Argyris Papathanasopoulos the Greek who won the North Pole Marathon
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Argyris Papathanasopoulos the Greek who won the North Pole Marathon

Argyris Papathanasopoulos, a Greek doctor who lives in England, holding up the Greek flag in one hand and ice smothered across his face won the North Pole Marathon, the northernmost race on Earth. After 4 hours, 34 minutes, 36 seconds and 4.22 km, unrecognizable from the extreme cold, he finished first, making every Greek proud for his achievement.

Argiris Papathanasopoulos overcame 47 opponents and temperatures of minus 33 Celsius (27.4 Fahrenheit) to win the “world’s coolest marathon” held annually at Camp Barneo, known as North Pole Camp, on Sunday. The Northernmost Marathon on Earth, was named and recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, officially launched in 2003 and is held every April.

“Almost unbelievable. You know I’m a Greek guy so this is not the right place for me; it’s like an Eskimo running a race in the desert,” he said. Argiris Papathanasopoulos became an athlete at an early age while being a student at Leontius School. During that period, running became his “flame of life and driving force”.

Despite his demanding program, after being an Orthopedic-Surgeon specialized in Emergency Medicine, he always finds time to run. As he states, his life is connected with it. Alongside his work at the Tameside General Hospital for 10 years, he has a personal challenge for the next 3 years, which is called «7 Continents – 7 Deserts». He wants to run marathons and supermarathons on the seven continents of our planet, including the most beautiful deserts.

He has already run in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and three deserts (Sahara, Atacama, Namib) and after his participation in the North Pole Marathon, Oceania with the South Pole and the Gobi desert in China’s border with Mongolia remains. The last two locations for the completion of his challenge will be an escape from his “monotonous everyday routine”.

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