Sinead Kane is an extraordinary young woman from Cork, who has just 5% vision and is currently taking on the World Marathon Challenge. 7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days, Sinead has successfully completed the first and second race. Here, she gives us an update on her incredible progress so far…

Hi everyone,

It's 9.16pm here and we have just arrived back to Chile, having just completed our first race in Antarctica. It was so tough, I can barely put it into words, but I am really happy with how I did, and that I did it. We finished the race in 5 hours 22 minutes.

I have to admit; it was tough out there - seriously tough! I really had to be mentally strong to get through it. Snow blindness is a very real thing – and while people might think that it wouldn’t affect me because I have just 5% vision, the truth is that I am more susceptible to it than those with perfect vision. Thankfully, I was well covered up from top to toe, so I am thrilled to have gotten through the toughest race with no major issues. After 30 kilometers, the wind picked up - it was estimated at -35C, which caused a whiteout in places. But, we did it!!!

It was quite dark when we started, and cold too. During the race, there was a loop of just over 5 kilometers. This race had a lot of twists and turns, which I found really tough. I was so tired, I felt like I was still asleep and I just didn’t feel as ‘switched on’ as I normally do.

At around the halfway mark I really started to fade. I went very overwhelmed, and I thought I was going to have to stop. Not only was I exhausted, but my feet were in so much pain from the blisters from yesterday’s race.

Once I made it through the first half, I got a new wind and we just went for it. I was so lucky to have John (O’Regan, Sinead’s guide runner) with me to take me out of those dark moments, where I felt I was going to give up.

We are thrilled to have once again passed that all-important finish line, this time in 4 hours and 24 minutes.

I had no reception on my phone for three days in Antarctica, so I am delighted to get back on to Twitter to keep you all posted on my progress. I love reading your messages of support and they are very much appreciated. You can follow my progress with the hashtag #BlindRunner777

We are now in the airport, headed to Miami, where we will run our third marathon tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!

Sinead