He has only just returned from a gruelling 3,000-mile rowing challenge from the Canaries to Barbados and round-the-world cyclist Alastair Humphreys has already planned his next adventure.
Together with three team-mates, he intends to trace the footsteps of Captain Scott, 100 years after the explorer set off on his tragically failed bid to walk to the South Pole and back.
At 1,800 miles, it will be the longest unsupported Polar journey in history and Alastair and his friends are not expected to be back until February 2013.
Alastair, who was brought up in Airton, said: “In the last 100 years, 12 people have stood on the moon, more than 500 have been into space, and more than five thousand have climbed Everest.
“Yet the journey Captain Scott and his team died trying to complete a century ago remains unrealised.
“No one has ever walked from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again.”
About his marathon rowing trip, he said: “No regrets, but no encore either. I am pretty certain that I will never again want to row across an ocean.
“But I am very glad to have – nearly – rowed one, even though it has been far from a pleasurable experience.
“I have enjoyed spending half of this trip beneath a bright night sky.
“It is impossible not to be struck either by our insignificance or by our extraordinary significance in this vast universe.
“Whichever way you personally see it, it has certainly encouraged me to pause and reflect on what I am doing with my life, or rather on what I should be doing with my life.”
Adventurous Alastair, who previously took four years to complete his 45,000-mile cycle ride round the world, hopes to raise a pound per mile on his Atlantic trip for Hope for Homes for Children.
People wanting to support Alastair’s charity can visit justgiving.com/atlanticrow2012.com
