雷·扎哈布（Ray Zahab）是加拿大人，知名的超长距离马拉松健将。在2008年1月7日，他和两位好友一起打破了穿越南极大陆的时间纪录。从南极圈海格拉斯湾到南极，他们一共用时33天23小时30分，打破了原先39天的世界最快纪录，总路程达到1130公里。
雷·扎哈布此举的目的是引起人们对儿童环境教育的关注，并为其筹款。他与同伴将自己的感言录音，每天发布在博客中。他说：“我们此行的首要目标是鼓励和教育青少年，至于打破了世界纪录，实在出乎我们意料，好像是从天而降的一个礼物。我们希望将这次探险经历直观、生动地传授给青少年。”
美式发音 适合泛听
A month ago today I stood there. Ninety degrees south, the top of the bottom of the world, the Geographic South Pole. And I stood there beside two very good friends of mine, Richard Weber and Kevin Vallely. Together we had just broken the world speed record for a trek to the South Pole.
一个月前的今天，我站在那儿，南纬90度，在世界底部的顶峰，地理上的南极。站在我身边的是两位挚友理查德·韦伯和凯文·瓦勒利，那时我们刚携手打破了徒步到南极的世界速度纪录。
Our journey, in fact, did not begin at Hercules Inlet, where frozen ocean meets the land of Antarctica. It began a little less than two years ago. A couple of buddies of mine and I had finished a 111 day run across the entire Sahara Desert. And while we were there we learned the seriousness of the water crisis in Northern Africa. We also learned that many of the issues facing the people in Northern Africa affected young people the most.
其实，我们的旅程并不是始于冰海与南极洲陆地的连接点海格拉斯湾；而是从不到两年前开始，当时，我和几位好友用111天跑步穿越了整个撒哈拉沙漠。我们身处沙漠的时候，发现北非水资源危机的严重性，我们还发现北非人民面临的很多问题对年轻人影响最大。
Around that time I met an extraordinary human being, 1)Peter Thum, who inspired me with his actions. He's trying to find and solve water issues, the crisis around the world. His 2)dedication inspired me to come up with this expedition. A run to the South Pole, where, with an interactive website, I will be able to bring young people, students and teachers from around the world on board the expedition with me, as active members. So we would have a live website. We would be blogging, telling stories of 3)depleted 4)ozone, forcing us to cover our faces, or we will burn.
那时候我遇上了一个很出色的人——彼得·苏姆。他的行动启发了我，他正努力研究并解决水资源问题，这是一个世界范围的危机。他的奉献精神启发我开始这次征程，跑步去南极。我在旅程中可以通过一个互动网站，带领世界各地年轻人、学生和老师和我一起历险，让他们成为积极参与的成员。我们会设一个直播网站。我们会写博客讲述因臭氧减少，迫使我们要把脸遮住，否则会被晒伤。
We were blogging to this live website daily to these students that were tracking us as well, about 10 hour trekking days, 15 hour trekking days, sometimes 20 hours of trekking daily to meet our goal. In turn, students, people from around the world, would ask us questions. Young people would ask the most amazing questions.
我们每天在这个直播网站为学生写博客，那些一直通过网站追随我们的学生可以看到，我们有时每天走10小时，有时15小时，有时为了达到目标每天要走20小时。来自世界各地的学生和人们会转而向我们提问，年轻人会提最令人惊讶的问题。
One of my favorite: “It's 40 below, you've got to go to the bathroom, where are you going to go and how are you going to do it?” I'm not going to answer that. But I will answer some of the more popular questions.
其中一个我最喜欢的问题是，“（华氏）零下40度（约摄氏零下40度），你们还是要上洗手间的，你们会去哪上，怎么上？”我不会回答这个问题，但我会回答一些更多人关心的问题。
“Where do you sleep?” We slept in a tent that was very low to the ground, because the winds on Antarctica were so extreme, it would blow anything else away.
“你们在哪儿睡觉？”我们睡在非常贴近地面的帐篷里，因为南极洲的风异常大，什么东西都会被吹走。
“What do you eat?” One of my favorite dishes on expedition, butter and bacon. It's about a million calories. We were burning about 8,500 a day. So we needed it.
“你们吃什么？”我在旅程中最喜欢吃的菜式之一就是奶油配熏咸肉，因为它们的热量非常高，而我们每天要消耗八千五百卡热量，所以我们很需要它。
“How many batteries do you carry for all the equipment that you have?” Virtually none. All of our equipment, including film equipment, was charged by the sun.
“你要带多少电池来供所有装备使用？”基本上没有带电池，我们所有仪器，包括拍摄器材都是太阳能的。
“And do you get along?” Seriously, seriously, we did get along. Because we had a common goal of wanting to inspire these young people. They were our teammates! They were inspiring us. The stories we were hearing got us to the South Pole. The website worked brilliantly as a two-way street of communication. Young people in northern Canada, kids in an elementary school, dragging 5)sleds across the school yard, pretending they were Richard, Ray and Kevin. Amazing.
“你们相处融洽吗？”很认真、很认真地说，我们相处得很好，因为我们有共同的目标，希望能启发这些年轻人。他们是我们的团队成员！他们一直在鼓舞我们，因为正是他们的故事把我们最终带到了南极。那个网站是很棒的双向沟通渠道。加拿大北部的年轻人，小学的孩子，拖着雪橇穿越学校的操场，把自己扮成理查德、雷和凯文。太了不起了。
We arrived at the South Pole. We huddled into that tent, 45 below that day, I'll never forget it. We looked at each other with these looks of disbelief of what we had just completed.
我们到达南极，挤在帐篷里。那天零下45度，让我终生难忘，我们彼此对望，难以置信我们完成了的壮举。
As I stand here today talking to you guys, I've been running for the grand sum of five years. And a [few] years before that, I was a pack-a-day smoker, living a very 6)sedentary lifestyle. What I take from this journey, from my journeys, is that, in fact, within every fiber of my belief standing here, I know that we can make the impossible possible. I'm learning this at 40. Can you imagine? Seriously, can you imagine? I'm learning this at 40 years of age. Imagine being 13 years old, hearing those words, and believing it. Thank you very much. Thank you.
到现在为止，朋友们，我已经跑了整整五年。几年前，我是每天一包烟的烟枪，过着非常不好动的生活。我从这次旅程，从我所有旅程中得到的收获是，事实上，我站在这里，信心满满地说，我知道我们可以让不可能成为可能。我40岁的时候明白这些道理，你们可以想象得到吗？不是开玩笑的，你们能想象吗？我年届40学到这些道理，想象那些13岁的孩子听到这些，并相信这些话。感谢聆听。
翻译：丁一
