Steve gears up for the ultimate ice challenge

Date published: 09 February 2018


After some amazing past charity challenges which have included climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc and trekking through the Sahara Desert – to name but a few – St Joseph’s primary school’s intrepid deputy head Steve Hill is about to take on his toughest task yet.

With the full support and encouragement of his Year 6 class at the Shaw school, Steve has set myself the challenge of completing one of the toughest footraces races in the world – the Arctic Ice Ultra Marathon - a 230km staged footrace through the Arctic with temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees.

Throughout the race he will be totally self-sufficient – carrying all his food and other essential equipment in his backpack.

As always, Steve will be funding the trip himself and will be raising money for Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, Cancer Research UK, RSPCA and Supporting Shane – a boy in Year 6 at St Joseph’s who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

In total, the five race stages will see Steve travel an incredible 250km, so he has been hard in training for what is guaranteed to be the toughest of challenges possible.

Gutsy Steve said: “My Year 6 class are always a great source of encouragement and motivation for me in the build up to my challenges, and they always throw themselves 100-per-cent into our fundraising efforts.

“Through undertaking these extreme challenges, as well as helping us to raise money for Dr Kershaw’s and other local charities it’s also great to be able to share the experiences with the children and I hope this inspires them to dare to dream big and show them that they can achieve anything if they believe in themselves, work hard and never give up.”

Fund-raising initiatives ahead of Steve’s Arctic Ice Ultra Marathon have included charity car washes, film nights, cake sales, bake-offs, cake sales and sponsored walks.