Team Carpe Diem is probably the most unusual team to ever attempt such a Polar expedition. Three friends with no Arctic experience, including the first mother and son pair and the oldest woman ever to attempt this challenge.

Janice Meek (62 at the time of the expedition).

At 62 and a Grandmother, Jan will be the oldest competitor in the race and thirty years senior to her team-mates. Jan is the mother of Dan, with whom she rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1997 gaining two Guinness World Records. Jan writes:

There are many adventurers and athletes who have faced great challenges and achieved their goal. At 53, I was not one of these. I had an interesting and diverse life, but not what you'd call an adventurous one. My hobbies were reading and classical music. The odd pleasant walk was the sum of my physical exertions.
It is all the more remarkable then that this 'hot house flower', when offered the Atlantic Challenge in 1997 by my 23 year old son, should accept it despite not even knowing how to row!

In the 1960s I worked as a continuity girl on films and a number of TV series: Randall & Hopkirk, The Champions, Dept. S. working with stars such as Donald Sutherland, Trevor Howard and Sammy Davis Jr. My office was next door to Roger Moore's dressing room for three years when he was The Saint. And yes, going to work was fun!
After 5 years in Saudi Arabia working for the USGS (United States Geographical Service) I returned to the UK and set up several businesses: a boutique, a restaurant/hotel and PR. In Chipping Norton, I became a town councillor, chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce, and town mayor.

My adventurous side kicked off soon after my husband died. I set off on my own for a late 'gap year', backpacking around the world, including 3 months learning Chinese in China and 4 months exploring Australia with highlights diving the Great Barrier Reef and climbing Ayers Rock.

Then, from October 1997 to January 1998, taking up my son's offer, I rowed with him across the Atlantic, successfully completing the Atlantic Challenge. My sense of adventure had definitely now kicked off!

www.janmeek.com

Daniel Byles (32 at the time of the expedition)

Former Royal Army Medical Corps officer and son of Jan. They were the first ever mother & son team to row an ocean, and will be the first such combination to walk to a Pole. Dan writes:

I was born in 1974 in Sussex and lived in the Middle East from age 3 to 9. I attended Warwick School, where I was awarded an Army Sixth Form Scholarship. After A levels I took a year out to travel around South East Asia, spending a month in a Buddhist monastery, before reading Economics and Management Studies at the University of Leeds. At university I held a cadetship commission with the Light Infantry. After university I attended the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, where I transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps, passing out in August 1997.

I was immediately granted six months 'adventure training leave' to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean with my mother, successfully completing the Atlantic Challenge in 101 days at sea.

During almost 9 years as an army officer I have served operationally in Kosovo and Bosnia, and travelled extensively on exercises and mountaineering expeditions. Promoted to Major at the young age of 27, I spent 2 years working as a staff officer in the Ministry of Defence.
Upon turning 30, I decided that I had achieved all that I wished to in the Army, and left to spend a year travelling and sailing. I am currently studying for a Masters degree at Nottingham Trent University and I am due to marry the beautiful Prashanthi two months after returning from the Pole.

www.danielbyles.com

Richard Profit (33 at the time of the expedition)

Former officer in the Royal Engineers and university friend of Dan - both have climbed together in the Bolivian Andes and Dan is Godfather to Richard's son. Richard writes:

I'm a former army officer, having trained with Rowallan Company and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I served five years with the Royal Engineers under British Army and NATO operational deployments.

As well as being a keen amateur sailor, my adventurous activities include travel in South America and South East Africa on foot and mountaineering, climbing in excess of 5000m on three separate expeditions.

In addition to personal challenges, I am also a member of the Association of Pole Lather Turners, whose aim is the promotion of pole lathe woodland crafts.
I'm currently working as a logistics supply chain manager with a leading snack food manufacturer in the Midlands. I'm married to Antonia, with two sons.