Author(s): Mike Allsop

Biography & Memoir | NZ Biographies | Sport

Most people who survived an almost unsurviveable plane crash would be tempted to sit back, take a good hard look at life and take things a little bit easier. Mike Allsop is not most people. Almost losing his life in a Twin Otter crash off the coast of Hawai'i awakened Mike's zest for life and his thirst for adventure. Mountaineering became Mike's passion and climbing led to him almost getting shot in Russia, narrowly missing a fatal avalanche in Peru, returning a replica of a stolen Yeti hand to a Nepalese monastery and then attempting the biggest climb of them all - Everest. Not content with being an exceptional climber, Mike decided to take up running. But he was never going to be a weekend jogger, he soon cooked up plans to run seven marathons, in seven continents, in seven days - the 777project - and also to run the world's highest marathon on the slopes of Mt Everest. He's currently planning his next big adventure - a journey to the North Pole. Whatever happens, one thing's for sure - he won't be sitting on the couch wondering 'What if?'