MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK team en route to Antarctica for South Pole race

British television presenter Ben Fogle and UK Olympic rowing champion James Cracknell are due to arrive in Antarctica ahead of a gruelling South Pole race. Cracknell, 36, Fogle, 35, and 28-year-old Dr Ed Coats - who beat 650 applicants for his place on the team - will spend the next fortnight acclimatising to the harsh weather and terrain.

Team QinetiQ, as they are collectively known, will endure -50C (-58F) temperatures during the 420-mile contest, the first race to the South Pole since Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott's attempt nearly 100 years ago. The trio will be relieved to arrive with all its members intact - after Animal Park presenter Fogle nearly pulled out weeks before the scheduled departure date when he was struck down with a tropical skin-eating parasite. He started treatment in November for Leishmaniasis Vianna, contracted while filming Extreme Dreams in Peru, and missed weeks of training until he was given the all clear on December 9. The team has spent the last three days in Cape Town, South Africa, and is making for the Novo Base, on the world's most inhospitable continent. The race, which kicks off on January 1, will see 10 teams from around the world race across the Antarctic Plateau to the Geographic South Pole. The teams of three will ski, pulling 200lb sleds, following the same route as Amundsen and Scott. Dr Coats, from Bristol, who specialises in obstetrics, landed a place on the team in October following a high-profile public search and intensive selection process, which began in June. More info: http://www.amundsenomega3southpolerace.com/