Long journey Cape Town reaches its conclusion

A journey which lasted seven days for the determined runners and riders of the MAD2Adventures organisation did not only prove to be rewarding but also challenging. The annual event started in Nelson Mandela Square on October 8.

The MAD2Run campaign had up to 32 runners who took the challenge of a lifetime. The campaign is based on raising funds for scholars who do not have the financial means to pay for tuition. The participants for both the MAD2Run and the MAD2Ride campaign made their way from Sandton to Cape Town. All runners and riders completed the challenge on the same day, October 15, which was no child’s play.

Participants ran in shifts which consisted of teams of four to five runners. Each MAD2Run team was required to cover 80km within eight hours in a day meaning that each runner had to run a minimal of 20km.

Daniel de Kretser, who is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, was one of the runners who faced the MAD2Run challenge head on and was grateful to share the experience with this year’s MAD2Adventure team.

Kretser said, “It was nice to have teammates, especially where you found yourself in a dark place where you were tired, sleep deprived and emotional. In terms of what kept us going, the support from everyone was what pushed us and of course the main reason why we all decided to do the run in the first place. To raise funds for kids to go to school and give them a better chance in life.”

On the challenges that were thrown at him, Kretser added, “There was no set routine which made the running a bit difficult. You couldn’t just run, come home and sleep. There were moments where you’d miss out on breakfast because you were still finishing the eight hours. If you were lucky enough you would get three to four hours of sleep.”

Once the MAD2Run team arrived in Cape Town on October 15, runners were all escorted by police officials to the Harbour Bridge Hotel where they ended their journey in style and as one.

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