South Pole record-holder passes baton

Gladwyne businessman-slash-explorer Todd Carmichael has a fan: Hannah McKeand, the British woman whose South Pole land speed record he broke.

Carmichael is resting at the South Pole after his 39-plus-day solo journey from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole. He regaled the pole's scientists with stories from the ice and dipped into a cache of food left for him by his advance team. Phone service to the pole is spotty, so he's not up to interviews yet.

Reached by e-mail today and asked if she had a message for Carmichael, McKeand said: "Only to send my huge congratulations! It was a really inspiring expedition to follow and I'm happy to be handing the baton on after such an impressive effort. I think there are only a few of us who have done similar things who can really appreciate what Todd has been through. He's proved himself to be one tough cookie."

See an interview with The Adventurist that Carmichael did before he set out.

McKeand's bio is quite neat, as is this story about the run-up to her own record-setting solo journey to the South Pole in 2006.