Point Loma High grad going to extremes in Antarctic Ice Ultra 50k
Dante Ulanday - News Moderator 
SAN DIEGO – Endurance runner, attorney, and Point Loma High grad Sean McKaveney is tackling his toughest challenge ever: The Antarctic Ice Ultra 50k, a 24-hour race in the world’s most inhospitable environment.
He is preparing to head to Antarctica for the race on November 8.
Balancing full-time legal work with extreme endurance prep training for one of the world’s coldest, windiest climates, McKaveney is excited about entering the race’s 50k division. The race is a structured, 24-hour format where athletes push as far as they can on Antarctic ice.
McKaveney trains in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. He simulates snow and soft, shifting surfaces during San Diego’s summer and fall, running intervals in deep beach sand. He also builds leg power for Antarctic winds with cycling and long, weighted hikes.
The attorney and athlete is no stranger to adventure. He’s completed the Great Wall Marathon in China as well as the Mount Everest Marathon. This will be his second time in Antarctica running on extreme terrain, facing winds of 30- to 50-mph.
Sean McKaveney completing the Mount Everest Marathon. (Photo courtesy of Sean McKaveney)
Why does he do it?
“The last couple of years I got into taking different adventures, and one thing led to another,” said McKaveney. “This Antarctica race is about seeing how far you can push yourself under extreme conditions; it’s an adventure. At first, I did some triathlons locally and more endurance running. I raced on the Great Wall of China. That opened my eyes to different adventures.”
Noting he’s “really not a runner,” McKaveney, who played college football and loved it, noted, “That was my springboard into running.”
McKaveney’s been training for about a year for this Antarctica race, doing five- and six-hour weighted hikes as well as running in soft sand on the beach, also wearing a weighted vest to prepare for much more strenuous conditions in the world’s southernmost continent, 98% of which is covered in ice.
Endurance running has given the attorney-athlete a new purpose.
“I’ve felt so lucky my whole life, having the best family and living in the best city, and I feel somewhat obliged to not waste my life,” he said. “Tomorrow is never promised. It’s really motivated me to wake up early every day and work on training hard.”
“I love pushing myself in extreme challenges. I live an exciting life that maybe motivates other people. It’s fulfilling,” McKaveney said.
About the Antarctic Ice Ultra
The 2025 Antarctic Ice Ultra is the ultimate endurance footrace on the frozen continent. The event offers various distances including a half- marathon, a marathon, a 50k, an 81k (50 miles), 100k, and up to 100 miles.
This unique race tests participants’ limits in the most extreme conditions on Earth. The event is scheduled to take place at Schirmacher Oasis in Eastern Antarctica on Nov. 8. Registration is now open and spots are allocated on a first-come first-serve basis.
The main challenges from a running perspective are the cold and the underfoot terrain. Correct clothing is an essential element in dealing with the cold and preventing frostbite that can occur with sweating. The underfoot terrain also can be energy sapping. Though the snow will not be deep, the course will be groomed beforehand, so it should be reasonably solid. But not always.
In the 2024 Antarctic Ice Marathon and 100k, John Armbrust (USA) finished 50k in 6 hours, 30 minutes, and 59 seconds, which is the men’s 50k record.
