Adventure News: BIG ACHIEVEMENT BY KEITH LITTLE - FREEDOM CHALLENGE EXTREME TRIATHLON

Adventure News: BIG ACHIEVEMENT BY KEITH LITTLE - FREEDOM CHALLENGE EXTREME TRIATHLON - Ndorfin, South Africa

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Wednesday, 21 July 2010
BIG ACHIEVEMENT BY KEITH LITTLE - FREEDOM CHALLENGE EXTREME TRIATHLON

Veldrif, Atlantic Ocean
Sunday 18 July 2010

Some things in life may come easy but not so the Freedom Challenge Extreme Triathlon. It took a tremendous effort by 2010 Freedom Challenger, Keith Little, to finish the Extreme Triathlon at Veldrif on the Atlantic coast..

Keith was one of three Freedom Challengers who lined up with a number of other trail runners at 4.30 am on Friday 18 June 2010 in Durban for the start of the 85km Duzi Trail Run. In its original form those doing the Extreme Triathlon version of the Freedom Challenge ran the 88 km Comrades Marathon, mountain biked the 2300km Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa within 26 days and paddled the 240 km 4 day K1 Berg River Canoe Marathon. Changes in the scheduling of the Comrades Marathon gave rise to the Duzi Trail Run which is being developed as a stand alone event jointly hosted by the Freedom Challenge and DUCT, and will now forms the running leg of the Extreme Triathlon.
Starting at Mango Rapid the runners followed footpaths and dirt roads as they ran up the course of the Umgeni River and Umzimduzi Rivers to the race finish at Bishopstowe Hall outside Pietermaritzburg. Running with fellow extreme triathlete Leon van der Nest Keith finished in 12hrs 30 minutes. �Parts of it were very wild and wonderful but with the footpaths and variable surfaces it was difficult to find a rhythm� he said afterwards.

Less than 12 hours later Keith was amongst the last batch of mountain bikers to leave Pietermaritzburg as part of the 2010 Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa. By the time he reached the finish of the mountain bike leg he had ridden 2300 km on a route that took him over the Umkomaas and Umzimkulu Rivers, up to the top of the Drakensberg escarpment, across the Stormberg, through the Great Karoo, up the length of the Baviaanskloof, into the Swartberg Mountains, over the Little Karoo and Breede River Valley and into Diemersfontein wine estate overlooking the Berg River. Despite the demanding terrain, freezing winter weather conditions and mechanical failures, which saw the withdrawal of one of the three extreme triathletes, he arrived at the Diemersfontein finish on Sunday 11 July, 22 days, 13 hours and 40 minutes after starting the cycle. This gave him two days to rest and prepare his boat before continuing his journey down the Berg River to the Atlanti c Ocean.

At 9am on Wednesday 14 July Keith started his paddle. Day 1 of the Berg River Canoe Marathon brought with it testing weather conditions as a cold front passed over the Western Cape. By mid afternoon the entire field of paddlers had been lashed by squalls whilst navigating the difficult tree blocks that characterize the Berg and heavy snow fell on the surrounding mountains. The harsh weather caused the withdrawal of a number of paddlers including the other aspirant extreme triathlete Leon van der Nest. Keith battled through the day to finish in 6 hrs 17 minutes. As a result of continuing rain the following day, Thursday, saw a dramatic rise in the river levels which made for an easier day of paddling. However, that night things took a turn for the worse for Keith. Battling a stomach bug he was very ill and went into the third day, which is know to be the longest and hardest of the Berg, nauseous and sleep deprived. He was the las t paddler to complete the day, finishing in close to 8 hours. �It was really hard. I had to dig really deep� he said afterwards.

Starting before dawn on Saturday with the temperature at freezing Keith paddled into the sunrise. With the sky blue, the surrounding mountains white with snow, the fields green with young wheat and the water still he then paddled through to the finish at Veldrif to become the seventh person in the history of the Freedom Challenge to complete the extreme triathlon � a tremendous effort.

For more information:
www.freedomchallenge.org.za