Running on Ice: A Polar Marathon for Education

We hear from Felix Fiennes, who completed an incredible fundraising challenge for The George Fiennes Memorial Bursary, awarded each year to one or more students studying Real Estate & Planning at Henley Business School.  Read on to find out more about his Arctic Marathon, fundraising experience and why he chose to raise funds for RREF.

Running my first marathon was always going to be memorable, but choosing the Polar Marathon in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, just north of the Arctic Circle, added complexity to the challenge. After months of training across the South Downs, covering hundreds of miles, my running companion Rob and I arrived ready for the distance. What we couldn’t train for, however, was the Arctic itself.

At the start line the temperature was around –15°C, the sun just rising over the horizon as we fixed crampons to our shoes. The route began across moraine and onto the ice cap, weaving over snow and sheets of ice while avoiding crevasses. The landscape felt otherworldly, and the first kilometres demanded intense focus as we ran across hard, uneven ice.

The course remained relentlessly hilly and icy. Along the way we shared encouragement with fellow runners, caught glimpses of reindeer, and were sustained by the warm drinks and smiles of volunteers at checkpoints. By the later stages the cold began to creep into tired muscles and a fall hitting my head on the ice, ensured that the final kilometres became a real test of endurance. Crossing the finish line, though, made every step worthwhile.

My motivation for fundraising was deeply personal. When my father died, a group of his close friends established a bursary in his name. He worked incredibly hard to give my siblings and me an education and my own career has benefited enormously from that opportunity. Supporting RREF felt like a meaningful way to give something back and gave me huge motivation on the day!

I strongly believe education is the long-term solution to many of the world’s challenges and that vocational courses remain relevant and worthwhile, even with the advent of AI. However, rising university costs and growing graduate debt; finding and learning a vocation can be a difficult thing for young people to do. Supporting educational charities helps ensure that talented young people can still pursue their ambitions. This, in turn, is great for our industry and ensures that motivated and intelligent people are coming through.

Fundraising with RREF made that goal easy to pursue. The team supported the effort through letters, social media and a simple donation process, making it straightforward for supporters to contribute.

If you would like to donate specifically to the George Fiennes Memorial Fund please click here.

If you would like to learn more about RREF and its impact on the lives of young people and students please click here.