Swazi Xtreme 2004
This is Africa you Know!
Arnold de Swardt / 19.05.2004
Registration, race briefing and the kit inspection took place at the Simunye Golf Course on Saturday evening. The race briefing was mainly focused on the potential dangers that may lay ahead – a 15m jump into a water pool, a hike between poisonous snakes, a paddle through a hippo pool and a swim in a crocodile invested dam – ‘this is Africa you know’ we were told.
The field of 37 teams was split between a 120km Sport and 220km Pro event. Everyone was keen to test themselves in the first long distance adventure race for the year.
The race started at 04:00 on Sunday morning with a short run following a marked trail that would lead us to our passport and racing instructions. The first leg was a bike leg that would take us through the Hlane Game Sanctuary. Our photocopied map of the area was unreadable and we were left following other teams on the game viewing roads (thanks Nicholas).
We started the first hiking leg in sixth position. We were able to push the pace a bit, but the day was heating up and it was important to keep hydrated. USN Muscle Fuel and USN Carbo Fuel allowed us to do just that and to take in the necessary energy to burn during such a long race. The kloofs led us to the top of a mountain, reaching the transition area in third place.
The Jump!
This leg was high on adrenaline. An exhilarating downhill bike ride took us to the start of a hiking loop. The first task on this leg was an abseil down the opening of a cave. From there a kloof took us to a point called XXL. This was the notorious 15m jump. It is still a bit of a blur to me. My heart was bouncing around in my chest. It was my task to climb halfway down to lower our backpacks. The next moment I found myself standing at the top of the cliff with the rest of our team at the bottom ... aaaaaah! ... and then it was all over.
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