A month ago today I stood there: 90 degrees south, the top of the bottom of the world, the Geographic South Pole. And I stood there beside two very good friends of mine, Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely. Together we had just broken the world speed record for a trek to the South Pole. It took us 33 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes to get there. We shaved five days off the previous best time. And in the process, I became the first person in history to make the entire 650-mile journey, from Hercules Inlet to South Pole, solely on feet, without skis.
Presne pred mesiacom som tam stál. 90 stupňov južnej šírky, vrchol spodku zemegule, južný geografický pól. Stál som tam vedľa mojich dvoch skvelých kamarátov, Richarda Webera a Kevina Vallelyho. Spoločne sme práve prekonali svetový rýchlostný rekord v túre na južný pól. Trvalo nám to 33 dní, 23 hodín a 55 minút. Predošlý rekord sme prekonali o 5 dní. Stal som sa tak prvým človekom v dejinách, ktorý túto asi 1000 km dlhú túru z Hercules Inletu na južný pól zdolal čisto pešo, bez lyží.
Now, many of you are probably saying, "Wait a sec, is this tough to do?" (Laughter) Imagine, if you will, dragging a sled, as you just saw in that video clip, with 170 pounds of gear, in it everything you need to survive on your Antarctic trek. It's going to be 40 below, every single day. You'll be in a massive headwind. And at some point you're going to have to cross these cracks in the ice, these crevasses. Some of them have a very precarious thin footbridge underneath them that could give way at a moment's notice, taking your sled, you, into the abyss, never to be seen again. The punchline to your journey? Look at the horizon. Yes, it's uphill the entire way, because the South Pole is at 10,000 feet, and you're starting at sea level.
Mnohí si asi hovoríte: „Ale je to ťažké?“ (smiech) Predstavte si, že ťaháte sane podobné tým vo videu s 80 kilami vybavenia, ktoré potrebujete na prežitie na túre po Antarktíde. Každý deň je 40 stupňov pod nulou. Proti vám silný protivietor. Nastane čas, kedy budete musieť zdolať praskliny v ľade. Takéto trhliny. Niektoré pod sebou skrývajú zradné tenké mostíky, ktoré sa môžu kedykoľvek zrútiť, a vy zmiznete so saňami v priepasti a už vás nikto nikdy neuvidí. A čo je na tom to najhoršie? Pozrite sa na horizont. Áno, cesta vedie stále do kopca. Pretože južný pól leží vo výške asi 3000 m a začínate na úrovni mora.
Our journey did not, in fact, begin at Hercules Inlet, where frozen ocean meets the land of Antarctica. It began a little less than two years ago. A couple of buddies of mine and I had finished a 111-day run across the entire Sahara desert. And while we were there we learned the seriousness of the water crisis in Northern Africa. We also learned that many of the issues facing the people of Northern Africa affected young people the most. I came home to my wife after 111 days of running in the sand, and I said, "You know, there's no doubt if this bozo can get across the desert, we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to." But if I'm going to continue doing these adventures, there has to be a reason for me to do them beyond just getting there.
Naša expedícia vlastne nezačala na Hercules Inlete, v bode, kde ľad oceánu prechádza na pevninu Antarktídy. Začala pred takmer dvomi rokmi. Ja a pár kamarátov sme práve dokončili 111-denný beh cez Saharu. A keď sme tam boli, dozvedeli sme sa o závažnom nedostatku vody v severnej Afrike. Tiež sme zistili, že mnohé problémy v severnej Afrike najviac ovplyvňujú mladých ľudí. Po 111 dňoch behu v piesku som prišiel domov za manželkou a povedal som jej: „Ak je blbec ako ja schopný prejsť cez púšť, dokážeme všetko, na čo sa zameriame.“ Ale ak mám pokračovať v takýchto dobrodružstvách, musím na ne mať nejaký dôvod, okrem samotného príchodu do cieľa.
Around that time I met an extraordinary human being, Peter Thum, who inspired me with his actions. He's trying to find and solve water issues, the crisis around the world. His dedication inspired me to come up with this expedition: a run to the South Pole where, with an interactive website, I will be able to bring young people, students and teachers from around the world on board the expedition with me, as active members. So we would have a live website, that every single day of the 33 days, we would be blogging, telling stories of, you know, depleted ozone forcing us to cover our faces, or we will burn. Crossing miles and miles of sastrugi -- frozen ice snowdrifts that could be hip-deep. I'm telling you, crossing these things with 170-pound sled, that sled may as well have weighed 1,700 pounds, because that's what it felt like.
V tej dobe som spoznal výnimočného človeka, Petra Thuma, ktorý ma svojimi činmi inšpiroval. Pokúša sa vyriešiť problémy s vodou, krízu, ktorá trápi celý svet. Jeho odhodlanie ma inšpirovalo pre novú expedíciu: beh na južný pól, na ktorý pomocou interaktívnej webovej stránky prilákam mladých, študentov a učiteľov z celého sveta, aby sa ako aktívni členovia zúčastnili našej expedície. Takže nápad bol mať stránku, kde by sme všetkých 33 dní blogovali a písali o veciach, ako je ozónová diera, kvôli ktorej si musíme zakrývať tváre, inak by nás spálila. Ako je prekonávanie km závejov zamrznutého snehu zvaných „sastrugi“, ktoré môžu byť hlboké po pás. Poviem vám, ich prekonávanie s 80-kilovými saňami je, ako keby sane vážili 800 kg, naozaj sa to tak zdalo.
We were blogging to this live website daily to these students that were tracking us as well, about 10-hour trekking days, 15-hour trekking days, sometimes 20 hours of trekking daily to meet our goal. We'd catch cat-naps at 40 below on our sled, incidentally. In turn, students, people from around the world, would ask us questions. Young people would ask the most amazing questions.
Publikovali sme na stránke dennodenne, písali sme si so študentmi, ktorí nás sledovali. Niekedy sme kráčali 10 hodín denne, niekedy 15, niekedy dokonca 20, aby sme dodržali plán. Občas sme si krátko zdriemli na saniach v 40 stupňovom mraze. Študenti z celého sveta nám kládli otázky. Mladí ľudia kladú najlepšie otázky.
One of my favorite: It's 40 below, you've got to go to the bathroom, where are you going to go and how are you going to do it? I'm not going to answer that. But I will answer some of the more popular questions.
Jedna z mojich obľúbených: je -40 °C a musíte ísť na záchod, kam idete a ako to urobíte? Na to odpovedať nebudem. Odpoviem ale na pár častejších otázok.
Where do you sleep? We slept in a tent that was very low to the ground, because the winds on Antarctica were so extreme, it would blow anything else away.
Kde spíte? Spali sme v stane, ktorý bol veľmi nízky, pretože vietor na Antarktíde je taký silný, že by ho inak odfúkol.
What do you eat? One of my favorite dishes on expedition: butter and bacon. It's about a million calories. We were burning about 8,500 a day, so we needed it.
Čo jete? Jedno z mojich obľúbených jedál na expedícii bolo maslo a slanina, obsahujú asi milión kalórií. Spálili sme okolo 8500 kalórií za deň, takže sme ich potrebovali.
How many batteries do you carry for all the equipment that you have? Virtually none. All of our equipment, including film equipment, was charged by the sun.
Koľko batérií so sebou máte pre všetko vybavenie? Skoro žiadne. Všetko vybavenie vrátane filmového vybavenia funguje na solárny pohon.
And do you get along? I certainly hope so, because at some point or another on this expedition, one of your teammates is going to have to take a very big needle, and put it in an infected blister, and drain it for you.
Vychádzate spolu? Dúfam, že áno. Pretože raz nastane tá chvíľa, keď jeden z vašich partnerov vezme veľkú ihlu, prepichne vám zapálený pľuzgier a vysaje ho.
But seriously, seriously, we did get along, because we had a common goal of wanting to inspire these young people. They were our teammates! They were inspiring us. The stories we were hearing got us to the South Pole. The website worked brilliantly as a two-way street of communication. Young people in northern Canada, kids in an elementary school, dragging sleds across the school-yard, pretending they were Richard, Ray and Kevin. Amazing.
Ale teraz vážne, naozaj sme spolu vychádzali. Mali sme spoločný cieľ, a to inšpirovať mladých ľudí. Boli našimi kolegami, našou inšpiráciou. Príbehy, ktoré sme počuli, nás dostali na južný pól. Webová stránka fungovala výborne ako obojsmerný spôsob komunikácie. Mladí v severnej Kanade, deti na základnej škole, ťahali sánky na školskom dvore, keď sa hrali na Richarda, Raya a Kevina. Úžasné.
We arrived at the South Pole. We huddled into that tent, 45 below that day, I'll never forget it. We looked at each other with these looks of disbelief at what we had just completed. And I remember looking at the guys thinking, "What do I take from this journey?" You know? Seriously. That I'm this uber-endurance guy?
Dorazili sme na južný pól, schúlili sme sa v stane, v ten deň bolo -45 °C, nikdy na to nezabudnem. Pozreli sme sa na seba a nemohli sme uveriť, čo sme práve dokázali. Pamätám sa, keď som sa na nich pozrel a pomyslel si: „Čo si odnesiem z tejto výpravy?“ Rozumiete? Naozaj. Že som mimoriadne vytrvalý?
As I stand here today talking to you guys, I've been running for the grand sum of five years. And a year before that I was a pack-a-day smoker, living a very sedentary lifestyle. What I take from this journey, from my journeys, is that, in fact, within every fiber of my belief standing here, I know that we can make the impossible possible. I'm learning this at 40. Can you imagine? Seriously, can you imagine? I'm learning this at 40 years of age. Imagine being 13 years old, hearing those words, and believing it. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause)
Ako tu pred vami dnes stojím a rozprávam, behám už dokopy 5 rokov. A pár rokov predtým som fajčieval krabičku denne a viedol veľmi sedavý štýl života. Čo si odnášam z tejto cesty, z ciest, je skutočnosť, že som na 100 % presvedčený, že môžeme urobiť nemožné možným. Dozvedám sa to v 40 rokoch. Viete si to predstaviť, vážne, viete si to predstaviť? Dozvedám sa to v 40 rokoch. Predstavte si, že máte 13 rokov a počúvate, čo hovorím, a veríte tomu. Ďakujem pekne, ďakujem. (potlesk)