Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 129, April 2020 | Page 14

IN THE LEAD
young and old alike to stay strong and healthy during
the nationwide lockdown, whilst coming together as a
greater community to help raise funds for the Hillcrest
AIDS Centre Trust (HACT). Myles Buxton, a runner
from Umhlanga, came up with the original idea for
the event and participated with his family on the day.
“It started off as a bit of a joke between my wife and
I,” says Buxton, “but then I realised it could actually
work, so I contacted Dean Wight for help and he
contacted the HACT team, and before we knew it, we
had a sponsor on board and hundreds of people were
signing up to take part!”
The event even ended up attracting international
participants from the USA, UK, Australia, Germany,
Spain and even as far away as Alaska, lacing-up and
joining in the fun for a great cause. Participants could
choose to run or walk a 5, 10, 21 or 42km distance
within their gardens, and while most opted for the
shorter distances, more than 60 athletes completed
full marathons or longer on the day.
In it for the Long Run
Amongst those to go longer was Dean, the well-
known founder of the popular Beloved Long Runs in
KwaZulu-Natal, who took it upon himself to run all
four distances back-to-back in one day for a total of
87.3km. Speaking of his gruelling challenge, which
consisted of a mind-boggling 1566 laps around his
50m garden and took him nine and a half hours to
complete, Dean said, “At first I planned to just run a
marathon, but then I thought, I’m at home and I’ve
got nothing but time, I might as well do all four! So, I
challenged my friends and family to sponsor me, and
ended up raising over R8000 on the day for HACT.”
In total, the event succeeded in raising R125,743 for
HACT’s Emergency Relief Fund, which according to
HACT’s CEO, Candace Davidson will be used “to help
mitigate the far-reaching impact of COVID-19 on those
considered the most vulnerable and at risk within our local
communities, including those with compromised immune
systems due to HIV/AIDS or TB, as well as the elderly.”
Fran Gandy
Sihle Ntuli and
Pumla Mtshali
Kerry Hoar
“As a Comrades charity, we are well aware of the
generosity of runners, but we have been completely
blown away by the huge outpouring of support,
encouragement and solidarity shown through this
incredible event,” she continues. “As the world
responds to these unprecedented times and
circumstances, we as South Africans came together
to create a fun and positive event, and with a sense of
community and camaraderie that will be remembered
for a long time to come!”
Karen Roscoe
Paul Wiggens
The Sandman Hits a HomeRun
Runner: Ryan Sandes, Cape Town
Ryan’s route went around
and through the house
R
ed Bull ultra-trail runner Ryan Sandes holds the
joint FKT (fastest known time) of the Drakensberg
Grand Traverse (with Ryno Griesel), has crossed
the Great Himalaya Trail on foot, and has won major
trail races on every continent, including the prestigious
Western States and Leadville 100 Milers, but he says the
personal challenge he dubbed the #HomeRun is one of
the most arduous things he has ever completed.
In the early hours of Friday morning 17 April, he ran into
the front door of his home in Noordhoek for the 1463rd
time to complete 100 miles (160km) in 26 hours and
27 minutes. He had started his run at 1:15am on the
Thursday and only stopped to refuel at his dining room
table and change into a fresh running kit.
14
Ultimate Challenge
Like many other professional athletes, Ryan has had
to radically rethink his racing and training schedule for
the rest of the year, and find creative ways to maintain
his fitness. However, he says that was only part of the
motivation behind the challenge, that he wanted to find
out for himself what legendary US trail runner Scott
Jurek, winner of seven straight Western States 100
Miler titles amongst countless other accolades had
spoken about. “A few years back, he spoke about how
the ultimate challenge was running around a track for
24 hours because of the boredom, the mental fatigue.”
So Ryan laid out a loop in and around his home
that was just over 100 metres long and included
some stairs, which means that over the 100 miles
he covered over 4500 metres of ascent – just over
the equivalent of half the height of Everest, and just
ISSUE 129 APRIL 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za
The driveway added
some hill work
300m short of the height of Mont Blanc. “There was
no space to open up on the lap or get into any kind of
rhythm, so it was nothing like a 100-mile trail race. I
knew it was going to be really slow and tough on the
body, he said. “I pushed into that first night stretch
and then the day stretch and then again into the
night, ultimately breaking it down into four separate
marathons, or just about.”
Ryan had Vanessa and son Max as ‘seconds’ the
entire way and says he would never have been able
to do it without their support. Vanessa made sure that
the ‘aid station’ set-up on the dining room table was
always well stocked with Red Bulls, soft flasks filled
with water, as well as electrolyte and carbohydrate
mix along with sports bars and various other snacks.
“It was nice to have so much choice. I was tempted to
stop and sit down for breaks, but knew that might set
me back, so I would pick up the soft flasks and run
the laps with them in my hand.”
“It was a lot tougher than I expected,” a visibly
exhausted Ryan commented in a smartphone video
clip filmed by his wife Vanessa after completing the
run at 3:42am. “I’m pretty relieved that it’s finished.
Now I can chill for a week or so and don’t have to do
any of the kind of half-hearted 5km garden runs or
anything like that… and I definitely won’t be rushing
back to do it again in a hurry!”