Stephanie Case becomes first woman to finish Antarctic 100-mile race

Stephanie Case has become the first woman to finish the Antarctic Ice Ultra's 100-mile race, placing second overall after running through severe winds and temperatures that fell to -35C. BBC Sport reported that the 43-year-old Canadian completed the event in 17 hours, 31 minutes and 39 seconds, finishing 29 minutes behind China's Yusheng Ni.

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The course took runners around 38 laps of a 4.2km circuit in the Schirmacher Oasis in East Antarctica's Queen Maud Land. Organisers moved the start forward to 1am on Sunday because of the harsh weather. According to the BBC report, the temperatures were the lowest organisers had experienced, adding to the demands of spending many hours exposed to the conditions.

Case was one of three women to start an event that had previously been attempted only by men. She was the only woman to finish, and just four of the eight starters completed the full distance. She told BBC Sport that maintaining body heat required considerable energy, while running too hard carried a different risk: perspiration could leave her cold almost immediately.

Practical tasks also became difficult. Case took refuelling breaks roughly every 26 miles, while toilet stops required her to manage multiple layers of clothing without leaving waste in the Antarctic environment. Removing gloves, even briefly, exposed her hands to the risk of frostbite. She described feeling relief on reaching the finish after a race in which the environment made mistakes potentially costly.

Ni improved his own previous world-record mark, set last year, by more than five and a half hours, the BBC reported. Case had also been targeting the record and described a close contest at points during the race. She said Ni accelerated whenever he saw her approaching, and credited their competition with helping both runners produce strong performances.

Case, a human rights lawyer, said the challenge also had a personal motivation. She attracted widespread attention last year for breastfeeding her daughter Pepper during an ultramarathon victory in Snowdonia. Although much of the response was supportive, she told the BBC that criticism helped inspire her Antarctic attempt. She wanted the achievement to demonstrate that motherhood need not end a woman's sporting ambitions.