Pole of inaccessibility to reach this false northern pole of inaccessibility was made by Sir Hubert Wilkins, who flew by aircraft in 1927. In 1941, the first Soviet expedition using an airplane landed 350 kilometers north of the false northern pole, thus actually becoming the first expedition to reach the real pole. Ignoring Soviet results, Sir Wally Herbert claimed to be the first to reach what was then considered to be the northern pole of inaccessibility on foot, arriving by dogsled in 1968. Explorer Jim McNeill claimed in 2006 that Herbert did not quite make the pole, and launched his own unsuccessful attempt
North Pole Marathon 'solo' run by Richard Donovan on April 5, 2002 in a time of 3:48:12. Richard won the first South Pole Marathon ten weeks previously and became the first marathoner at both poles by completing the North Pole Marathon. The first official exploratory competitive race held on April 17, 2003, and was operated jointly by several entities with 10 competitors. The winner was Martin Tighe (GBR) with a time of 5:02:10 in temperatures of −29 °C and difficult snow conditions throughout much of the course. In 2005, the North Pole Marathon was cancelled due to a dispute between French and Russian