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This Virtual Challenge is to get to the South Pole before Easter Sunday (31 March ’24). There were 5 Challenge distance options, I chose the longest 800 mile route mirroring Amundsen’s original expedition. Starting on Tuesday 26 December 2023, I have mainly walked, but occasionally jogged or ran, logging my miles on the Ultra Britain portal, which plots my progress and moves me along on a virtual map of the Antarctic ice cap.

In the early 20th century, the race was on to reach the South Pole, with explorers testing themselves in the freezing Antarctic on the ultimate winter challenge. Britain’s Captain Robert Scott & Norway’s Roald Amundsen both launched expeditions to reach the Pole. It would end in a victory for Amundsen who reached the Pole on 14 December 1911. Scott’s expedition, ended in tragedy, as whilst reaching the Pole 33 days after Amundsen, he and his team perished on the return journey due to the extreme cold & hunger.

What you may not know is that Captain Lawrence Oates, part of Scott’s expedition has links to both regiments, whose collections are held at York Army Museum. Oates first joined the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons in 1900 whilst the regiment was on active service in South Africa. He had previously served with the 3rd Bn West Yorkshire Regiment. At the museum you can see on display Oates’ Polar Medal and various items which belonged to Oates, along with the hand painted menu for a dinner held at the British Antarctic Expedition’s basecamp on midwinter’s day in 1911, signed by members of the expedition including Oates and Scott.

I wanted to help the museum raise money towards its online offer and virtual exhibitions, so this virtual challenge seemed ideal.

The museum welcomes thousands of visitors a year in person, but is also constantly trying to reach out and share their collections and stories via a range of online initiatives: virtual tours, podcasts, social media, and the construction of a virtual gallery to showcase exhibitions online.

Please consider donating if you can, every penny helps the museum team keep our soldiers' stories alive and share them far and wide.

£10 pays for conservation and preservation equipment

£50 pays for us to deliver a workshop for schools

£100 pays for a digital assistant for a day to develop our online galleries

£300 pays for a day's 3D scanning of artefacts

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe they'll never sell them on or send you unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to York Army Museum. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for our charity.