When extreme adventurer Tiana Fletcher was kitted out in Arksen apparel for the Polar Circle Marathon she quickly discovered just how important high quality performance sportswear is when you’re facing temperatures close to minus 30 degrees.

Tiana had never completed a marathon when she landed in Greenland to take on one of the world’s most extreme running events. In temperatures of minus 28 degrees, with winds whipping up a storm in the tiny isolated town of Kangerlussuaq, the challenge was ominous.

This 26-mile adventure across the wild and remote ice cap lasts up to eight hours and creates a unique challenge when it comes to gear – wear too much and your body will overheat, but expose any skin and you face near-instant ice burn.

On the start line, with her hoodie zipped to the top like a balaclava covering all but her eyes, she joined more than 100 athletes from 30 different countries to set off on an adventure that, just months before, she never imagined even considering to attempt.

“I felt so out of my depth, but I just had to do it,” she recalls. “When I read a story about the race, I couldn’t believe something like that would exist – but it felt completely unattainable to me. I never believed I would have the fitness or the mental grit to take it on.

“Then I saw someone I knew do it and I suddenly realised it could be possible. I signed up and focused on training and getting myself mentally and physically prepared, but actually practically, I didn’t actually appreciate how important good kit would be.”

A conversation with experts at Arksen turned out to be “an absolute game changer” that completely altered her planned approach – from selecting a padded mountaineering jacket to carefully selecting a fully layered system to stand up to the elements.

Racing in such extremes puts high demands on the body, and it is essential to wick sweat away to prevent it from freezing. Intense physical exertion means you cannot wear too many layers, yet it is also vital to stay covered, warm and dry.

“I’ve never experienced temperatures that low, so it was a whole new territory for me,” she recalls. “To put it in perspective, it’s easy to relate to the difference between zero and 30 degrees, and it is the same differentiation from zero to minus 30.

“I’d also never run on snow and ice and the first 10-15km was on the ice sheet itself, so that was really hard – and it turned out that ice sheets were not as flat as I’d expected either! There were nine major hills along the route so we were constantly going up and down. 

“You're out there for the whole day, by yourself for a lot of it, and it's not like a two-hour race where if you get your layering wrong and you’re back inside soon. You had to get it right – and some people really struggled.

“Some over-layered at the beginning and took off a layer at a water station – but then your sweat freezes on your t-shirt, you get cold and start burning too much energy. Others kept their layers on, sweated too much then got cramps because of the dehydration.

“A lot of people actually left items of clothing at the water stations and changed their base layer if it got really wet or if they were getting cold, but I didn't need to change at all, which was amazing. I kept warm throughout the entire thing.”

Tiana wore an Arksen Nox Polartec Hoodie on top of a Merino wool base, with the Idun Waterproof Jacket and some waterproof trousers to provide protection from biting winds and rain, adding a Mistral Lightweight Packable Down Jacket for warmth at the finish.

Throughout the race, the full-zip knit hoodie provided a breathable and lightweight mid-layer with high thermal efficiency, while the jacket’s unique polymer structure, which opens and closes to offer intuitive adaptability, regulated her temperature in those wild conditions.

“The kit was absolutely vital,” says Tiana. “It’s not an overstatement to say that it was the making or breaking of my race. The weather resistance was amazing and it was extremely comfortable, which is really important when you’re running for so long.

“Despite wearing multiple layers, I had no rubbing and no blisters because the kit was so good – and the moisture wicking in the hoodie meant I didn't have to change my top and experience any exposure in the harsh conditions.

“The long zip was a brilliant feature too. It allowed me to pull it up all the way and cover my face like a balaclava without wearing loads of layers around my neck, and as soon as I was running and breathing heavily, I could unzip it and stop that moisture from freezing.”

Having such comfort and confidence in the extreme conditions allowed Tiana to not only take on the daunting challenge but to enjoy it to the full and she concludes: “It really was an epic, life-changing experience.

“The most beautiful but most challenging – and most dangerous – part was on the ice sheet itself. You're in this incredible wilderness, looking all around you, but also trying to avoid the crevasses because if you fall down one of them, you're not coming back!

“It’s very different from any other marathon, and that's a beautiful experience in itself. You can't use headphones, because they will freeze in your ears, and my water bottle and gels turned to ice – but thanks to the kit, I didn’t get cold  at all .”