I think I'm an extreme woman since I was born. When I was a kid, one guy asked me "What is your dream?" "To have a house in front of the beach?" and I said, no. My dream is to travel around the world and yeah exploring. I'm Fernanda Maciel I'm Brazilian, I'm a businesswoman and I'm an ultra-runner. I've had a dream to run
up and down Mount Vinson, the highest mountain in Antarctica and I know that if I do that, I'll be the first one able to do that here. The environment is very protected here. You cannot build anything here. You cannot be close to animals. Each detail makes sense because when everyone finally leaves Antarctica will need to be the same. I knew before I came that I wouldn't
be running by myself on the mountain and there are lots of rules here. We cannot be alone on the mountain,
so it's hard to find someone who can maintain more or less your speed and then I met Sam our mountain guide. So the general synopsis is that there is a high pressure system which is pushing away the clouds. I had so much luck to meet Sam. He has been guiding here
in Antarctica for 15 years. So you cannot imagine
how will this guy knows the mountain, how fit he is. We just got this connection and he wrote to the big boss so that we could be together and to do the whole thing together,
uphill and downhill. The plan is that we split now from the big group and we make a smaller group just to try to move fast
but it's not a run. I started doing sports
when I was eight years old. I started doing gymnastics. So I was training a lot,
4 hours per day. Then I became
Jujitsu Brazilian champion and capoeira champion and so that was my life, always. Wow! Look at the snow! I love to test myself so when I started to run,
I was running 5 km and then why not 10 km? and then why not a Marathon? then why not ultra? 50 km, 100 km... 100 Miles Then, I did many and I thought "why not run higher?" There's so much material
that you need to carry. The boots, the crampons,
the mid-gloves, the true gloves, down pants, many kinds of jackets. during your training, you are carrying 15 to 20 kg. We don't have that usually when racing! I carry just 2 kg. and during the project,
I'll be carrying between 6 and 10 kg. Normally, how many people do that
from the base camp to the high camp? Zero! Normally it would be zero! Here, the troposphere is very close to us. We just have sunshine all day. No darkness. So for activities, it's good because I can be exploring 24 hours a day and yeah there will be no dark, so it's crazy to think I was preparing
my material and no headlamps! and I brought the headlamp. Why? Yeah ! Oh my gosh! Mount Shinn the third tallest peak. and it's 11:00 pm. It's very hard to breathe here. The air is thinner. If the mountain is 4,900 m
it feels like 5,900 m. Rock team! Tired team! Long push but everyone did awesome. Traditional dinner time. eating pesto pasta with salmon. Almost 1:00 am. so you had a long day today. How are you feeling today? Little tired from the big walk? Well no! Too much sleep! When you go in the mountains, you need
many different points to be aligned: The person who's with you, the safety points, the weather and to have everything aligned for me it's a very blessed
sign from the universe. I'm now a bit nervous. Usually I'm super chill, super relaxed but one hour before I start I'm like wooo! I train a lot and I dream a lot. All these things make me
do these crazy things. Vamonos! Vamonos! Running brings me peace, figuring out my emotions, discovering my capacities, discovering my limits and that is also beautiful for me, the fact you can travel with your mind You feel that you are touching
the sky the whole time. And I've never had this sensation before. This is really crazy. Fernanda, Sam,
High camp this is Vinson Base. I'm at high camp and I'm feeling great. and we're up to the Summit! Excellent! We look forward to hearing
when you get to the top. If I wasn't a runner, I couldn't have discovered
this beautiful place. How are you doing? Now you start to feel the altitude. Oh yeah! This cold will kill us. It's very cold! For sure It's risky
because I reach the limits of what this suffering
can cause to my body but what you learn from that, is that you are so much
in the right moment. You learn so much
about all the emotions, your whole vision is really clear. Yes, it's risky but It's OK. Almost there! Just there! That is incredible Sam! We are cruising! Heading to the summit! Here we are! I feel super super small and I love this feeling to be super humbled 6:40! All right! We are here as visitors. On this continent, you really feel that. if you drink, you need
to drink everything If you eat, you need
to eat everything. And for me that is very inspiring. I couldn't be happier. I had a great time. I suffered a bit because
of the altitude with the cold but we pushed really hard and we made a very good time. The record is a consequence you know. The numbers are just the numbers. 6 hours and 40 mins up. 3 hours down. Super good! Usually I need to wait for mountain guides but Sam? He's a monster! He's a boss! And today it's Christmas Day! Feliz Navidad! It's crazy to think I'm the first person able to run up and down Mount Vinson. Everything was in balance
to make this happen This is the reason I am super happy. Dream big and trying to go super far where you never thought to be I think it's super cool. I don't do that to inspire people I do that because I really love it. and if I inspire, it's a beautiful consequence. There are so many people who inspired me also. When I'm in this kind of place, I remember the special people that I like and... I've been thinking a lot
about my mentor captain and friend,
Hilaree Nelson. Her life meant a lot for me and her death also
meant a lot for me so I think is a cool place
to be thinking about you.
