Already delayed after snowstorms made it impossible to start the race on time, it was decided on day five that the race element the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Challenge would be suspended.
Expedition Director Ed Parker announced the decision but assured it didn’t mean the trek was over.
“We always knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, but that is what makes the challenge so exciting,” he said.
“This does not mean that the expedition is over. Far from it. We came down here, determined to get 12 men and women, all injured in conflict, to the South Pole and so we will.”
Prince Harry is participating in the 330km charity trek with wounded servicemen and women to raise money for military charities.
In an audio blog recorded from his base camp last week, Harry, who started the race with a broken toe, reported on the trek noting the teams setbacks.
“There’s been a bit of bad luck here and there… time is quite tight on us now, it’s starting to hit us,” he said.
A few people are starting to get a little bit worried, understandably so.”
Harry’s teammate Guy Disney commented on the race’s suspension citing “a few small injuries – nothing too serious – and the weather” as the reasons behind the decision.
“It is really putting us behind and so the race element has been stopped, but for very good reasons,” he said.
Disney said there was “a bigger goal” to the trek, referring to the charity element.
Tomorrow the teams will start the last leg to the South Pole, travelling 112 kilometres, but without the added pressure of racing.
“The new race format [will enable] them all to do this in their own time,” Ed Parker said.
“By Friday or Saturday next week, I strongly believe that every member of the expedition will be standing on the South Pole, celebrating what will have been the most extraordinary shared journey.”
