Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 40

Team
Challenge
Accepted once
again took to the
trails towards the
end of September
at the Karkloof 100
Miler near Howick
in KwaZulu-Natal,
and once again we
had a whale of a
time in spite of our
misadventures!
– BY CARLA FARINA
I
have often been heard to say, “When I grow up, I
want to be a superhero!” So you can just imagine
my excitement on the day of the Karkloof 100 Miler
when my running partner-in-crime Su-yen Thornhill,
pulled two superhero capes out of her bag, together
with a can of coffee on which was written “May give
you superpowers.”
We got ourselves ready, packed our drop bags – due
to our overambitious natures, we opted for tackling
this race without pacers or seconders, so we had
many drop bags – and finally strapped on our capes.
We felt like superheroes. We looked like superheroes.
We were a bit nervous, but we were ready to tackle
this mountain of a challenge.
Now for those of you wondering why we did this,
here is some background info on Team Challenge
Accepted. We never turn down a challenge! So we
had agreed to sign up for the 100-miler with very
little knowledge as to what this race and its route
involved. You see, we spend most of our time trying to
change the world one adventure at a time... So, there
we were, having accepted the challenge to tackle
this 160km ultra, dressed as the Team Challenge
Accepted mascots in our superhero attire, eagerly
awaiting the starting gun for the 2019 Karkloof 100.
positive mindset, and when she was losing all hope,
my never-ending optimism brought her back.
But it was getting harder. Spiders the size of
dinosaurs threatened our race. (Ok, Su-yen will tell
you that they were actually minute, but I think she
couldn’t see because her headlamp was on a slow
decline). Sore feet that felt like they had been in high
heels for centuries tortured us and made us want to
quit. A watch that I thought was recording in miles
dashed our hopes of getting nearer the finish, when
we realised it wasn’t recording in miles at all, we were
really just moving that slowly...
TOUGH GET GOING
We wanted to quit. We wanted to return to the
comfort of our beds. But then we found a guardian
angel, Gareth. He pulled us through those last 12
gruelling kilometres, where we had lost all will to live.
He was an absolute lifesaver, and made me realise
what a superhero really is. It’s not necessarily the one
who wins, the one who finds it easy, or the one who
plays it’s safe. The heroes are the ones out there who
push on despite the adversity they may face. The
ones who can inspire others when they’re down in the
dumps. The ones
who make whatever it
is you’re doing a little better
and a little brighter.
We met, ran with and chatted to so many amazing people
along the way who made our time out there on this insane
journey so memorable. These are the true superheroes
of the story, especially Mike Tredway, who deserves
a special mention here, as he became our unofficial
seconder! All these people have become honorary
Team Challenge Accepted heroes in their own rights.
Anyway, we crossed the finish line arm in arm, along
with our friend Gareth a few metres in front of us. It
took us 31 hours and 29 minutes. That’s the same
time it takes to watch Bohemian Rhapsody... 10.5
times! That’s probably why actually reaching the finish
hadn’t quite sunk in until we saw our friend and fellow
superhero, Lauren Booth of KZN Trail, jump off her
chair and run towards us as if she had been waiting
decades for us. It was the most unforgettable moment
of the Karkloof 100, and and we cannot wait for the
next Karkloof 100 in 2020... where we will definitely be
volunteering instead of running!
Initially we were doing really well. We made it to
the halfway turn around point in 13 hours – not too
bad for two undertrained, unsupported naive chicks
wearing superhero capes, right? But round about
the 120km mark, things started getting interesting.
Blisters were forming, fatigue was setting in, and I
started to wonder whether I was really a superhero
at all.
But we had decided to do this race together, so no
matter what, we would stick by each other, because
we’ve always had each other’s backs. In fact,
from this moment, that is the new Team Challenge
Accepted motto. So, when I was down and out, Su-
yen’s brilliant sense of humour pulled me back into a
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Let Team Challenge Accepted be your biggest cheerleaders!
Carla and Su-yen are Johannesburg-based athletes who started Team Challenge Accepted in 2018 to
inspire others to take on all sorts of sporting and endurance challenges. They lead by example, regularly
taking themselves out of their comfort zones, and always do so with an incredible sense of humour and a
smile on their faces. Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/challengeaccepted7.
ISSUE 124 NOVEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
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