WATCH: Myles completes bouncy quest for charity
He dedicated this year's event to two very sick and needy children.
RUNNING a Comrades Marathon is an incredibly tough task, just ask any of this year’s entrants. However, running the Comrades while bouncing a tennis ball takes a feat of Herculean will and determination. That and ‘God’s grace’ was what got uMhlanga’s Myles Buxton through his sixth and final Comrades Marathon this year. Buxton bounced the tennis ball for his cause, called Bouncing Wilson, in reference to Wilson, a volleyball who Tom Hanks befriends in the movie Castaway.
He dedicated this year’s event to two very sick and needy children. The first was Vitthal, who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at the age of seven. The other child is Chezlyn, who is 14 years old and has leukaemia. She had gone into remission, but unfortunately the cancer returned in November. Through generous donations, around R60 000 was raised while three wheelchairs were also donated.
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Buxton said this year’s event was one of the toughest.-
“It was the hardest day of my life, purely because I was sick two weeks before. I woke up on the day of the race short of breath. I panicked and didn’t tell my wife because she’d tell me not to do it. I felt gone too far in to pull out. It was by God’s grace that I finished and I dropped the ball three times during the marathon which added a few extra metres to the 89 kilometre distance.
Buxton decided to walk the last three kilometres and decided it would be his last Comrades.
“It was so emotional seeing Vitthal and Chezlyn on the course. It was so touching having them there supporting me. I congratulate all my fellow runners who completed this year’s race. The support from the people was mind-blowing, I had people stopping me for selfies and shouting out messages of support, it was just phenomenal,” he said.
To learn more about his journey, visit his webiste www.bouncingwilson.co.za.
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