The day after Christmas 33-year-old Colin O’Brady of Portland, Ore., finished a bone-chilling, epic journey that previously was deemed impossible.
O’Brady on Wednesday became the first person to traverse Antarctica — alone — without any assistance, trekking across the polar continent in 54 days.
“I don’t know, something overcame me,” O’Brady told the New York Times in a telephone interview after he crossed the finish line. “I just felt locked in for the last 32 hours, like a deep flow state. I didn’t listen to any music — just locked in, like I’m going until I’m done. It was profound, it was beautiful, and it was an amazing way to finish up the project.”
Friends, family and fans had tracked the endurance athlete’s 930-mile journey in real time online.
“I did it!” a tearful O’Brady said on a call to his family gathered in Portland for the holidays, according to his wife, Jenna Besaw.
“It was an emotional call,” she said. “He seemed overwhelmed by love and gratitude, and he really wanted to say ‘Thank you’ to all of us.”
Though O’Brady had initially thought he’d want a cheeseburger at the end of his nearly impossible journey, Besaw said her husband has been fantasizing about fresh fish and salad because he has mostly been eating freeze-dried foods. – READ MORE