Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Pen Hadow
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Pen Hadow
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the explorer Pen Hadow.
Pen Hadow made polar history in 2003 by becoming the first man to walk solo and unsupported the 478 miles from the northern coast of Canada to the North Pole. It was the culmination of a death-bed pledge. He had made a commitment immediately after his father's death that he would prove the family name by succeeding in the challenge - described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as the "greatest endurance feat left on earth". He made two unsuccessful attempts at the ordeal before succeeding in May last year.
He turned to exploring in his late 20s, but had already shown himself to be a daredevil foolhardy, determined and physically strong. At prep school he learnt the importance of training and practice to develop greater athleticism and, at Harrow, he successfully ran 'The Long Ducker' - a marathon from Harrow, taking in Marble Arch and Little Venice - that hadn't been attempted for 50 years. After university, he spent four years working at the sports agency IMG and ended up by chance on a 70-day trek photographing polar bears, and the thought struck him that, with organisation, training and determination, in the same length of time he could trek to the North Pole.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: Piano Concerto No 2 in B Flat Major by Johannes Brahms
Book: The Oxford Book of English Verse by Chirstopher Ricks
Luxury: A six inch nail
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.6
14711,471 ratings
Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the explorer Pen Hadow.
Pen Hadow made polar history in 2003 by becoming the first man to walk solo and unsupported the 478 miles from the northern coast of Canada to the North Pole. It was the culmination of a death-bed pledge. He had made a commitment immediately after his father's death that he would prove the family name by succeeding in the challenge - described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as the "greatest endurance feat left on earth". He made two unsuccessful attempts at the ordeal before succeeding in May last year.
He turned to exploring in his late 20s, but had already shown himself to be a daredevil foolhardy, determined and physically strong. At prep school he learnt the importance of training and practice to develop greater athleticism and, at Harrow, he successfully ran 'The Long Ducker' - a marathon from Harrow, taking in Marble Arch and Little Venice - that hadn't been attempted for 50 years. After university, he spent four years working at the sports agency IMG and ended up by chance on a 70-day trek photographing polar bears, and the thought struck him that, with organisation, training and determination, in the same length of time he could trek to the North Pole.
[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]
Favourite track: Piano Concerto No 2 in B Flat Major by Johannes Brahms
Book: The Oxford Book of English Verse by Chirstopher Ricks
Luxury: A six inch nail
More shows like Desert Island Discs
View all
Global News Podcast
7,841 Listeners
Newshour
1,075 Listeners
Woman's Hour
400 Listeners
In Our Time
5,492 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,818 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,845 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,058 Listeners
Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010
151 Listeners
THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST
1,162 Listeners
Desert Island Discs: Archive 2011-2015
60 Listeners
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
1,170 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,217 Listeners
The Missing Cryptoqueen
1,042 Listeners
Americast
773 Listeners
The Bomb
1,044 Listeners
Life Changing
95 Listeners
This Cultural Life
121 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics
3,312 Listeners
Dish
768 Listeners
The Rest Is Entertainment
921 Listeners
The Louis Theroux Podcast
312 Listeners
Young Again
51 Listeners
Off Air with Jane & Fi
167 Listeners
Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth
507 Listeners
Desert Island Discs: Archive: 2016-2018
26 Listeners