Coppell man goes to the bottom of the world to win the 2023 Antarctic Ice Marathon

Most North Texans try to avoid the ice and snow, but a Coppell man recently went willingly to a glacier on the bottom of the world—not just to visit, but to run a marathon.

Michael Higgins has been running since high school.

"There really is a healthy way to disconnect from everything that goes on in the world, and I think running is a good way to do it for me," Higgins said.

He's no stranger to marathons, but this time he decided to go all the way south. The Antarctic Ice Marathon is located approximately 600 miles from the South Pole.

"I thought this would be the perfect excuse to get down to Antarctica," said Higgins. "I enjoy running; I want to see it, so let's just do it... Running 26.2 miles on snow and ice is by no means going to be enjoyable to most, but I don't know; it's kind of the adventure part of me that it fuels."

Considering it was in the 60s and sunny in Coppell this week, it was impossible to mimic the elements Higgins would face in Antarctica while training here. He credits extreme weather conditioning in the Texas heat and investing in the proper gear, like show covers with spikes on the bottom.

"To give you more traction because there's no roads, there's no grass," he said. "It's all just simply snow and ice in Antarctica."

It was terrain he'd never experienced before, running alongside people from around the world.

"You're reminded very quickly that you're not in Texas anymore when you're in a place like that," said Higgins.

He fought through the negative wind chill to cross the finish line first.

"It was powerful," he said. "It really was. It's something you train really hard for. It was a really cool feeling to see all that hard work fall into place. It was also a real sense of pride to represent our country."

And to represent the state as well. Higgins doesn't think anyone from Texas has ever won the race before.

"By no means did I expect to win," he said. "It was certainly a very cool feeling that I did pull it off."

Now he's considering another race in an equally chilly climate.

"I found out there is a marathon on the North Pole, so maybe I'll try for that one next year," said Higgins. "Get a chance to meet Santa."

Maybe Higgins can even teach the big guy a thing or two about getting around on the ice.