David Grier
Age:  50

David is a celebrity chef, extreme athlete, author and inspirational speaker who lives Life to the full, always refusing to sanction under-achievement or mediocrity. Knowing that we are all capable of much more, he tackles huge challenges not only to push back his own frontiers, but to inspire others to climb their personal mountains. Born into a Cape wine farming family, his culinary journey has seen him open a string of successful restaurants while always seeking fresh challenges. These have included summiting Mt Kilimanjaro, running the Comrades Marathon, Two Oceans Marathon, the gruelling Ultra Puffer Marathon and Reunion’s notorious Le Grande Raid, a 128km torturefest acclaimed as the world’s toughest single stage mountain race.

In 2006 he and long-time friend Braam Malherbe established a world first by continuously running The Great Wall of China, clocking the equivalent of 98 marathons in 98 days of running. His love of adventure and photography finds eloquent expression in his book, Courage and Rice , which chronicles that life-changing journey. A committed family man, he is married to Lizelle and has four children: Jessica, Xander, Tamlin and Jade.