James Cracknell can be forgiven if his column has been a little quiet over the last couple of months, as he's been rather preoccupied with preparing for his next challenge, the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race. The race, which is certainly not for the faint hearted, will be the first race to the South Pole since Scott and Amundsen's historic race nearly 100 years ago - Roald Amundsen arrived on December 14th 1911, Robert Scott on January 17th 1912.

In December, after almost two weeks of intensive polar training in Antarctica covering approximately 100 nautical miles, the six teams of three will set off across the Antarctic Plateau to race 430 nautical miles across the largest ice cap in the world to the Geographic South Pole.

James's team, Qinetiq, includes; Ben Fogle - who, in 2006, partnered him in his Atlantic Ocean rowing challenge - and Ed Coats, a Channel swimmer, who fulfilled a lifelong dream to go the Antartic when he was selected by Ben and James to become the third member of their team.

For all the information and latest news about the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race go to: www.amundsenomega3southpolerace.com