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The North Pole is one of the most inhospitable and dangerous locations on the face of the Earth. It is a hostile utterly alien wilderness of snow and ice where temperatures of minus 30 degrees are as warm as things get. Added to the extreme cold, the danger of losing extremities to frostbite and the risk of being blinded by the dazzling endless white is the planets largest predator – the Polar Bear.

The Polar Bear, or Ursus Maritimus, to give it its Latin name, can weigh up to 1500lb making it a very large and dangerous animal. Though this animal is feared by scientists to be under threat from global warming due to the melting of the sea is which is its hunting grounds, when human beings enter the world of the polar bear it they that must fear for their lives.

It is this world that forms the backdrop for what has a very strong claim to be the world most extreme marathon. The 26.2 mile course is comprised of 10 laps of a circular circuit around the geographical North Pole. This insane race has been run a total of 6 times before.

The 2010 North Pole Marathon had 26 brave competitors. The winner of the men’s event was Joep Rozendal from the Netherlands in a time of 5 hours and 58 seconds. Rozendal is a super tough former marine officer who underwent gruelling military training in the north of Norway and since his military retirement has logged very fast times in a number of marathons.

A plucky second place in the men’s race was taken by Britain’s Rik Vercoe, coming in a mere 7 minutes and 2 seconds behind the winner. A veteran of many distance races (including ultra marathons, races much longer than the standard marathon), Vercoe has added to an already impressive running CV which includes completing the London Marathon 3 times. His arctic adventure was to raise funds for children’s charity The Elizabeth Foundation. Third place was snagged by Yen-Po Chen of Taiwan.

The field in the women’s completion was more spread out with second place Julia Tizzard (also a Briton) coming in over an hour and a half behind winner Emer Dooley of Ireland, who clocked a time of 5 hours, 56 minutes and 54 seconds. Dooley, Tizzard and third place Sarah Oliphant of the USA all reside in the states.

Former world champion formula one driver Lewis Hamilton apparently fell foul of Australia’s strict driving laws whilst in the country for the recent Grand Prix. He was given a ticking off for what the 25 year old racing ace described as “exuberant driving”. By coincidence a new road safety campaign has just been launched in Australia, titled, in typically coarse Aussie style “Don’t Be a D*ckhead”. Tim Pallas, the roads Minister stated that the sordid sobriquet applied to Lewis Hamilton.

That clip was an actual TV advert now being to Australia. One message from it – don’t use your mobile phone while driving. The other: red headed people are subhuman scum who should be subjected to ridicule. If you have auburn hair and have flights to Australia booked, you should probably cancel them now.

The 2010 Formula One Grand Prix season started, as it will finish, in sizzling Middle Eastern style at the weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The world’s motor racing fans desperate for any clue as to how the season will develop between now and the end of the season when f1 will return to the desert for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Alonso and Massa made the most of the Ferraris they have to drive this season, bagging first and second place respectively. Britain’s Lewis Hamilton landed the last space on the podium after starting fourth on the grid.

With the new season, of course, new rule changes were brought in. This year the changes were not quite as wide ranging as those introduced in 2009. The most obvious change is in re-fuelling – there is none! Since 1993 the planning of fuel strategy involving pit-stops has been an integral part of F1 racing. Now the cars must start with all the fuel that they calculate that they will need at the outset. If a driver has used up too much of their fuel they will have no choice but to slow down for the remainder of the race, allowing more cautious drivers to pass them. This raises the possibility of some fascinating ‘tortoise and hare’ scenarios.

In addition to some minor technical changes to do with weight, tyres and aerodynamics the other main change is to the scoring system. Previously only the first eight finishers in a race secured points. In the revised rules this is extended to the first ten to pass the finish line. The points awarded will be will be25 for first place, 18 for second and 15 for third. Off the podium the rest of the points will be 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1. The reason for these changes is to take account of the new enlarged grid, which now boasts a total of 13 teams.

There are a number of new teams competing this year. American start-up US F1 has failed to get any kind of car ready for the start of the season, so we will have to wait to see how they shape up. Other new teams include Lotus F1, who had a promising start with their superstar driving line-up with Heikki Kovalainen managing to finish in a race that had no less than nine retirements, including teammate Jarno Trulli.

The next stop on the F1 world tour is Melbourne. The whole circus will be boarding flights to Australia and heading down under. As the season progresses doubtless we will have a better idea about the relative strengths of teams, drivers and the effects of rule changes. Can Schumacher’s return to F1 match the dizzying heights of his earlier career? Only the white-knuckle ride of the season ahead can reveal the answer.