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Miles for Smiles team flee riot in Cape Town |
The 3 500km, 90-day Cipla Spar Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge 2008 came to a dramatic halt in Cape Town yesterday when extreme athletes David Grier and Braam Malherbe were forced to flee from an angry mob as violence flared between police and refugees.
Placard-wielding protesters from the nearby Soetwater temporary refugee centre were heading towards the runners on the scenic drive between Scarborough and Kommetjie, when they were confronted by police, urging them to turn back.
The mood turned ugly as the crowd, who heavily outnumbered the police, broke through a hastily erected roadblock, forcing the law enforcement officials to retreat and establish another roadblock with their vehicles, while radioing for re-enforcements.
Eventually, after their entreaties were ignored, the police opened fire with rubber bullets and the crowd responded angrily with a fusillade of rocks and stones.
The two runners, accompanied by Miles for Smiles team member Geoff Dalglish, and a friend Antoinette Pretorius, hastily climbed into a passing car and were transported to their Toyota 4x4 support vehicles further up the road.
“Police back-up had not yet arrived and a chaotic situation could have developed,” Dalglish said. “So we drove closer to Kommetjie and used our vehicles, with headlights and emergency flashers, to stop oncoming traffic and recommend an alternate route.”
Runner Braam Malherbe said: “It’s another sad day for South Africa. We had just been discussing the plight of these poor people, and the fact that South African exiles had been so well received in various parts of Africa, when we rounded a bend and saw the protesters advancing with their placards.”
Fellow athlete David Grier empathised with both sides, insisting: ”The police were not only hugely outnumbered, but had an unenviable task of trying to convince the protesters to stop their march.”
The runners had set their sites on running a total of 40km yesterday after starting in Camps Bay, and being granted special dispensation to run Chapman’s Peak Drive, which is closed to the public for repairs.
They cut their run short after 35km, having covered a total of 850km since starting in the Namibia town of Oranjemund on July 1, but will resume the run at first light in the morning.
Recent highlights have included running a combined total of 90km around Robben Island on July 18 to honour former President Nelson Mandela on his 90th birthday.
The goal of the Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge, which is supported by Toyota South Africa, is to help change young lives forever by raising R3.5-million for the Operation Smile South Africa charity which funds reconstructive surgery for children with facial disfigurements.
“Every child has a right to a smile and we urge the public and organisations to support this wonderful organisation by entering pledges on the website,” the runners insisted.
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David and Braam honour Madiba on Robben Island |
Extreme athletes Braam Malherbe and David Grier honoured former President Nelson Mandela by running a combined total of 90km around Robben Island on July 18 as part of worldwide celebrations commemorating his 90th birthday.
“What an incredible honour, “David Grier insisted. “I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life.
Starting in the cell that was home to the world’s most famous ex-prisoner for 17 years, the two ran more than five laps of the World Heritage Site to clock up a combined total of exactly 45km each.
“I felt very humble standing in his cell and seeing how tiny it was,” Braam Malherbe said at the finish. “It was a gift to be able to imagine what he went through, and know that he came out of that horrible little hole without bitterness, but with love, forgiveness, respect and a reverence for life.
“While we were running I thought that the physical pain and stress in my body was nothing compared to what Madiba and others suffered for so long, and I thought of the challenge he issued at his recent birthday celebrations in London, when he said: ‘It is time for new hands to lift the burdens – it is in your hands now.’
“With our 90-day, 3 500km run around the South African coastline, and Robben Island, we are trying to make a difference, raising funds for corrective surgery for children with facial disfigurements, and we feel deeply honoured to have played a part in celebrating the life of this great man who has given South Africa and the world the gift of hope and the lesson of forgiveness and reconciliation.”
Among those who cheered the runners on were former political prisoners, their children, visiting tourists and high-profile icons of the freedom struggle, among them Mac Maharaj and Tokyo Sexwale.
Former political prisoner and ex-Gauteng premier Sexwale reminisced about his own slow walk to freedom from Robben Island before handing each of the runners a South African flag and wishing them speed and strength during their historic run.
The message of the Cipla Spar Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge 2008, which is enjoying vehicle support and logistical backing from Toyota South Africa, is that ‘Nothing is Impossible’ and every child has a right to a smile, respect, dignity, and the inheritance of a safe and healthy planet.
The two runners, backed by an enthusiastic support team and followers around the world, aim to raise R1 000 a kilometre for the Operation Smile SA charity – the equivalent of R3.5-million.
Throughout their Madiba birthday run they were shadowed by a Toyota Quantum bus emblazoned with a message wishing Madiba a happy birthday, sometimes stopping to pose for pictures or give live interviews, while also speaking to journalists from around the world on their cellphones while on the move.
“Yes, it was disruptive, but very exciting to be part of this great day, running around an island so steeped in symbolism,” Grier said. “I thought of the sweat beading on my body and imagined all the tears of pain and finally tears of joy shed on Robben Island.”
Mandela’s life and his words have often been an inspiration for the two runners during the past three weeks as they have run through their pain and exhaustion, remembering his famous quotes.
Favourites include: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” and “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
The two started their 90-day, 3 500km endurance feat in the Namibian frontier town of Oranjemund on July 1, interrupting their run southwards to travel to Robben Island for the celebrations.
But the next day they resumed their run south of the fishing town of Lamberts Bay in an epic journey that will see them ‘run a smile’ around the entire South African coastline, finishing in the Mozambican border town of Ponta do Ouro, where they hope to swim with the dolphins.
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