The Freedom Challenge
A Monumental Effort
16.06.2009
Friday 13 June 2009 saw a small group of runners take on the inaugural 85 kilometre Duzi Trail Run from Durban up the valley of the Umgeni and Umzimduzi Rivers to Pietermaritzburg. The event was won by Eric Zondi and Thomas Ngidi who form part of the “Change a Life� Foundation and both also boast top 20 finishes in the Dusi Canoe Marathon. Finishing in joint third place were Pietermaritzburg local Andrew Barnes and Australian Dave Barr who, after running for close to 10 hours had managed to close down the leaders, only to lose them on the last five kilometers uphill into the finish.
Despite the pain of the previous day, Saturday morning saw Barnes and Barr in front of the PietermaritzburgCity Hall for the start of the 2009 Freedom Challenge non-stop mountain bike race across South Africa. The two lead their group into the valley of the Umkomaas River and into the first support station at McKenzie Club 106 kms. They then pushed on through the plantations and indigenous forests of Donnybrook before dropping down to the Umzimkulu River where they stopped to sleep at the Centocow Mission, built by Trappist monks a century ago.
Leaving early the next morning Barnes and Barr then crossed through the valleys of the Ngwangwane and Ngungunu Rivers before climbing up to the Ntsikeni Nature Reserve and continuing onwards through the district of Sisonke and across the floodplains of the Umzimvubu river towards the escarpment of the southern Maluti Drakensberg. They stopped again to sleep at the community run Masakala lodge near the town of Matatiele before continuing on towards the Malekhalonyane lodge located on the Mehloding Hiking Trail 370 kilometres from the start.
Their unrelenting early pace meant that they had already opened up a 100 kilometre gap on the rest of their start group. Troubled by saddle sores, Barr was then forced to stop whilst Barnes continued alone to reach the next support station in the village of Vuvu shortly after nightfall. Despite his demanding run Barnes’ pace matches that of the record-breaking ride of last year’s Freedom Challenge winner, Tim James.
SleepMonsters
