Carl Price, his wife, Kathy, John Steinberg and José Dominguez spent a harrowing few days in Antarctica in March, where they were among 85 runners who participated in a marathon and half-marathon. To see a full gallery of photos from Dr. Price, visit the CoxHealth Facebook page.
If you ask physicians José Dominguez, Carl Price and John Steinberg about their recent trip to Antarctica for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, they’ll all agree on the uniqueness of the trip and the brutal difficulty of the run. Who came home with the best bragging rights, however, is a more contentious matter.
“It was the hardest physical endeavor I’ve ever done,” says Dominguez, who has run a series of marathons for the foundation since his son, Eric, was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis in 2001.
Dominguez had been looking for something more “extreme” and when he heard about the Antarctica marathon, he knew it was a perfect fit. He talked up the trip among his colleagues and he recruited a few adventurous souls. In March, he made the trip joined by cardiothoracic surgeon Steinberg, plastic surgeon Price and Price’s wife, pharmacist Kathy Price.
The team had trained throughout Springfield’s unusually nasty winter, but not much could have prepared them for the conditions once they came ashore. With the temperature at 35 degrees, the ground was unfrozen, meaning that instead of running on ice and snow, the team was running in what they call “shoe-sucking, peanut-butter mud.”
“The first mile was uphill in mud that came to the mid-calf; people were on their hands and knees to get to the top,” says Steinberg. “And when you got to the top, there was a sign that said ‘1 mile.’ There was nothing but misery about the run itself.”
The course was set up with a single stretch of a little more than 3 miles; four out-and-back trips added up to the total length. Of the 85 runners who started the marathon, only 70 finished – a high dropout rate among serious marathoners.
Enduring the conditions was worth it, especially for Steinberg, who eagerly points out: “I did kick José’s butt; I was drinking wine while he was still finishing.”
Dominguez concedes that “allowing Steinberg to beat me in a marathon” was a major disappointment of the trip. However, there were mitigating factors: Firstly, he had been eating a lot and he wanted to run a little longer, for the extra cardio.
“I also had to provide some medical care during the race. A woman had fractured her finger and I checked it out,” he says. “I said, ‘Yeah, it’s broken, let’s keep moving.’ The most likely explanation is that Steinberg was faster, but ...”
Price, who points out that he also had a look at the woman’s hand at the end of the race (“Dominguez is a colorectal surgeon! How does that help?”), says the conditions left him with a time of 3:20 in the half marathon, longer than his normal time of around 2:15.
“But I did get third. Unlike Steinberg who got 20th,” he says.
A point quickly clarified by Dominguez.
“Don’t be implying that the Prices did the marathon, they did the half,” he says. “Yes, Dr. Price got third place in the half marathon, but Steinberg and my times at the halfway point would’ve beaten him. We can’t have him getting any excessive glory.”
After the race, the team was invited to do a “polar plunge,” in which they could take a quick dip in the Southern Ocean alongside the icebergs. The water is cold enough that organizers have defibrillators on hand in case the shock is too much. Dominguez and Price took the plunge, but Steinberg passed.
“Steinberg was a total wimp, he didn’t jump in the water,” Price says, before recounting his own experience. “It was like an electric shock, the water was so cold. Afterward, they give you a shot of brandy and it’s like the warmth goes through your whole body. It’s quite an experience.”
Those who complete the challenge get a certificate. And, in Steinberg’s case, Dominguez had a special certificate made commemorating the fact that he didn’t do it.
Kathy Price says this is all par for the course when one travels with surgeons.
“To do what they do, you need to have a healthy ego; you have to be confident in your abilities,” she says. “They do a wonderful job of pushing each other on without pushing each other down.”
Regardless of who, exactly, had the best showing in the races and follow-up events, the trip was a fundraising success, bringing in more than $85,000.
“If we’re willing to go to the end of the earth for this, literally, maybe people will want to help,” Carl Price says.
About the fundraising effort
The trip to Antarctica was the latest run in the ongoing fundraising effort for the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
Dominguez began running for the organization when his son, Eric, was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis at age 2. Neurofibromatosis, or NF, includes a set of genetic disorders that can cause tumors to grow along various types of nerves. The severity can vary from cases in which patients show no symptoms to ones that result in brain or nerve tumors.
The Antarctica run raised more than $85,000 from more than 300 donors, bringing Dominguez’s total so far to nearly $240,000. Dominguez has set a goal of raising $1 million to help find a cure for neurofibromatosis through the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
The group’s next international run is planned for 2012 in Kenya; Dominguez says runners are always welcome to join the team. For more information or to donate visit runforeric.com
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