April 02, 2003

Racing for a record

By CAROLE CLOUDWALKER

Ultramarathoner Mary Ritz will join other adventure athletes in the world's most extreme long-distance event.

The April 17 race will be as far north as it gets - the North Pole - where athletes will brave, among other things, sub-zero temperatures, Ritz says.

"The race will be in the Guiness Book of World Records," Ritz of Cody said. "If I'm the only woman, then I have to win - if I finish."

Ritz, who is not in the habit of failing to finish what she starts, is the only woman to have run an ultramarathon on each of the seven continents. She plans to join the North Pole Grand Slam Club by competing in a 50k ultramarathon.

"I actually entered the ultramarathon instead of the shorter race," she said. "I will run an additional 4-5 miles more than the standard 26.2-mile marathon."

As far as Ritz knows she is the only woman entered in the event.

-"I can become the first woman to run a marathon or an ultramarathon on all seven continents and the North Pole."

She said it seems there aren't many "firsts" out there left to accomplish, "but this is something I really wanted to try and do. I should be the first female to make the Guiness Book of Records for being the first female to achieve the 'Grand Slam.'"

Ritz, who represented Cody and Wyoming as a torchbearer for the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay, said she enjoys every aspect of being an endurance athlete.

"I like the travel, the different cultures, the physical challenge and the sense of accomplishment from meeting my goals," she says. "Also, part of the reason I do it is to promote running and walking, marathons, and women's sports and fitness."

Ritz says she tried to pick the more difficult races or exotic locations for accomplishing ultramarathons on all seven continents.

"In my travels, I have been practically to the ends of the earth and have visited many exotic, fascinating places," she said. "Now with the North Pole, I actually will have been to the top of the world."

In February 1997 Ritz began running down her dream of completing marathons on all seven continents. At that time she journeyed to the southern tip of the world for the Antarctica Marathon, billed as the "toughest damn marathon in the world."

The extreme event was run in the coldest and windiest place on earth, and the adverse conditions of race day lived up to the title, Ritz recalled.

But she said the "beauty and remoteness of the continent of Antarctica made it one of my favorite races out of the seven continents," she said. "I am looking forward to the North Pole Marathon, as we actually will be running on the frozen Arctic Ocean, in another one of the most remote and harsh climates on earth."

She welcomes any financial support, sponsorships, or equipment testing individuals or companies toward her North Pole trip. She hopes to line up sponsors to help defray the considerable costs of making the trek.

To contact Ritz, who lives at 581 Diamond Basin Road on the South Fork, call her at 527-7184 or send e-mail to krakers@cowboystate.net.