In a challenge reminiscent of the 19th-century American folk song John Henry, UK polar explorer Tim Williamson, 23, will attempt to run faster than what reports refer to as “one of North York Moors Railway’s most prestigious steam engines”in a one-day, 16-mile race through North York Moors National Park in the UK.
The race will do double-duty, raising funds for The Obesity Related Behaviours Research Group at Durham University (where Williamson graduated) as well as building publicity for Williamson’s upcoming expedition, which is being billed as the World’s first unaided and unsupported expedition from Greenland to the North Pole in 2012.
Williamson’s expedition teammates, James Turner, 23, and Mohammad Rahgozar, 24, also graduates of Durham University, will take the day off from training and be on the steam engine watching the race unfold.
[Via: Sunderland Echo], [Image Via: NYMR]
