Tiana Fletcher was born into adventure. Having sailed the world, trekked to Mount Everest, run through the Arctic and even briefly lived with a tribe in Botswana, she has grand plans to become an inspiration for female adventurers around the globe. This is her story.

“My dad is ex-military, so my family have always been used to doing crazy things,” smiles Tiana Fletcher, when asked how she ended up running her first ever marathon on the polar ice cap. Like most adventurers, it seems, the excitement of the unknown is hard to ignore.

“I've always been quite sporty, but adventure takes you beyond that,” she continues. “I get such a thrill out of actually doing something adventurous and really testing yourself, assessing your limits. I think there's so much to be gained from it.”

Fletcher is continually pushing herself to take her adventures to new levels and in 2024, the Polar Circle Marathon drew her in. Dubbed ‘the coolest marathon on Earth’ it takes its competitors across the ice sheet to discover extremes few even knew existed.

This event and other adventures like trekking to Everest Base Camp or sailing the Transat or Fastnet Races – which can be done with Arksen – inspire and attract likeminded people from all around the world and that, for Tiana, is one of their biggest joys.

“It's a pretty epic experience,” she says. “Not only do you go to these incredible places and meet the people living out there all-year-round, you also meet people from lots of different countries – and that is a beautiful part of it. 

“I've been involved in a lot of sporting events around the world – I used to play netball internationally – but when you do that, you're competing against all these other teams so you don't really get to integrate with them.

“On adventure trips, you get to really know people, their background and their cultures from all over the place and it is fantastic, because you are all out there for this common goal of exploration and new experiences. 

“In the marathon , for example, I met people who had run the Mongolia Ultra Marathon, a marathon in North Korea, the Great Wall China, Antarctica. One had even climbed five of the seven world’s highest summits. Some of these people were unbelievable.

“We were all taking on our own personal and different challenges, so although there were winners and losers, it was really beautiful to see everyone cheering on each other on, and with such a well shared experience, you feel incredibly bonded.”

Tiana’s journeys in adventure have not only opened up amazing personal experiences, they have also seen her explore some of the world’s greatest wilderness – destinations like Mount Everest Base Camp and Greenland’s Russell Glacier, the world’s second largest ice sheet.

As a Londoner, whose day job is currently in corporate banking, the chance to touch nature and discover the world’s beauty, particularly in the Arctic, has also heightened her understanding – and her concerns – for the fragility of our planet.

“Getting to see the sunrise in the Arctic and how it hits the ice sheet is just stunning, beyond anything I'd ever seen before, and it completely makes you realise how fragile the world is,” she explains. 

“Running past the Russell Glacier was incredible, but also very humbling. To see the scale and size of that ice sheet, and the fact it moves up to 10cm a day, it really brought home how important it is for our planet.

“It’s scary to think that could no longer exist – and to wonder where all of that melt water will go. Most of us are so far removed, it's the stuff of movies and documentaries, but to see it in its full glory, you really realise why it needs to be so protected.”

This love of adventure and passion for the climate was built in Tiana from a young age, but not everyone gets to have such adrenaline-filled upbringings. Those who don’t need people to inspire them – and Tiana believes that is something the female adventure world lacks.

She spends a lot of her time helping women get into business and is involved in female education through the Malala fund. She believes adventure is a place for inspiration and suggests it is time for a new generation of explorers to take the lead.

“I did some research on inspirational female adventurers and it came up with the classic Amelia Earhart and Isabella Byrd, but they were both born in the 1800s,” she explains. “We really don’t have any modern female adventurers and to me that was really interesting. 

“If you Google male adventurers it comes up with people like Bear Grylls and Ben Fogle, so we really do need some modern female adventurers alongside them that can be role models and make adventure seem more attainable to all.

“Adventure is all about stepping into the unknown. Exploration. Embracing challenges, taking on risks and finding joy within that journey. It's pushing past your comfort zone and going beyond the boundaries of something you even think would be possible. 

“That's what it really comes down to. Once-in-a-lifetime stuff that you have never done and can never repeat. You never know the result of the journey, especially when you take on a big challenge, and that's why I love it so much.”