itinerary
Schedule for The North Pole Marathon Summer 2024
Schedule for The North Pole Marathon Summer 2025
July 2025
North Pole Marathon
Welcome to the running experience of a lifetime. In July 2025, we'll charter the world's luxury polar exploration vessel, Le Commandant Charcot by Ponant, and offer the unique opportunity to runners like you to participate the North Pole Marathon, so you can make history as a continuing new breed of Arctic adventurer.
By competing in the World's Coolest Marathon®, the North Pole Marathon®, you can become one of a truly select few to race at the top of the world - at the Geographic North Pole. And you will feel on top of the world when you manage to overcome the extreme sub-zero temperatures to finish 42.195km (26.2 miles) in one of the remotest parts of the planet.
Additional options include the Half Marathon, 10 Miler, 10K, and 5K.
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North Pole Forum™
Another highlight during the trip is the North Pole Forum, which is a groundbreaking convergence of minds, uniting visionaries, scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors on an unparalleled journey. This transformative 14-day expedition aboard the icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot from Svalbard to the Geographic North Pole and back serves as the dynamic backdrop for this intellectual and innovative summit.
During this exclusive voyage, the Theatre and Lounge aboard the vessel are transformed into arenas of discourse, hosting themed talks, open discussions, and interactive panels for sharing insights, fostering collaboration, and incubating visionary solutions.
As the inaugural edition, the 2025 North Pole Forum will be open to all guests, amplifying the exchange of ideas and perspectives. The opportunity for speakers is also open to all, encouraging diverse voices to contribute to the discourse. Prospective speakers are welcome to submit applications*, ensuring a broad spectrum of expertise and viewpoints enriching this extraordinary gathering.
The North Pole Forum stands as a beacon of global cooperation, fueling innovation, and forging pathways towards a sustainable future for the Arctic and beyond.
2025 Itinerary
Highlights
- Be among the few people in the world to go in search of the Geographic North Pole.
- Run the World’s Coolest Marathon at the North Pole.
- Enjoy the unique experience of sailing through the heart of the ice floe and the opportunities to observe the endless variety of forms and states of the ice, in the silence and respect of the landscapes through which you travel through.
- The eye and the sound advice of our photo ambassador, a privileged opportunity to immortalize your journey with, on the program: workshops, lectures and customized advice to improve your photographic skills.
- Landscapes: ice floes. In Spitsbergen, jagged mountains, steep-sided valleys, sheer cliffs, gigantic glaciers.
- Wildlife: polar bears, Northern fulmar, ivory gull, seals, whales.
- Many brand-new activities*: kayaking, hiking or snowshoeing, polar plunge.
(*Subject to weather & ice conditions and to sailing opportunities)
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Ports of Call & Excursions
Paris to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen
We’ll fly from Paris to Longyearbyen in the morning. Upon arrival, enjoy a short excursion in Longyearbyen.
Longyearbyen is the capital of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, located on Svalbard’s main island, and is the northernmost territorial capital on the planet. The landscapes of this mining town are simply breathtaking. If you visit in winter, you might also experience temperatures dropping below -40°C. The glaciers, the mountains stretching as far as the eye can see and the untouched nature, make you feel like you’re in completely unexplored territory.
AT SEA ALONG SPITSBERGEN
The largest island in the Svalbard archipelago, its name meaning “pointed mountains” in German, Spitsbergen is the last piece of land before the Arctic ice floe. Aboard your ship, you will sail along the extremely spectacular coastline of this icy land. Between millennial glaciers and rugged mountains, you will discover a jagged coastline, hollowed-out by fjords. A unique setting, the refuge of a particularly rich avifauna, offering you the possibility of taking fabulous photographs from the deck of your ship.
July 13
NAVIGATING THROUGH THE SEA ICE
Enjoy the absolutely unique experience of sailing to the heart of the ice floe, this vast expanse of virgin, immaculate ice. The landscapes are constantly changing, shifting from a smooth, flat wilderness to a chaos of ice, then to channels of open water. Your ship will sail along these naturally open channels and through the areas where the frozen layer is thinnest, offering you the chance to experience magic maritime moments in the midst of drifting sea ice. It will also often be an opportunity to see a particular kind of fauna, totally dependent on the ice floe.
GEOGRAPHIC NORTH POLE
Defined by a 90° North latitude, the Geographic North Pole lies on the Earth’s rotational axis, at the intersection of all meridians. Plunged into darkness for six months of the year, then lit by the sun for the following six months, this mythical site, permanently covered in ice and remote from any land, has fascinated generations of explorers. So far, only a very few people have ever reached it: an exploit which is now accessible to you aboard Le Commandant Charcot.
July 19
NAVIGATING THROUGH THE SEA ICE
Enjoy the absolutely unique experience of sailing to the heart of the ice floe, this vast expanse of virgin, immaculate ice. The landscapes are constantly changing, shifting from a smooth, flat wilderness to a chaos of ice, then to channels of open water. Your ship will sail along these naturally open channels and through the areas where the frozen layer is thinnest, offering you the chance to experience magic maritime moments in the midst of drifting sea ice. It will also often be an opportunity to see a particular kind of fauna, totally dependent on the ice floe.
July 21
AT SEA ALONG SPITSBERGEN
The largest island in the Svalbard archipelago, its name meaning “pointed mountains” in German, Spitsbergen is the last piece of land before the Arctic ice floe. Aboard your ship, you will sail along the extremely spectacular coastline of this icy land. Between millennial glaciers and rugged mountains, you will discover a jagged coastline, hollowed-out by fjords. A unique setting, the refuge of a particularly rich avifauna, offering you the possibility of taking fabulous photographs from the deck of your ship.
LONGYEARBYEN, SPITSBERGEN
Disembarkation at 8:00 AM. We’ll transport you to the airport for the flight back to Paris.
Activities
KAYAKING
You will make the most of the sailing opportunities and weather and ice conditions to glide along on the clear waters or between the ice floes and get as close as possible to the immaculate nature of the poles. Supervised by licenced expert guides, you will try your hand in a kayak- a craft favoured by the Inuits for at least 4,000 years. The kayak was initially used for hunting and fishing; for you, it will be a means of making the most of your adventure on the White Continent or in the Far North.
**with limited places available
POLAR PLUNGE
Let yourself be seduced by the unrivalled sensations of being surrounded by cold water. Weather and ice conditions willing, you will have opportunities to undertake a unique experience during a polar plunge wearing just your swimming costume, in the middle of the ice. You will be be filled with intense emotions and will fully appreciate the energy boost when warming up after the swim!**with limited places available
HIKING OR SNOWSHOEING
During shore landings, depending on the ecological resilience of the biome, we will propose hikes at different levels, in the company of your experienced naturalist guides. From a simple stroll along the coast to walks lasting several hours to reach particular viewpoints or historical sites, you will make the most of the opportunities provided by the weather and ice conditions. When the itineraries allow, you’ll put on snowshoes* to set off like the explorers of old and discover areas that have barely known Man.*with limited places available