BLIND MARK IN POLE POSITION; Irishman the first person without sight to complete Antarctic challenge.

Byline: BY CLAIRE BRENNAN

AN Irishman has become the first blind person to conquer the South Pole.

Mark Pollock and team-mates Simon O'Donnell and Inge Solheim trekked 14 hours a day through temperatures as low as minus 50C.

And on Monday evening team southpoleflag.com made it to their final destination.

They planted the expedition flag which is filled with photos of people who wanted to be with them on the adventure.

Speaking from the Pole yesterday, Mark said the gruelling adventure had been worth every second.

Mark, from Holywood in Co Down, added: "We're here. We've done it! I'm standing at the South Pole. Other blind people had attempted to reach the South Pole in the past and failed. I was determined to prove it could be done."

"Carrying South Pole flag of faces - the thought of the virtual team members at home cheering us on - carried us."

Six squad competed in the race, which started on January 4 and lasted 22 days.

But Mark's team-mates, Dubliner Simon and Inge from Norway, had an aspect no other team faced - bravely guiding Mark across the vastness of the Antarctic.

During the trek, 32-year-old Mark told of exhaustion, hunger and the fear something could go wrong.

On his web blog he wrote: "We have to stop every two hours to eat and drink something and I just take my hands out of my gloves for 15 to 30 seconds to get my food out, they start going numb instantly. When I lose my sense of touch, I can't feel my hands and have great difficulty putting them back into my gloves.

"It just takes seconds out here for it all to wrong, to pick up an injury that could affect finishing the race.

"We want to avoid that. The last thing we want to do is to have to take two days out from the race due to something like a minor injury."

Simon suffered frost-bite to his ear on the second day of the race and to his fingers in the last few days.

As a result of the severe cold, Inge lost a filling from his tooth. But the team pulled together every step of the way and finished in fourth place. Mark lost his sight at the age of 22 while he was studying at Trinity College in Dublin.

He said his only advantage as a blind man was that he could not suffer from Polar Shock - a condition which affects someone who cannot deal with nothingness.

Mark added: "I had the odd experience of trying to see through my eyes. Not sad, just odd.

"Being in this race, being here at all, has been a 10-year journey for me from when I lost my sight at 22. I really feel I have finally arrived."

He said he decided to take part in the amazing race for glory to mark the 10th anniversary of losing his sight after reading about adventurers Shackleton and Crean.

CAPTION(S):

Antarctic 4/1/2009 TREK STAR Blind Mark Pollock and pal on the expedition