While Comrades itself is not FEAT-worthy news (it is a feat, but not a FEAT), there are a number of self-motivated, self-organised physical undertakings happening this year around Comrades.
Last week I wrote about Hazel Moller and Michelle Maree who are running 10 x Comrades distances over 10 days – with Comrades Marathon on Sunday as the 10th. They’re over halfway – today is Day 6. That’s 90km x 6 days = 540km completed by the end of today.
Hazel with her husband Chris (support crew) at the end of Day 5.
It seems like Michelle hasn’t run all of the days. According to a post from Hazel on Monday (Day 4) Michelle had a really bad Day 2, taking a pounding from the sun and heat. She was back out there on Day 3. I don’t think she’s out there on Day 6 but she’s cheering Hazel on and will certainly be putting in many, many more kilometres over the coming days.
Yesterday the Unogwaja Challenge walkers-runners Robert le Brun and John McInroy completed their 26th day on the road. They’re heading for Creighton today.
The Unogwaja Challenge cyclists have covered over 1000 kilometres from Cape Town to Comrades. They’re on Day 7 today.
While all of these people are already en route to Durban, two adventurers have their run on the horizon. On Saturday morning, husband-and-wife duo Michael and Laura de Haast begin a Comdrades Double – with a difference.
They’ll start from Pietermaritzburg on Saturday morning, taking a 112km route along the Duzi River Valley (off-road route) to Durban. Once in Durban they’ll refuel and then run the official 88 kilometre Comrades Marathon on Sunday morning, running back to Pietermaritzburg.
This is a fundraising run for the pair, who are running in support of their friend Caroline, who was diagnosed with breast cancer 17 years ago and was in remission until recently.
“Challenging oneself to attempt to walk in the shoes of a cancer sufferer by doing something really hard which is demanding both physically and mentally for a few days is my motivation,” explains Laura.
Not Comrades… but connected to Michael and Laura
Days after Comrades, Michael and Laura’s friend, Adrian Saffy (organiser of the annual Skyrun and 4Peaks running events), jumps into the 500-kilometre non-stop adventure race, Expedition Africa. This year this international event is held in Swaziland with the race starting on Sunday, 7 June 2015.
Photo of Adrian from an article that came out recently in the Get It (Bloemfontein) online magazine.
“Your body slowly deteriorates on an expedition race because you can’t eat enough to recover the calories that you use. You are basically starving your body. With the lack of sleep being a huge mental test, you start losing your ability to think and act rationally.We chose to do Expedition Africa because it’s a sustained period of physical exertion and suffering that demands determination and fight to overcome tough realities. It’s similar to what cancer sufferers go through, except our team gets to go home afterwards where we are pampered and recover; those suffering from cancer continue their fight,” says Adrian.
Michael, Laura and Adrian can be supported through the Love Lettie Fund on GivenGain.