safarigeek

Of elephants, running, rapids and bikes

The sleepy hamlet that is Victoria Falls town came alive this weekend as several hundred athletes and hangers-on descended for the annual marathon.  People from all over the world, all shapes and sizes, and athletic capability turned out in whooping, excitable groups as the early morning sun shone through the spray from the Falls.  Admittedly with very little training, I had only decided to do the half marathon two days earlier…not ideal.

The course was beautiful with the first leg being out along the bridge to the Zambian side, with views over the Falls and the cavernous mouth of the Batoka Gorge and majestic Victoria Falls Hotel.  Then, out along Zambezi Drive towards the Big Tree, the road made safe from elephants by numerous game scouts.  A few kilometres of running into the Park before looping back round to town.

Amongst the crowd were local runners, lean and muscular who ran like the wind at a pace inconceivable to mere mortals.  I ran alongside a Zimbabwean woman for a brief stint (and the sight of African women running is not all that common) out of sheer curiosity at her bravery; she was running the full marathon in bare feet.  A Canadian lady was sporting a pair of Vibram Five-fingers – an impossibly ugly set of foot-gloves that protect your soles while creating the feel of barefoot running.  Most impressively, several local competitors completed the race in bone-shaking wheel-chairs.

Amongst the runners were the “Zambezi Man” competitors.  Over the last two days, they had rafted 50km of the fiercest rapids the Zambezi has to offer (some grade 6), and then ridden over 100km on their mountain bikes through the bush and sand to finish up with a marathon.  As they eased their aching muscles with cold beer at the boat club this evening, I learned of the various tales of personal achievement that had been reached.  One man had only ridden his bike three times before tackling the Zam-Man.  Another already has sixteen Comrades’ Marathons (87km) under his belt (pity his long-suffering wife who spends family holidays in good spots for hill-training and little else).

Victoria Falls on any day of the week is a hub for people wanting to do crazy things but on days like today, it is a testimony to the indomitable spirit of folk.  Tomorrow I will be trying to find my indomitable spirit (which I think I carelessly mislaid somewhere) as I head out to tackle the white water of the Zambezi myself.  Everyone I’ve spoken to says (in typical Zimbo slang) that the river is quite “cheeky” at the moment…