Former Welsh rugby star Richard Parks claims South Pole record

 
MANDATORY CREDIT ANTARCTIC LOGISTICS & EXPEDITIONS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVE. BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions handout photo of Adventurer Richard Parks at the South Pole as he is claiming the record for the fastest ever solo, unsupported journey to the South Pole by a Briton. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Saturday January 4, 2014. The former Welsh rugby player reached the finish line at 5.24am today (GMT) when the temperature was -24C. He completed the 715-mile journey from the Antarctic coastline in 29 days, 19 hours and 24 minutes, setting a new British record and recording the second fastest time in history. Parks, 36, said: "I'm exhausted. Physically I am absolutely shattered, mentally I am frazzled, it is just a lot to take in. I have a lot of emotions bouncing around but I am happy, proud and grateful." He added that it was tough to complete the final few kilometres as he approached the South Pole marker and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. See PA story ADVENTURE Parks. Photo credit should read: Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Staff|Agency4 January 2014

Adventurer Richard Parks is claiming a record for the fastest ever solo, unsupported journey to the South Pole by a Briton.

The former Welsh rugby player reached the finish line at 5.24am today (GMT) when the temperature was -24C.

He completed the 715-mile journey from the Antarctic coastline in 29 days, 19 hours and 24 minutes, setting a new British record and recording the second fastest time in history.

Parks, 36, said: "I'm exhausted. Physically I am absolutely shattered, mentally I am frazzled, it is just a lot to take in. I have a lot of emotions bouncing around but I am happy, proud and grateful."

He added that it was tough to complete the final few kilometres as he approached the South Pole marker and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

"I could see the station and I was only about 3km away and I literally was having to talk myself out of pitching my tent with every step, I just didn't think I could put another foot in front of the other," he said.

Parks faced brutal Antarctic conditions and completed the last two days with a broken ski.

He took just under 10 days off the existing British record, held by polar explorer Hannah McKeand, who in 2006 reached the South Pole in 39 days, 9 hours and 33 minutes. He also became the 19th person - and the first from Wales - to complete the journey solo and unsupported.

Parks, who missed his target of 23 days to break Norwegian adventurer Christian Eide's world record, added: "I felt quite overwhelmed in the last steps getting to the South Pole marker. So many emotions were bouncing around in my body.

"It was not quite the script that I had planned but I was full of gratitude and pride because I know what I achieved is special. I skied to the marker, took a few minutes just to savour it and take it in. It will probably take a lot longer than that, I will probably be reflecting on this for quite some time."

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