Richard Parks sets new British record

After a gruelling 29 days on the ice, extreme athlete Richard Parks has set a new record and become the fastest ever Britain to complete a solo, unsupported and unassisted journey to the South Pole He reached the South Pole at 2.24am GMT on the 4th January, completing the 1150km/715m solo journey from the geographical coastline of Antarctica in 29 days, 19 hours and 24 minutes, setting a new British record and recording the second fastest time in history.  

Richard is supported by the GSK Human Performance Lab, where he carried out extensive testing and research with our world class scientists before he left for the pole to optimise his performance on the ice. Richard also carried out a series of hormone and cognitive profiling assessments whilst completing his record breaking challenge.  

Richard is due to return to the GSK Human Performance Lab in February 2014 to share and debrief with the science team before he starts preparations for his next challenge.

He skied 715 miles over 366 hours, beating the previous record held by polar explorer Hannah McKeand by 10 days and burning the calorific equivalent of two marathons a day. This new record adds to a series of successes by the athlete including becoming the first person to climb the highest summit on each of the world’s seven continents and stand on all three poles in one calendar year.