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Stroud, Mike
Category: Explorer or adventurer
Dr Michael Adrian Stroud, OBE, FRCP (born 17 April 1955) is an expert on human health under extreme conditions. He became widely known when he partnered Ranulph Fiennes on polar expeditions.
Stroud was educated at Trinity School of John Whitgift in the London Borough of Croydon. He obtained a degree (intercalated BSc) from University College London in anthropology and genetics in 1976, before qualifying as a medical doctor from St George's Hospital Medical School, London in 1979.
He became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1984 and a Fellow in 1995.
He has travelled widely - in the Himalayan regions of Ladakh and Zanskar and in North Africa and South America. He was the doctor on the 1984-86 'In the Footsteps of Scott' Antarctic expedition and has been a medical officer with the British Antarctic Survey.
He teamed up with Ranulph Fiennes in 1986 for the first of their three attempts to journey on foot to the North Pole unaided. He went south again to Antarctica with Fiennes in 1992 and was awarded the O.B.E. in 1993 for his part in the first unsupported crossing of the Antarctic continent from coast to coast.
After six years in the 1990s as Senior Research Medical Officer advising the Ministry of Defence on nutrition, exercise performance and survival, Dr Stroud returned to hospital medical practice with a particular interest in nutrition and metabolism. He has contributed articles to many international scientific publications and also written two books.
Stroud, together with Fiennes, is a supporter of rigorous exercise to help slow down the aging process. He points out that historically the human body is pre-tuned to undergo bouts of hard work and in particular can cope remarkably well with endurance events in hot climates. He argues that our current sedentary lifestyle conflicts with our body's design and is leading to the health issues that an increasing proportion of the Western world is experiencing today.
In 2003 Stroud and Fiennes both completed seven marathons on seven continents in seven days in the Land Rover 7x7x7 Challenge for the British Heart Foundation.
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