Medic takes on gruelling bunker challenge
Mark Basson will take on a half marathon in firefighter bunker gear to raise funds for Horizon Farm Trust.
DURBAN medic, Mark Basson, will tackle the ‘Reaching Horizons 21km Bunker Challenge’ at the South African Medical Association 21km race in Durban on Sunday, 30 June, to raise funds for charity.
Mark, (38), who was in the news in 2015 when he ran 10km in full firefighter gear weighing more than 30kg, to raise funds towards realising his dream of becoming a fully-fledged paramedic, will now take on the half marathon in firefighter bunker gear to raise funds for Horizon Farm Trust, a residential home for special needs, intellectually impaired, disabled adults.
The father of two currently runs a small training business focused on Stop the Bleed and first responder training, and volunteers his time as a member of Voluntary Emergency Medical Assistance (VEMA), as a firefighter, and assists local SAPS. He is a member of the Gift of the Givers Search and Rescue team, and was recently deployed to Mozambique as part of the Hurricane Idia rescue and relief team.
Mark said the bunker challenge started off as a personal challenge as he wanted to see if he could run 21km in full fire gear.
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“I had already done a 10km and a 15km run before, the 10km run as an attempt to raise money to be able to study a bachelor’s degree at DUT and the 15km just for the fun of it. With the 21km I thought that if I was going to do this run, it would be nice if an organisation could benefit from it,” he said.
Mark contacted a friend of his whose son is a resident of Horizon Farm Trust and asked if he could do the 21km for the Farm, to raise money for some of the projects they were trying to finance.
“It’s very difficult to run in all that gear, the weight and the heat is tough on the body. It’s also a very big mind game that you have to conquer. So it’s a run I’m doing to test my physical and mental toughness and to raise funds for a good cause. I hope that the community come together and support this initiative. It’s tough out there and everyone could use a helping hand sometimes. I would just like to give back and help where I can,” he said.
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