Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon

Article 2009 / Day 7 ~ by Colleen Jacka

KAEM – “moeg” muscles and marriage proposals

What started off less than a week ago as a mismatched and cosmopolitan group of people will today finally evolve into a Kalahari Cluster. That is the name we are giving this collective grouping of trail runners that tame the desert and cross the finish line of the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon. It does not matter how long they take to do it. It does not matter where they come from and it certainly does not matter what they do.

The oil painter, the director, the draughtsman, the builder, the student and the other myriad of professions that began the week, will today make up a united Kalahari cluster. It’s another staggered start, however, that does temporarily separate the group as they set out to tackle the very last day of this extreme ordeal.

The crewmembers are meanwhile scurrying around frantically getting the finish area branded and ready. They’ve learned over the last few days that these runners are faster than usual and they are not prepared to be caught out at the most important finish line of the event. The beers and cooldrinks are on ice; the sandwiches laid out and the spouses, partners, children as well as all significant others lined up to welcome the Kalahari cluster home.

And it was just before 11 am when the first of the runners could be seen running through the Augrabies National Park towards us. Suddenly all the doubts, the throbbing feet, the stiff muscles and the heavy packs seemed insignificant. This is the finish line. It’s the end of an arduous journey through an unforgiving desert.

There was some skipping, some jumping a little crawling (in jest) and a hell of a lot of smiling as they filtered across the line and into the awaiting arms of their loved ones.

Reiner Stucky, no stranger to the finishing feeling, was the first of our runners to experience the thrill of the final finish line this year.  He finishes in an overall 48^th position. Tjaart van der Walt and Clive Norman were not far behind and finished in an overall 68^th and 42^nd position respectively. Martin Like was next in an overall 67^th position.

Next it was a threesome consisting of Steve Saffin, Fiona Steele and Jason Bergmann. Steve, a Zimbabwean involved in landmine clean-up operations, finished 59^th overall. Fiona Steele, of the UK, has been running with Steve and she clocks in with just a minute more on her overall timesheet. She takes the overall 60^th position, which she shares with Jason Bergmann of Tanzania. The three have stuck it out together over the last week in the common goal of raising funds and awareness for landmine victims.

Gary Craye of South Africa followed the threesome. After a four and a half hour-day today his overall position is 53^rd amongst this year’s runners.

Ray O’Bree, a 36-year-old from South Africa, claims he tackled the KAEM to get outside his comfort zone. He finishes in an overall time of 31 hours and 17 minutes in a solid 24^th position having completed the last day in 2 hours and 49 minutes.

There was a surge of runners at 11:20 as Daksha Hargovan, Kim van Kets, Averill Turnbull and Louise Clamp all crossed the line. They were greeted by the popping of champagne (oops sparkling wine) corks and the general fuss of friends and family. Averill, New Zealand dairy farmer,finishes in an overall time of 37 hours and 15 minutes.

Daksha and Louise are no strangers to running long distances together having tackled the Jungle Marathon in 2008. They began this journey together and today finished the epic marathon in an overall time of 37 hours and 41 minutes.

Kim has spent much of the marathon with the two girls, but finishes with an overall time of 37 hours and 48 minutes.

Close on their heels were Pieter van Heerden, Anne-Marie Eager, Phil Waudby, Alan Silcock, Gerard Verdenet and Martin Janse van Rensburg. The finished in overall 49^th, 46^th, 51^st, 57^th, 50^th and 25^th position respectively.

It was the bobbing of the South African flag perched above the tall figure of the next runner that made it immediately obvious, even from a distance, that David Crombie was nearing the finish line. He is the persuasive power behind getting Daksha and Louise to commit to the Jungle Marathon last year and the trip to the Kalahari this year. The founder of the Endurance Challenge Charity Trust, David is already on the lookout for the next extreme event to tackle and finished this one in an overall time of 47 hours and three minutes.

Chris Koch, Jorg Nawrocki, Edward Chapman, Valerie Bernard and Vaughan Wade were the next challengers across the line. It was a great day for Vaughan who finished the leg in just under three hours and rounds off his KAEM experience on a high note.  Despite beating Chris today, however, it is Chris who tops the log at overall 12^th position with Vaughan taking 13^th. Jorg from Germany is 35^th while Valerie of France is 32^nd.

The next spurt of line crossers included Pierre-Louis Besson, Retha Janse van Rensburg, Andy Masters, Mike Nel, Jim Groark, Stuart Wainwright, Marc Smith and Deon Rossouw.

It was an emotional finish for Marc and Deon who have not only undertaken the extreme marathon, but also run the distance from Cape Town to Augrabies before the race. Not expecting to see their families on the finish line, the two broke out into massive grins when they saw their wives and children.  After almost 1000 kilometres on their feet, they have raised substantial funds for the two charities that are supported through the Endure 4 a Child organisation. Amazingly enough Deon quickly jumped into a car to make it back in time the next day to run the Gun Run! They finished in an overall time of 33 hours and 55 minutes.

It was another tear-jerker as Lee Capper, a draughtsman from Gauteng, rounded the corner holding a home-made banner proposing to his girlfriend. “Marry Me Dee” screamed the words on his pink pillowcase. Running to meet him Dee was treated to a public proposal just before Lee crossed the line. On bended knee he slipped a hand-crafted desert ring onto her finger. It seems the proposal was successful as Dee nodded in agreement.

Next home were Patricia Luft, Poy Blignaut and Anne Centner. Patricia, an accountant from Germany, finishes in 38^th position. Describing herself as a casual runner, Poy says that the KAEM was just something she needed to do. She finishes the mammoth ordeal in 64^th position.  The inimitable Anne, a pint-size 65-year-old with loads of trail running experience, was surprised on the finish line by her husband, Arthur. Despite being badly bitten by mosquitoes on her face and having to dig deep on many occasions, she finishes the marathon in joint 64^th position with Poy.

Another burst of runners saw the last group to finish before 12 noon cross the line. Despite starting at different times Howard Bailey, Ambros Muhbachler, Jean-Yves Even, Zelda Muller, Bruce Grant, Warren Briggs, Lukas van der Merwe, Dick Stubbs, Flip Jurgens, Matt Morris and Alwyn Maass all crossed the finish line within the ten minutes leading up to the noon clock.

Just missing the 12 noon bus was Manson du Toit who started his day at 9am. His total accumulated time over the 237km race was 29 hours and two minutes. Then it was Anne Wade, who finishes as the overall third lady after a superb “holiday” out in the desert with her husband and supported by her parents on the crew. Colin Hart is next home finishing in overall ninth position after a fast last day.

Laura Forster and Hugh Morris are over the line together despite starting two hours apart this morning. It’s been a long almost six hour day for Morris who hails from Zimbabwe.

Guy Jennings and Wayde Kennedy who left at 9:30 am managed to catch up with Tony Hampson-Tindale who left at 7:30 am. All three crossed the line at 12 minutes past 12. This gives Guy the overall fifth position and Wayde the seventh overall position. Tony finishes his epic extreme event in 45^th position.

After almost five hours on today’s course, Geza Kiss of Hungary (a former national sprinter for Hungary) finishes the race in 47^th position. Joel Buchot is next home. After running the race in 2005, he returned this year to relive the experience with his partner Valerie. He finishes in overall 16^th position.

Then it’s the two leading ladies. They’re not racing each other for the final glory. They’ve kept their constant pairing going from start to finish and seem delighted to share the overall first ladies’ position as well as the overall 10^th position at this year’s milestone event. Mimi Anderson and Jo Mackenzie are the KAEM 2009 ladies’ champions and it is testament to their running prowess that they are also tenth overall.

Bob Jack, who started the day early at 6am finishes his long day in just under six and a half hours. He’s travelled to 103 countries and can now count the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon as one of his achievements. He finishes the race in 66^th position.

Korean runner, Byeung Ahn has kept mostly to himself. He speaks little English, but has taken enough photos of the desert to describe it in any language. As an oil painter he recognises the beauty of the desert and seems to have captured vast quantities of it on his digital camera. He finishes the race in an overall time of 30 hours and 58 minutes in position 22.

And then there he was. Sprinting towards the finish line and claiming the winning position at this year’s Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon was Dirk Cloete. He knew he had achieved what he had set out to do and there was no mistaking his joy as he sped home. After leaving the camp at 10:15 am he reached the finish line in just two hours and 16 minutes to take a convincing win at the 10^th anniversary of the KAEM. It was an emotional Dirk who was welcomed by his wife and supporters on the finish line.

Third overall man and next man home was Rhodri Darch. Just three minutes behind Dirk over the ultimate finish line, Rhodri has managed a consistent performance over the full 237 kilometres in the desert and claims a well-deserved third position in an overall time of 23 hours and 52 minutes.

Beaten for the first time in the desert, Bruce was quick to concede that Dirk had run a superb race and that he too had learned some lessons this year. His overall time this year is 22 hours and 34 minutes.

One can only admire the tenacity and high spirits of blind runner and infamous adventurer, Geoff Hilton-Barber. He managed the treacherous terrain with the help of his “horse” Kobus Cronje and was never seen without a joke or a pleasant word. They complete the day in seven hours and 28 minutes and the entire race in 59 hours and 26 minutes.

Then it was an emotional finish for Phillip Howells who refused to give up and eventually conquered the day as well as the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon. Despite rounding off today’s finishers, he takes an overall 62^nd position and the knowledge that he can proudly name himself as a member of the Kalahari Cluster.

It’s over. The race is done. The desert relinquishes her hold on the cluster of runners that have trodden her rocks, her sand and her gravel. They’re united on the finish line. They are the finishers of the 10^th Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon and they join the growing group of trail runners that can claim to have finished the Big Daddy of South African trail running events.