Six years ago Mark Pollock was a final year Trinity College Dublin student and had a prestigious job awaiting him in a London Investment Bank. He was also representing his country in international rowing. Within two weeks he lost his sight completely and has been blind ever since.

Since leaving Trinity College, Dublin in 1998 with a BA in Business Studies and Economics, Mark's professional experience has been populated with sector specific research, analysis and presentations as a business analyst and consultant. He undertook a part-time MBS at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business in Dublin finishing in 2002.

Mark has held the position of President of the Knights of the Campanile, captained Dublin University Boat Club and sat on the Trinity Regatta management committee. He won silver and bronze medals at the 2002 Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland. More recently, in September 2003, he completed the Gobi March, an arduous seven-day, six-marathon foot race through the heat of the Gobi Desert in China. Also known as the "Race of No Return", Mark and his guide Nick Wolfe completed the Gobi March 2003 alongside competitors from fifteen different countries.

In April 2004, Mark and his teammate John O'Regan, raced at the top of the world at the Geographic North Pole, one of the remotest parts of the planet. They raced an official marathon distance of 26.2 miles over hillocks of ice and energy sapping soft snow in the high Arctic Ocean.

He is a member of the Sightsavers International (Ireland) advisory group and has donated funds raised from his challenges to Sightsavers crucial work around the globe.

Currently, Mark is carrying out post-graduate research into 'leading high-performance teams' in Trinity College's Faculty of Business Studies. He continues to deliver motivational seminars to public and private sector organisations as well as lecturing in business studies. He is also writing a book on the power of effective decision making.