ROAD RUNNING
and money ,” he says . “ I think if I had focused on records , I would not have made it , and it would have negatively impacted my work to raise awareness of the Fund . I therefore saw records as a bonus , not a goal , and didn ’ t really keep track of them . So , when some friends told me I had broken two records , I was not even aware of it .”
Thanks for all the support , says Rupert !
This is why Rupert also recalls doing one club run covered in blood from a head wound . “ That day I got away from work a bit late to go join the Overkruin group . Backing the car out of the garage , I realised I had left my cell phone inside , so I parked the car , jumped out and hit the remote to close the gate again , so the dogs wouldn ’ t get out , but accidentally closed the garage door instead . As I ran back inside , I bumped my head hard and was knocked over , but I needed to be somewhere , so I just got up , and while blinking my eyes to get rid of the stars I was seeing , went for my phone . My wife stopped me and told me my head was bleeding , but I told her I was already late , so I just grabbed a lappie in the garage and went to run . I arrived there covered in blood , and that night , I had a bad headache . Going for a run that day was probably not the best decision I ever made ...”
Record-breaking Effort
Even though disappointed at not being able to get to his target of 1000 consecutive marathon days , Rupert did still manage to break some records , although he did so unofficially , given that he was never motivated by chasing records . “ I decided right at the start of the challenge that focusing on records would not be enough for me , I had to focus on raising awareness
Rupert had bettered the previous marks set for the fastest time to cover the marathon distance 365 times , reaching that mark in 347 days , and he beat Englishman Rob Young ’ s record of 370 marathons in a calendar year , having raised that mark to 384 when he completed his run on 16 September 2020 . Ironically , he says some of the people he came into contact with were more focused on records than he was , and some seemed to find it hard to believe his running claims .
“ During the challenge I had the opportunity to run with a group of people from the World Health Organisation in early 2021 , including an American woman who is a 2:30 marathoner . She was very sceptical about me running a marathon each day , so I invited her to join me the next day . We met early that morning in Pretoria , along with another friend of hers , and did a few kays on the way to Hatfield to join another
The challenge took a toll on Rupert in many ways
group for a 10km , but ended up running 21 instead . Then in the afternoon she joined me for a run with the Overkruin group , where we did another 21km , so that was 50km for the day . She then said to me that she hadn ’ t thought it was possible , adding that the ‘ American way ’ is usually over-exaggeration , but apparently South Africans really do it !”
Rupert ’ s Runs in the News
It should come as no surprise that Rupert ’ s remarkable streak of consecutive marathons caught the attention of the media , as can be seen by these two inserts that eNuus ( eNCA News ) did during his challenge .
23 September 2020 | 1 000 marathons in 1 000 dae vir liefdadigheid
30 April 2021 | Nόg ’ n wêreldrekord vir marathonatleet
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