Mission On Hold...

The climax of any given story often leaves one with a desire for more. Furthermore, the protagonist is expected to emerge with some form of victory which brings the audience a sense of triumph. However, Mission Possible Comrades Back to Back does not follow a similar plot to the regular story.

Once there was a team, whose endeavor was to slay a dragon of sorts. An imposing menace that broke hearts, minds and lives, leaving the young tenderlings calloused by hardship leaving them with neither inclination nor ability to love and be loved. The thought of one young life derailed on our watch was enough to convince us to leave the familiar and venture into seemingly uncharted regions. With minimal reserves, we put much on the line with one thing in mind…radically bringing down the monstrosity replicated in millions of scenarios, labeled “orphan”.

Though the vision of our trip ended with the raising of hands in triumph as I crossed the finish line of the Comrades marathon after 174km, our journey ended only a couple of hours after it started due to a faulty starter motor. 

While our sights were set on Pietermaritzburg and Durban, our car gave in just outside Laingsburg in the Western Cape. Constant sighs, echoed what words could not express but we knew one thing had to be done, keep level heads and look for the silver lining in the dark cloud. If truth be told, silver linings are difficult to spot through tainted eyes but we continued to fumble on. With all other options exhausted, we resolved to abort Mission Possible, Comrades Back to Back.
The mission ended before it hardly begun on Friday 31 May. Something that may seem like failure but we took this a learning curve. If one lives to tell the tale, then the tale will certainly be worth telling. All those clichés, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," all came to fore but above all we learnt to be content in whatever circumstance we found ourselves. We learnt never to take our eyes off the goal. Our trip to the Comrades was cut short, but the mission to spread the word and change the lives of millions of orphans is far from over.

Comrades from far and wide

With less than a week to go before the 88^th Comrades Marathon, the Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has issued its Substitution and 2013 Entry statistics for the June 2^nd event.

This year’s ‘up-run’ from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, has attracted a total of 19,722 entrants, with male entrants totalling 15,383 and female participants coming in at 4,339.

The month-long Substitution Process has yielded 729 successful Substitution applications.

Women’s participation in the great race has been maintained at 22%. The CMA’s goal is to grow the female entry tally to 30% in the next five years.

4295 Novices have entered the race while a record number of International participants will be taking on the 89km road-running challenge. 1422 foreign runners from nearly 70 countries have signalled their intention to take on the world’s oldest and biggest ultra-marathon, as opposed to 1374 in last year’s race.

The average age of Comrades male participants in this year’s race is 41 and 40 for female runners.

CMA Race Director, Johan Van Staden says, ‘We expect between 15,000 and 16,000 runners at the Comrades Start at 05h30 outside the Durban City Hall on Sunday, 2 June. As usual, we are prepared to host another fantastic Comrades Race Day.’

Yet another "Mission Possible"

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. While some say faith is blind, I believe faith has eyes that see beyond reason. Faith sees possibility where many see failure. Faith sees a way where obstacles mount and restrictions inhibit the individual from being. Faith is what prompted me to take on yet another grueling challenge as part of the Mission Possible campaign to create awareness about Newkidz on the Block as well as raise funds for their projects. 

As a fundraising activist for Newkidz,  I have faith that one day, South Africa will no longer be home to millions of orphans but rather a nation where all children are placed in loving homes and raised to become the best they can possibly be.

It is faith in our future that compelled me to run the Comrades Marathon back to back. On the 1^st of June, the night before the official Comrades Marathon race, I will set off from Pietermaritzburg for the first leg of a double Comrades in 24 hours. Upon arrival in Durban on the morning of the 2^nd of June, I will join close to 20,000 athletes as they take on the official Ultimate Human race which starts in at the Durban and finishes in Pietermaritzburg. The Comrades Marathon 2013 is an up run, a difficult hilly route which will be a test of physical and mental strength but the race is not my own. I will be running it with over 3 million orphans in mind. At present, South Africa is home to over 3.5 million orphans and the number is set to increase to over 5 million by 2015.

It is this realization that makes me feel the urgency to act now. If we don’t take action now, millions of children will grow up to become broken members of society. By running this race twice, I am hoping people will come alongside these children, either as mentors, foster parents or even adopt the children because Newkidz believes there is no such thing as an unwanted child but just an unfound family. However, we understand that not everyone is able to adopt or foster a child, but we call upon members of society to give whatever they can towards this cause. Whether it is financial support or volunteering to help out at the extreme makeovers Newkidz conducts regularly.

To support Mission Possible please visit www.newkidz.org.za and click on: Support Edeline