A British adventurer is aiming to join the select few who have crossed the South Pole completely alone and unsupported.
Cat Burford will walk 700 miles across the frozen continent while pulling a loaded sled with all her kit.
She’s currently training by pulling tyres on a beach in Cornwall.
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The 43-year-old will become one of only a handful of women to cross Antarctica solo, in an effort to raise awareness and funding for women’s health and sports.
The dentist, who is also known as ‘The Molar Explorer’, will be on her own for 50 days, spending her time in minus 50°C temperatures and 60 mph winds.
Cat, from Kehelland, Cornwall, is now entering her final leg of training, ahead of the expedition in November.
Her three-year training programme has taken her on group and solo expeditions in Norway and Greenland – all to build her survival skills such as learning how to cross country ski, camp on ice and cook in some of the most hostile conditions in the world.
“I’ve always felt that there was a big challenge in me and these experiences have taught me to rely on myself and test the boundaries of what I am capable of,” Cat told What’s The Jam.
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The explorer was inspired to attempt the challenge during a school geography lesson.
She’s honouring one of her former teachers – Allyson Taylor – as part of her walk.
She said: “The moment that she displayed a picture of Antarctica on the projector and told us that it was the largest desert on earth, is etched in my mind and was the lightbulb event.
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“I knew that one day I would go there.
“As this expedition took shape, I felt the need to reconnect with Mrs Taylor and to let her know the impact of this one lesson and how her contagious enthusiasm influenced me.
“With shock and sadness I discovered that she had died the year before.
“From that moment the expedition took on a new meaning.
“With the permission of her family, I have Allyson’s name embroidered on to the front of my expedition jacket.
“I feel sure that I will be communicating the highs and lows taking her with me on this extraordinary journey.”
But this isn’t just a personal mission – Cat wants to help women everywhere.
She said: “As the expedition started to take shape I started to think about the effect of such extreme endurance on my health.
“What I discovered was just how little evidence there was out there and how little of it was relevant to me as a woman.
“Research on women’s health and endurance sports is significantly lacking resulting in a gender bias that negatively impacts women.
“As more women venture to the north and south polar regions it is becoming apparent that physiologically we respond differently to extreme polar endurance.
“We tend to lose less fat and our bodies appear to adapt to the environment more favourably than men’s.
“It hasn’t been possible to publish anything of note simply because there aren’t the numbers to do so.
“I am going to be adding my data to a database to raise awareness so that others will follow – a step toward further research and understanding.
“Women’s health issues in relation to sport and exercise are underexplored and underfunded compared to men’s health.
“I aim to raise awareness of this disparity and the crucial need for research into women’s health and sport.”
During her Molar Explorer mission, Cat will also be raising money for oral health charity Bridge2Aid and Community Action Nepal.
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