Team Asia successfully completed the FWD ‘78° North’ Marathon organized by FWD, a pan-Asian insurance company. ‘78° North’ Marathon was held on April 16, 2019 at Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway, 1050 km away from the Pole making ‘78° North’ Marathon the world’s ‘coolest’ marathon at the North Pole.
Among Team Asia, there were 9 FWD-sponsored runners from 6 different contires in Asia and their results are as follows:
Prior to the achievement of the runners as well as the organizer, all North Pole expeditions including ‘78° North’ Marathon were cancelled at the last minute because of geopolitical tensions between the Russian and Ukrainian administrations regarding flight plans to the Pole.
Later, Pan-Asian insurer FWD managed to overcome this unexpected circumstance in three chaotic days and was able to invite all registered North Pole Marathon runners to continue fulfilling their ambitions by completing a marathon in sub-zero temperatures and extreme winter conditions.
Tim Oliver, FWD Group Chief Customer & Marketing Officer said, “All of us at FWD are extremely proud of all the participants despite the unexpected turn of events, who displayed admirable determination and courage to persevere and complete a very challenging marathon. Congratulations to all the runners for successfully finishing the FWD 78° North Marathon.”
