Alastair Humphreys, an English cyclist, adventurer, author and motivational speaker, was born in 1977. Having completed a four-year bicycle journey around the world, he is currently preparing for SOUTH, the first unsupported return journey on foot to the South Pole.
Humphreys began his epic journey in August 2001 from his Yorkshire, England home. Passing south through Europe and Africa, he crossed to South America by sea from Cape Town and proceeded up the west coast of the Americas, crossed from Alaska to Magadan in Russia, Japan then westward across China and Central Asia to return to Europe. His journey included raising funds and awareness for a charity called Hope and Homes for Children. He arrived home in November 2005, having ridden 46,000 miles over four years and three months. He has written three books about his experiences entitled Moods of Future Joys, Ten Lessons from the Road and Thunder and Sunshine. Alastair currently works as a motivational speaker.
In 2008, he competed in the gruelling Marathon des Sables, a 150-mile run across the Sahara desert, breaking his foot during the race but still completing the event. Alastair narrowly missed out on a top-100 finish. In February 2009, Alastair rowed across the English Channel with Major Phil Packer to raise £1million for Help for Heroes. In 2009, Humphreys walked across India. In 2010 he walked and Packrafted across Iceland. Humphreys and Ben Saunders are planning the first unsupported return journey to the South Pole and the longest unsupported polar journey in history.