ROAD RUNNING
Taking in the stunning scenery of Patagonia
The long road beckons during the 2018 attempt at 20 Comrades in 20 days
Mike ’ s first 15km race at the age of just seven
marathons while touring Europe , and in 2007 I did my first ultra , Lake Tahoe 50-miler , in the USA . Then came my first multi-day stage event , the Race the Planet Four Deserts : Sahara in Egypt . I came back to South Africa in 2013 , so my first opportunity to run the Comrades was in 2014 , and I finished in 9 hours 53 minutes .”
A second Comrades medal followed in 2017 , with Mike crossing the line in 10:12:08 , but then he began thinking much bigger . “ I was working in the corporate world , but I was intrinsically unhappy and was approaching burn-out due to work stress , so I made the call to leave corporate . I had a yearning to do something expedition-like and take things to the next level with my running , beyond anything offered by any organiser , so I decided to go run the length of the Patagonia region in South America , and the plan was to run 1200 kilometres over six weeks , pushing my gear in a running jogger ,” he says .
Mike was joined in this adventure , at virtually the last minute , by his friend Roger Cameron . “ I had tried recruiting somebody to go with me , but as you can understand , not many want to or can go run for six weeks . Then , 10 days before I was due to leave , I did a sort of presentation to friends and family about my trip , and Roger got so much FOMO he decided to come with me . We had to scramble around the next week to get him sorted with flights , a jogger , gear , etc , but it was worth it , because it was such a fantastic run through the most beautiful place I have visited in the world . We had no fixed agenda , other than an overall end date , so we just took it as it came and enjoyed the experience .”
Next Challenge Cued Up
In preparing for the Patagonia run , Mike spoke to another South African running adventurer , Dave Chamberlain , about his various long runs , including his Hug Run concept to run 64,000km over seven years and run all over and around the world . This led indirectly to Mike ’ s next big running adventure . “ Dave helped me with a lot of advice on how to set up my jogger for the trip . Then in December 2017 , while I was still in Patagonia , I received a message from Dave saying that he was temporarily halting his Hug Run and coming back to South Africa to run the 2018 Comrades , and he was going to try the 20 in 20 challenge , so it was all his idea ,” says Mike .
“ Roger and I said we ’ re in , along with Koot Steenkamp , Carla Molinaro and American runner Alex Tucker , and then started intensive training as soon as we got back from Patagonia , because it would be a massive step up to run 20 Comrades in 20 days . Our decision to do it was based on having done the
Patagonia run , so we felt that we had the base fitness , and the bonus would be that we would be supported throughout the run , so would not need to push our gear in a jogger . Also , I liked the charity angle , as we were all going to try raise funds for Children of the Dawn , a non-profit organisation working to support and strengthen rural community initiatives which focus on caring for HIV / AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa .”
In the end , that 2018 effort didn ’ t quite go to plan , but Mike is adamant that the seemingly monumental challenge of running 20 consecutive Comrades Marathons is achievable . “ The benefit of the experience of that 2018 attempt is actually a massive confidence-booster , because I know I ’ ve been there , and I ’ ve seen that I am capable of going further . The best part about a second attempt is the benefit of experience , because there were many lessons learnt along the way , like how to plan the route better , what side of the road to run on , and details about the crew , logistics , nutrition … and with such a big challenge , that experience is golden ,” he says .
A Reason to Try Again
In 2019 , the year after his first 20 in 20 attempt , Mike decided to chase a new personal best at Comrades , and says that the 8:34:09 he ran showed what a bit of focus could do . At the same time , he was putting a lot of his energy into the new eventing company he had helped to start , so he put off another 20 in 20 challenge until further notice . Then the COVID pandemic arrived , and he says he didn ’ t want to do
Mike ran through Patagonia in 2017 with his friend Roger Cameron
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