The trip

Following on from Botswana and Zimbabwe (and Namibia briefly without a run), South Africa was next on the trip. And where else do tourists go on Safari in South Africa but Kruger. Kruger definitely felt like the most on the beaten track place that we'd been to. The same can be said in comparison to an earlier trip I'd done to the Serengeti and the safari day on our honeymoon in Sri Lanka. The camp site and the safari routes were very built up and tourist ready.

The run

Similarly to the earlier runs on the trip, the busy day schedule meant that this run would complete the trinity of evening marathons into the night. After a day in the trucks, it was straight back to it. This camp site was finally actually pretty good for running around, at least compared to the sand of Botswana and single thin and short path in Zimbabwe. The camp site had a main loop that was the best part of half a mile long, with a few extra short spurs off it. Although this still meant numerous laps for the full marathon

The sum was still up when I started which was useful for mapping the place out. It wasn't too complicated an exercise though, there were a few bathroom blocks scattered around, a few sections for tents, a few sections for vehicles and some more luxurious cabins. There was a small group of monkeys hanging around in one corner but thankfully no other wildlife other than a few birds (or bats, it was dark by the time they started swoping over).

There wasn't much more excitement to the run, just round and round the main loop in a circle. Some clockwise, some anti-clockwse. Again I stopped for dinner in the middle with the rest of our group. It was a bit late for carb loading but the plate of spaghetti did give me a bit of extra enegy. I had a few interactions as well that helped keep me awake. A small number from A small number from our group went for a night time game drive so I spoke to them for a few minutes as they got out of the truck on the way back and walked to our section of tents. Around mile 23 I ran passed a group of guys staying in one of the cabins. We chatted for a bit as they were understandably confused by someone running at this time and they invited me round for a drink once I was done and they were having a bit of a party. I didn't take them up on the offer because bed was all I wanted after finishing and having a quick shower. I also spoke to two more from our group who were hanging out on our big truck and gave Ciara a quick update when I got some water out of the tent..

The biggest thanks though must go to Adam and Hope from our group. Their tent was closest to the path and they could hear my footsteps approaching whenever I came past our section. For half an hour or so each lap was met with a "Go Lee!" from the both of them. Such a tiny act meant so much at that point. I was confident I'd get the run finished as I'd already overcome larger challenges on the trip, but their support put a smile on my face. It quite well represented how we'd all developed as a group. On the first run in Zimbabwe, everyone was just a bit confused but by the idea but that confusion had switched to support by then end of the trip.

Eventually I did make it to the end, washed and crawled into the tent. I had a quick moment of reflection before falling asleep as across these three runs I'd really extended what this challenge involved and what my body could do.

Evidence