On January 17, at a press conference entitled "From Taipei to the Ends of the Earth," Taipei City major Ma Ying-jeou, who is no mean runner himself, handed Kevin Lin the flag he would take with him on his marathon run across Antarctica. This race was the final leg of the Four Deserts Race.

With the entire endurance running world looking on, Lin did not disappoint, returning successful to home soil on the evening of February 5 to a hero's welcome.

The Four Deserts Race is made up of four legs--one in China's Gobi Desert, one at Chile's Atacama Crossing, one in Egypt's Sahara, and the final leg, Antarctica. Each leg spans seven days and six nights, and covers a distance of 250 kilometers. Each competitor must prepare their own equipment and provisions for the seven days and carry them themselves.

In 2003 Lin placed third in the Gobi leg; in 2004, he followed this by taking first in Chile; 2005 saw him secure second in the Saharan race; and in 2006, the final, Antarctic leg, he took third place. In aggregate across the four legs, Lin's results placed him ahead of the pack, earning him the title of overall champion.

This was not an easy victory. These races run the gamut of the planet's most inhospitable land and climates, and running them left Lin staring the reaper in the face on several occasions.

Running through the Sahara--Earth's hottest, largest desert--Lin experienced strong winds, fierce heat, rainstorms, and sandstorms. He confronted midday temperatures as high as 50°C, dropping to a chilling 4°C overnight, and even lost his way in the middle of the desert at one point. During the Chilean Atacama Crossing leg, at an average altitude of 4000 meters above sea level, the thin air gave him splitting headaches.

Lacking sufficient time and funds to train in a low-temperature environment in the lead-up to the Antarctic leg, Lin had to rely on film footage to familiarize himself with the Antarctic environment, and trained in shorts and T-shirts in the mountains of Taiwan whenever the temperatures dropped below around 10°C. He also put on five kilograms in weight to help insulate him from the freezing cold he would face. But Taiwan at its coldest still can't compare with Antarctica, and with the 300-plus-kilometer-an-hour gusts of wind blowing snow and ice around him, Lin had already fallen ill by the first station, and his trials and tribulations led him to almost give up at one point.

To many, such life-endangering behavior, pushing oneself to the absolute limit, may seem freakish, but regardless Lin pressed on. He was driven not only by his mad devotion to adventure and challenge, but also an incurable case of patriotism, making him a worthy flagbearer.

But participating in ultra-marathons like these takes more than physical, mental, and emotional strength--you also need financial strength. Fortunately the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Taipei City Government, Yulon Automotive, Hsin Tung Yang Enterprises, and the Chinese Marathon Association stepped up to the plate, allowing Lin to overcome the financial obstacles he faced and dedicate himself fully to preparing for the races.

This 30-year-old distance running fanatic is a graduate of Taipei Physical Education College, and last year tested into National Chung Cheng University's Graduate Institute of Sports and Recreation. In the future he plans to enroll at Oregon State University and study toward a doctorate in sports science.

Lin's road seems to have been an easy one, but reality there is still an element of surprise about his current achievements. In the eyes of his coach, Pan Juei-ken, Lin didn't seem anything special when he started running, but through willpower, stamina, and constant self-improvement, he has become a star.

"Being world champion isn't really that important to me--the biggest benefit of all this has been the experience and the journey, because through these extreme races, I've really come to realize the power of life," says Lin, in what should be a reminder to all of the value of life.

As odd as his choice of field may be, Kevin Lin is far from an oddity--he has made his dreams come true through hard work and by going one step at a time, and has now left an indelible mark on the world in his own name and that of his country.