A Little Crazy Perhaps?

Following on from one of my previous posts (here) regarding the fact that myself and a few others have started running - well there’s actually a bit more to it than just getting fit for the hell of it. I’ll start with a round-up of what we have achieved so far.

Along with various training runs of up to 18km, we have successfully completed the following races: The Beds for Africa 16km and The South Coast Half Marathon. Campo decided that the Half Marathon wasn’t challenging enough and opted for the full marathon, while Shaun, Mike and I went for the 21km. We all completed the race in good time, some of us in more pain than others, namely Campo who had a very tough time but finished nevertheless.

Myself, Mike and Rich also rode the Amashovashova 2 weekends ago, which is a 106km ride from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Thanks to our superb seconding team (Cally and Jane) we had plenty of snacks and water bottle refills during the ride which certainly helped us along the arduous yet scenic route.

Looking ahead, there are 3 big events lined up. First on the list for myself and Mike is the Triple Challenge, which is on the 15th November. Distances may vary slightly, but essentially we’re looking at a 20km trail run followed by a 52km mountain bike ride and finally ending with a 22km paddle across Inanda Dam, which includes 2 portages. I’m absolutely shitting myself for this !!! Mike has done a couple of these in previous years and I have somehow been roped into doing this with him.

The 2nd event coming up is the Hillcrest Villagers 42.2km marathon in February next year. I have never run further than 21km before, so this is going to be one helluva challenge. Not only do I need to complete it but I need to finish in under 5 hours. Reason being, that you have to complete a standard marathon in under 5 hours in order to qualify for Comrades. That’s right, I’m attempting Comrades next year. There I said it!! It makes me want to go check my rods just thinking about it. But ja, assuming my qualifying marathon goes well, I will be attempting Comrades next year along with Shuz, Mike, Campo and a few others.

So that’s where we are at the moment. Training for Triple Challenge and then come the last week in November the focus will shift purely onto the running.

Here’s a few pics from the Amashova last weekend.

Coming through Camperdown

Westville

Andy & Phil's Wedding

So obviously after the bulls party, comes the wedding. The ceremony was held in the Chapel at Kearsney College. I thought you either had to be an old boy or well connected to secure that venue? Campo is a Westville boy, so maybe he’s well connected. Or perhaps it was his life credo to always greet everyone by their name and to always display impeccable manners around his elders, that impressed one of the Masters at a Westville vs Kearsney cricketing campaign that secured the elusive Chapel. Either way it is definitely a great venue and was chosen well.
Everyone looked the part and it was great to see that all the groomsmen were in attendance. Barnsi had missed the rehearsal the night before due to ‘not being able to find his car after shopping at Gateway’. You can’t say that’s not original.

Philippa looked beautiful walking down the aisle and both bride and groom had that look on their faces suggesting they wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.

After the ceremony we cruised over to the reception which was at a renovated castle down near Shongweni way. While the newly married couple antagonized their cheek muscles on the photo shoot, the rest of us guests milled around outside the castle eating snacks and playing ‘man-sized’ Jenga.
Once Andy and Philippa arrived we made our way into the reception hall and the rest of the night unfolded with all the usual formalities and culinary festivities that these weddings usually entail. A particular highlight of mine was Barnsi’s 21 point speech about Andy, which represented the 21 years that they have known each other.

All in all it was one helluva good party and a great celebration. Cheers Andy and Phil, here’s to many many happy years of marriage.

Campo's Bulls Party

A few weeks ago Andy Camp (Campo) and Philippa tied the knot. The nice thing about weddings is that a raucous bulls party usually precedes the main event, and this wedding was no different. Rich Webb had arranged a spectacular weekend away at a place called Highover, which is quite close to Richmond.

After arriving at various times throughout Friday afternoon and evening, your basic bulls party unfolded and was met with great excitement. There were some overseas visitors in attendance, and their presence certainly gave the weekend an air of significance. Bon-fires, music, beers, and previously untold stories of Campo at his finest (or not so finest) set the scene for a great weekend away.


Saturday morning was spent tubing down the freezing waters of the nearby river as well as attempting to master the rickety foofie slide, which I think we eventually sent into retirement. Those with wetsuits definitely had the upper hand. Cruising down the river and taking on the rapids was an unexpected highlight of the weekend. After the tubing, it was a mad rush to get to the owner’s house for some Tri-Nations rugby. We shared what must have been the biggest bag of biltong any of us had ever seen and had it not been for the one Aussie in our midst, I dare say it might have been a perfect day out. Saturday night was spent around the fire again and plenty laughs and loud music were the order of the day. It was quite apparent that everyone had had a superb time away. Well done Rich for organizing such a unique and awesome weekend away.

It’s also worth mentioning that a Bulls party is not a Bulls party without it’s one incident that takes it to the next level. And that incident had to be when Philippa’s Dad’s mate did a drunken free fall onto the bonfire. Had it not been for Porker’s cheetah-like reactionary senses, he very well may have been left there to burn for the night. It was the flames from the jacket and the smell of burning flesh that alerted Porker to the scene and once he had rolled the guy off the fire, things returned to normal.