Donna Urquhart’s Guinness World Record™ Project in Antarctica

Donna Urquhart is about to complete The Guinness World Record™ for running across Antarctica, and TITAN Containers are behind her every step of the way.

Urquhart is on track to run the longest ultramarathon in a polar region in history, and we couldn’t be prouder to be a major contributor to her 1,300km conquest.

Urquhart set off on December 14th, at Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica, and aims to mark a significant milestone in the world of endurance sports for women.

“It’s been an incredible experience to be in such a special place like Antarctica. It’s so beautiful to be able to run here, and to be able to use this as a platform to empower other females in sport has been incredible.” — Donna Urquhart, via ABC News Breakfast.

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU PREPARE TO RUN ACROSS ANTARCTICA?

Melbourne’s Urquhart wasn’t exactly in the best geo-location to be able to train for the run. Swapping Melbourne’s sunny skies and toasty temperatures of 25° for  Antarctica’s chilling -20° and endless snow seemed overwhelming — until TITAN Containers stepped into the race.

The team at TITAN Containers offered Urquhart year-round access to the ArcticStore range of portable cold storage containers.

Often used for food storage, by familiar faces like Tesco and Thatchers, these temperature-controlled containers are capable of cooling to a frosty -40°. The containers became the perfect ‘training ground’ for Donna’s 4,600km to cover throughout 2023.

“It was really valuable. I learnt about what gear I needed to bring with me, and how to use that gear. At one point I was in the freezer and my drink froze! I learnt how to use my equipment. We’re really thankful to TITAN Containers…” 

It was a use case unlike any other. While our Melbourne team are used to providing these refrigerated storage units for frozen goods, vaccines, and cold-testing engineering components — now they were equipping them with a running machine and one exceptionally determined female runner.

“We take pride in being a significant part of Donna’s monumental journey. Not only is she setting the bar for the versatility of our products in extreme conditions, but she’s setting the bar for women in her sport — we’re all in admiration of her.” —TITAN Containers team spokesperson.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED WITH RUN ANTARCTICA?

Urquhart is not only running for herself, she’s running for every girl in sport. All charity contributions to Urquhart’s run will go towards organisations focused on keeping girls active, healthy, and happy — both physically and mentally.

It was the perfect match for TITAN Containers, as we continue to work towards one of our positive impact missions of empowering females in sport.

You can follow Urquhart’s journey on social media (links below), her live tracker, and the Run Antarctica newsletter. Whether you’d like to financially contribute to her cause, or simply leave a like on a social media post: every piece of encouragement will help Urquhart go a long way.

Make sure you’re following along on:

• Facebook, or
• Instagram

You can do it, Donna: just keep running! 

Good luck out there, Donna! We’re so proud of how far you’ve come and will be with you every step of where you’re yet to go. We’ll leave you with some inspiring words from Urquhart herself:

“I’ve been really surprised how quickly I can recover and get up the next day and go again. I’ve been amazed at the strength that I’ve built over time, both mentally and physically. 

It’s been a rollercoaster of an experience but incredible at the same time.” 

You’ve got this, Donna. Just keep running!