Running a marathon is a challenge, but Pilbara man Glenn Rush took it to the next level when he decided to compete in sub-zero temperatures.
Mr Rush ran 42.2 kilometres in Antarctica last month, alongside about 140 other chill-seeking runners in the Antarctic Ice Marathon.
"By the time I crossed the line, my left arm was pretty much frozen," he said.
The 38-year-old is no stranger to extreme weather, except it is usually at the other end of the temperature gauge.
Mr Rush is from Western Australia's Pilbara, one of the hottest regions in the country, where temperatures regularly rise to more than 40 degrees Celsius.
"I had to get up at four in the morning … but I still had to train with all that humidity," he said.
"As I got more and more close to the race, I actually ran on the treadmill in the aircon just to get out of the heat, because I'd sweat so much just doing 10 to 15 kilometres in the morning."
What it's like to run in freezing conditions
The temperature was just below zero at the start of the race, with little wind.
Competitors from around the world trekked across more than 42 kilometres of gravel and mud.
Decked out in tights, snowcross shoes, three layers, gloves and a beanie, Mr Rush felt prepared.
"It was runner's paradise to actually run in that sort of cold," he said.
But as the race went on, the wind picked up and snow started to fall in the last hour.
"It got really cold and so it was hard to breathe a little bit in the end," Mr Rush said.
"I couldn't feel [my left arm] for the last hour or two … but my legs were absolutely shot.
"After the race, we were pretty much just rushed back onto the boat because we were starting to get hypothermia."
Mr Rush completed the marathon across the frozen continent in six hours, 53 minutes.
At the end of the race, the competitors went back to their rooms to take a hot shower and thaw out.
"[I] pretty much laid on my bed and was just sort of laughing at how much pain I was in from the course," Mr Rush said.
"There was not a flat bit of the course."
Reasons to race
Mr Rush said he was inspired to enter by a Broome man who had competed in a North Pole race.
"I thought that was pretty cool and then I looked up the Antarctica marathon," he said.
Mr Rush signed up to enter the marathon and was put on a waitlist for about four years.
It was worth the wait.
"It actually made me lose a lot of weight," he said.
"I had to lose 25 kilos just to get back to a good weight and it brought my kidney health back up as well, which I was struggling with."
Mr Rush said he built connections with people from around the globe during the race.
"They were great in the run. There were people a lot older than me that did better than me," he said.
"I was just in awe to be running with them."
