Sports News : Cool Runnings- Antarctic Ice Marathon takes place at the South Pole

Sixty-two people from 18 countries took part in the Antarctic Ice Marathon last week, the southernmost marathon on Earth.

The race takes place at Union Glacier near the Ellsworth Mountains and is just a few hundred miles from the South Pole.

A massive storm hit the location recently, making it impossible for competitors to fly in from Chile. But it eventually cleared and the race got underway on December 17th, three days later than scheduled.

The athletes were greeted by bright sunshine and constant daylight at this time of year, but the temperature dipped to minus 15 degrees Celsius at its coldest.

Despite the howling wind conditions and soft snow, a new record was set in the women's race.

30 year-old Evija Reine from Latvia, a student doctor, clocked 4 hours, six minutes and 11 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 4:20:02 set by Great Britain's Fiona Oakes in 2013.

Grace Yao of the United States took second place with another Briton, Julia Hunter, in third.

In a closely fought battle amongst the men, Polish endurance athlete Grzegorz Bogunia claimed the title in a time of 3:53:02, just over a minute ahead Julien Cazorla of France.

Derk Cullinan of the United States was third.

It was the sixteenth edition of the Antarctic Ice Marathon and eleven of the athletes joined the '7 Continents Marathon Club', completing a marathon on all seven continents when they finished the race.