I met a fellow Kalahari Augrabies runner, Phil Waudby, last Saturday for a trail training run through the Groenkloof Nature Reserve. What a wonderful time we had! He is a really remarkable individual, I used the word remarkable to describe Phil, but that doesn’t do him justice. He is “old school”, tough as nails with a passion for running and sharing his years of knowledge. To those who are interested, view the video below to see a little more about Phil.
For those of you who don’t know him, I would like to provide a brief introduction. Last year Phil decided to, not only run the Kalahari Augrabies 250km Ultra Endurance race, but to also run, to Augrabies from Gauteng. His journey lasted 12 days and he covered 933km’s before reaching Augrabies. The day after arriving he started, with the rest of the competitors, the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (KAEM). His toughness and determination saw him complete the KAEM in less than 52 hours.
This was not a selfish run for Phil, but a publicity run to raise awareness and funds for the Sunflower Fund, a charity responsibility for raising the funds needed to meet the costs of all tissue typing of bone marrow donors for leukaemia. This year Phil is once again running for the Sunflower Fund but is limiting his running to the actual KAEM race. We are going to have a great time in the Kalahari, and I can only hope that the more experienced guys like Phil will guide our less experienced runners through the race.
In the spirit of Phil and many before him, I am raising funds for the JAG Foundation (Jointly Achieving Growth), a charity that I feel extremely passionate about. The JAG Foundation is an organization headed by South Africa's Elana Meyer and endorsed by athletes such as Makhaya Ntini, Ryk Neethling, Jean De Villiers, and Ashwin Willemse. The aim of the organization is the development of a healthy attitude and lifestyle of all South African children, presenting an alternative to an environment of alcohol and drugs abuse.
Please make a donation to this amazing foundation. Any contribution will go a long way in creating a better South Africa; a new generation of disciplined, focused and determined leaders are cultivated through the various sport initiatives of the foundation. My personal aim is to be an example of grit and determination to the children of South Africa.
I thank you for your contribution and interest.
Donations can be made online at the following address:
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Genis
