Mark Pollock

Mark Pollock (born 1976) is a Northern Irish adventurer, athlete, rower, kayaker, author and international motivational speaker from Northern Ireland who became the first blind man to reach the South Pole. As part of a three-man team called South Pole Flag, alongside Simon O'Donnell and Inge Solheim he took just over three weeks in January 2009 to complete the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race to his destination. Pollock admitted his disability had slowed him down but they finished fifth overall from six teams. He participated against nine other teams, including that of BBC personality Ben Fogle and the Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, a friend of Pollock. An avid rower Pollock has won bronze and silver medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England and has also written a book titled Making It Happen.