3 Cranes Challenge – 107km in the mountains
The story of me and this race is as follows:
I don’t like training.
I unsuccessfully ran the Otter in 2013. Entering the Race again and not the Challenge meant that I got pulled out at Bloukraans and faced the equally exhausting exit to the car which entailed 400m ascent over 600m of stairs! Be that as it may, on two attempts I managed the full distance only once in 9h30 but didn’t get an Otter In A Day medal because I was entered in the race. So that got me to thinking, what is the point of all this? I have done Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon, The Cape Epic, climbed Kilimanjaro, done Monties many times and plenty of other races but for what exactly…
And in walked the brothers, Festive Season and Bad Attitude. A nasty bunch at best and when accompanied by a disastrous diet and excessive alcohol they can turn muscle to fat quicker than a rondawel can become a fortified mansion! Not only did I do sweet bugger all but I also stewed in the pot of misery following a troublesome year during which good friends were lost and better friends passed away. Good riddance to 2013!
My total running for October was 15.7km (3 runs), November weighed in with 15km (3 runs) and December a mammoth 0km! January I broke new ground with a total of 4 runs to make up 21.7km and then a quiet 5km in Feb prior to the race sealed my preparation and gave me a cumulative 57.4km of running in five months.
It’s fair to say then that I had not run enough, was sufficiently underprepared and substantially overweight going into the race. Comments regarding the state of my new body shape were more abundant than corruption in government and my approach to training had me branded a Binge Drinking Disaster Zone and my mates running for the hills at the mere sight of me. Be that as it may, I was fairly comfortable toying with the idea of adding Pub Pool to my Movescount Scoreboard and enjoying a few cold lagers while contemplating the merits of social tennis as an extreme sport.
So along comes race day weekend. Manson, Joe and I leave Gaborone and set off to join Andrew in Karkloof, near Howick in KZN. It’s a long drive of around 12 hours but with a break here and there and a compulsory lager stop at The Green Lantern Inn at the top of van Reenen’s Pass we get to the race village just in time for the race briefing. It’s been raining. Lots. Sleep does not come easily, the mattress is slightly too big for the tent which means that the contact points start leaking through resulting in wet feet and a damp head. Not ideal at all!
250 runners start the race and each day claims its casualties, a very small portion of which are due to injury with the majority pulling out because it’s just too tough, they didn’t train enough or the thought of two more days of toil is simply incomprehensible. Is it tough? Yes. Is your first 5km road run tough? Yes. So what’s the difference and what’s the problem…
The difference is the mental aspect and the problem is the mental conditioning that we get from the plethora of media that we see daily or even that we actively seek out in order to find solutions. It is a cycle of doubt, a spiral of doors closing and worse still, it is a one way road to nowhere. Articles like “3 months till your first 5k” or “6 months to 10km” should rather read “Get up off the couch and get to the start line” or “Start line then continue till finish line”. Am I an overweight, lazy lager lout that has a stubborn brain that simply switches off and forces me to continue when the going gets tough? No! Do I face the same challenges that other runners face and deal with them differently? Perhaps. You see once the initial exhaustion kicks in and mentally and physically I assess the enormity of the endeavour, I turn to the one thing that I can rely on to pull me through. That one thing is REASON. What is the reason for me doing all these events?
In life there are many things that are similar but very different. In business for example it would be Mission vs Vision. In extreme events it is Reason vs Cause. While these differ from person to person, in my case they are fairly simple and clear. I participate for Cancer Awareness Cause, Hospice Cause and Charity Cause. This means that my participation aims to create awareness and support for these entities. The reason I do them and am able to complete them (Well more often than not) is that I wish to live through the demands placed on my body and mind in honour of those that are unable to at any given time or for any given reason. People like my mother for whom everything I do or give is done. People like my friends and family who have passed away, be it by the cruel hand of cancer or a devastating accident. People like my friends who are currently fighting battles far bigger than we can imagine and yet find the strength to support me. People that would give absolutely anything to just be given a chance to stand in the very places that I run.
I do not take a single step without thinking of the reason for me being there and with each step comes gratitude for and recognition of the people in my life and through them comes the strength to take another. Help somebody take one step and they will manage ten more because of you. So many people have helped me with that one step when it was all I needed, the least I can do is to take the next ten.
Debra and Kevin, you guys, like the two Wattled Cranes we admired on Day 3, were magnificent in your presence out there, be strong!