Irish runner sets North Pole mile record

Paul Robinson also holds the record for running the fastest mile in Antarctica.

Irish elite mile runner Paul Robinson braved temperatures of around minus 30 degrees Celsius on April 15 as he clocked the fastest mile ever run at the North Pole.

Robinson, who has previously run a mile in three minutes 51.10 seconds at the 2014 Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, crossed the line in four minutes and 50.95 seconds at Camp Barneo, North Pole.

The 25-year-old suffered frost bite on his right ear and had to be helped to his feet after finishing his attempt.

Robinson had a straight one-mile run on a drifting ice float in the Arctic Ocean close to the geographic North Pole with the course having been checked by global positioning equipment.

Despite the freezing temperatures, conditions were described as favorable with no wind and clear blue skies.

The Irishman is now the fastest mile runner at both poles having previously run four minutes 17.9 seconds in Antarctica in November 2017.

Robinson is also setting his sights on qualifying or the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Morocco’s Hicham el Guerrouj is the current record-holder for the mile distance in three minutes 43.13 seconds, set in Rome 1999.