(WWJ) -- Doing a marathon is difficult enough. Doing one at more than 22 thousand feet above sea level may not even be possible. But ten people are going to try it next week, and Ford will be providing the vehicles to assist.
It’s called the World’s Highest Marathon–set for February 10th– starting at the summit of Ojos del Salado, in Chile, the world’s highest volcano.
“We’ve only got about forty four percent of the oxygen,” says runner Paul Gurney, who is also CEO of Becoming X, and one of the organizers of the run. “It’s going to be about minus thirteen fahrenheit, with wind chills worse than that. We could have 16 mile per hour winds. The run is going to be extraordinarily difficult. In truth, we’re not sure if we can do this. It’s incredibly hard.”
Ford is contributing a fleet of trucks, including Ranger Raptors and Expedition Tremors that will be used in various support roles, and–if need be–as rescue vehicles.
“The vehicles are integral to this,” says Gurney. “We’re taking them up 16-17 thousand feet. They really provide the support throughout this.
The team will also try to set a record by driving a Ranger Raptor from sea level to more than six thousand meters, something that’s never been tried with a gasoline power vehicle.
The ten runners have been staying at a base camp at more than 10 thousand feet elevation, trying to acclimate themselves before the actual run. They will need to spend most of the night before the race climbing to the summit, before they start running down the mountain.
“We generally don’t know at this point whether this is possible for us to do this,” says Aldo Kane, a TV adventurer and Ford brand ambassador.
This all begs the question, why would somebody want to put themselves through something like this.
“Really, what I want to do is show people they have got the ability to do amazing things. With the right training, the right support. You can do extraordinary things.”