normal island. It is the crater of an extinct volcano rising up from the ocean bed. The caldera is open to the sea on its south side. The east side is an ice shelf that forms a perfectly straight line - a feature rarely ever seen in nature. The island was once a place where whalers processed caught whales, and now is a summertime tourist spot where tourists bathe in its frigid waters - just to be able to say that they have done so. (See the Deception Island home page for the island's features and history.

FEEDBACK MAP



If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:

Deception Island home page
British Government News site
British Naval News site
ITV web site
East Anglia's Children's Hospice Facebook page
East Anglia's Children's Hospice web page