World record-holding obstacle racer completes world-first obstacle course in Antarctica in sub-zero white-out conditions

After being awarded the Guinness World Record for completing an obstacle course almost halfway up Mount Everest, a 34-year-old woman from Poole has now completed a world-first polar obstacle course in Antarctica.

Dr Becky Neal, principal lecturer in exercise physiology at Bournemouth University, went to Antarctica in December 2025 to attempt an obstacle course near the South Pole, the first time such a feat has been achieved.

Taking place on Union Glacier in western Antarctica, the course was 10km long, all on ice and snow, and involved 10 obstacles.

Faced with temperatures of minus 15C and white-out conditions, she won the women’s race – with just one man a couple of minutes ahead. She has also hit her charity fundraising target, raising £3,185 for Women’s Aid.

“It was tough,” she told PA Real Life of the race on December 9 2025.

“When we arrived, it was really beautiful, like, pristine sunshine, because it’s 24 hours of daylight, and that midnight sun was really special. And it was just so beautiful. The ice was like glistening and really deep blue colours and everything. It looked beautiful.”

On the day, however, the conditions had worsened.

“It was totally white, the sky just blended into the snow, and it was snowing, so I had snowflakes hitting my throat, and it was quite windy, and just really couldn’t see much…” Becky said.

“My eyes were streaming from the wind and the cold. So it was hard.

“And at the same time, it was a race. I was trying to do it as fast as I could. So I was working quite hard as well.”

The 10-kilometre obstacle course involved plenty of challenges unique to the Antarctic surroundings, including hauling heavy ice blocks, which Becky estimates weighed up to 30kg, pulling a sled laden with ice, and climbing up walls of snow using ropes.

However, Becky was quick, and halfway through the race she found herself alone on the glacier, which she described as “isolated… daunting, I suppose, but also very serene”.

Despite the challenging weather conditions and tough obstacles, Becky completed the course in one hour and three minutes, claiming first place among the female participants.

She has been taking part in obstacle course races for around a decade, progressing from local events to European and world championships, and even taking on challenges in the most testing places on Earth.

Becky took part in her first obstacle course race around 10 years ago, an event that came her way almost by chance. In the years that followed, she has gone from casual involvement in the sport to being one of the best obstacle course athletes in the world.

She is now head of obstacle course racing at British Obstacle Sports and is one of the first people ever to take part in an obstacle course race near the South Pole.

Becky’s first foray into obstacle course racing happened almost by chance: she was doing her PhD in Portsmouth and her supervisor’s friend had a spare ticket for The Nuts Challenge, an obstacle race that takes place in Surrey, which Becky accepted on a whim.

“I’ve always been excited by adventures and challenges. I grew up quite a sporty person, doing running and gymnastics – I did running since I was eight, I did 15 years of gymnastics. And, really, it’s hard to combine those sports,” Becky said.

“But, actually, obstacle course racing is the perfect combination of running and gymnastics. So I had a good background, which set me up well…

“I just turned up on my own. Did it, had a really good time and then started looking at ways I could do more of it.”

From there, Becky signed up to more races, joining a club team called Nuclear Phoenix and representing them at races as part of a league series. Over the years, she has competed in European and world championships as well as smaller, local events, has been on the TV show Ninja Warrior twice and has taken on some incredible one-off challenges, too.

“There’s loads of different things,” she said.

“I’ve done more extreme ones, including a 70-kilometre ultra obstacle course race in the desert in Saudi Arabia in 2024.

“100% on sand, that was 120 obstacles and 70 kilometres.”

In 2022, she was awarded the Guinness World Record for the greatest ascent and descent on an obstacle course race, when she completed a course 3,019 metres up Mount Everest.

“We walked slowly over 12 days to get up to base camp, and then the race started at 6am,” Becky said.

“I had, like, zero hours sleep, it was minus 20C. You’ve got half the amount of oxygen, basically, and you’re going up higher than base camp with obstacles – carrying heavy bags of rocks, going over walls, doing monkey bars…

“Then I ran about 48 kilometres down, although there was quite a lot of elevation gain… that took four times as long as it normally does for me to run because it was so technical,” she continued, adding the run took her around 12 hours, almost quadruple her road marathon personal best of three hours, five minutes.

“I was just running on my own in the middle of the Himalayas, which was quite daunting, but also very, very beautiful.”

Having completed her feat in Antarctica, she said her attempt was not just about breaking records and completing a world first – she is also using the opportunity to raise money for Women’s Aid, a charity close to her heart.

She hopes her completion of an obstacle race in one of the most hostile environments on Earth will act as a physical metaphor for “the obstacles that women encounter every day” and is raising funds for the national charity that works to end domestic abuse against women and children.

Supported by Huel’s Limit Seeker Fund – which helped The Hardest Geezer Russ Cook when he ran the length of Africa, among other extraordinary athletes – Becky has made this impossible-sounding feat a reality and hopes to inspire others to push their limits and see what they can achieve.

Find out more about Becky’s Polar Challenge and donate to her fundraiser here: https://limitseekers.huel.com/fundraising/thepolarchallenge