World Run II / Reports

The map shows the position of which the pictures for the day are taken (if any). The start and finish markers are placed at the first and last valid registered position. This is not nessesary the actual start and finish position, if GSM or GPS signals was not available.

Goto: 2010-01-07 2010-01-09 Africa

2010-01-08:

14
Distance today: 32.0 km (Accumulated: 19662.0 km)
Elapsed time: 03:20:31
Country: Africa

Start 07:55am. at blue km-sign "Durban 57km" on the N2 hwy to Cape Town. 23c, humid and l. wind. Finish 12:10am. At green km-sign "Durban 17km" on the M4 hwy. 34c, very humid, half overcast and same. [nb: running from hwy N2 to the direct coastal M4 today, therefore km-to-Durban differ].

Today I had the stroller & luggage transported for most of the stage and it makes a world of difference !! Thanks to my host for the last two days, Harry from Ballito, who transported the stroller so I could concentrate on enjoying the run :-))

.. My hosts for tonight, Kylie & Alister from Durban who has kindly invited me to stay at their house, is another example of the commitment of the S. A. longdistance runners: Kylie is a talented crosscontry runner who has stepped up to doing ultradistance running and Alister has 15 completed Comrades Marathons to his name. In case you shouldnt know, Comrades is the ultra run w. the most participants in the world: up to 20 000 runners take part each year in this hilly 89km run !

But commitment is not just about running. Alister introduced me to the local shelter in Durban for abused children, women & men where they as well as offering help and housing 24h. a day, 7d. a week, also runs a free medical clinic and testing facility for aids. Unlike in Scandinavia these social institutions are w.o. any public funding and entirely based on voulenteer work & private funding !

And while I dont promote large charity entreprises (but perhaps small-scale by showing by world run 1 & 2 that the "other" cultures are a lot more friendly and peacefull than you might expect from watching the evening news in any given contry :-) then I do like to help promote local charity. And "The Open Door" crisis care centre in Durban, wich I was given a tour of after the run today, definately does an amazing job. A few statistics: 40 000 people has recieved free counselling, over 7000 free meals has been served, it hosts15 rooms for accomodation and 10 counselling rooms.

You can read more & how to donate on www.opendoor.org.za (official non-profit org. Reg NGO 005 920).