RWANDAN RUNNING.....

RWANDAN RUNNING!!

The training continues unabated and I’ve upped the frequency and length of my training runs in preparation for the next three challenges, all of which fall within the next 5 weeks; the ascents of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro and the Nairobi Marathon.

We have great distances to cover through east Africa to enable me to be in the right place at the right time to even stand a chance at successfully completing the challenges and this is proving difficult with long hours spent behind the wheel on ‘interesting’ roads!

Finding time to train is difficult too, recently we’ve adopted the ‘Bre drives, I run’ policy which has given me a great chance to run alongside her through some awesome environments and scenery never knowing what hills, surfaces or roads are likely to be experienced!

So into Rwanda we went and into one of their national parks, the stunning Nyungwe Forest Reserve. Rainforest shrouded hills with mists clinging to them, Columbus moneys running into the bush, steep inclines and descents to test my legs and humid, sultry conditions….perfect!

Well I thought it was perfect; the running was good, the heavens opened and drenched me which was amazing and then a Toyota Hilux drove past full of armed military and police, out hops a little jobs worth and asks me to stop which of course I did as his colleagues were carrying AK47’s!

He asked me if I had a letter of permission which would allow me to run within the park…..of course I didn’t, and where would I have got one from anyway! Then added that as Bre had taken a photo of me I would also need to pay the commercial filming fee of $2000!

I explained what Afritrex was all about, handed him my card and business plan with wet, sweaty hands and explained to him the necessity of training and some of the other extreme locations I’d run in…..the Sahara, Nigeria, the Atlas Mountains etc and that I thought this would be another great place to add to the list.

Not having a word of it he insisted that I got changed and with their escort left the park immediately! Not a time or place to be arguing so I obliged and very, very slowly drove the remaining 20kms out of the park stopping every km to take another ‘tourist – not commercial’ photo!

An amusing episode……

Ben

Posted on 21 Sep 2008 by Ben Southall

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Welcome to Afritrex - A privately funded charity endurance challenge of marathons, mountains and more; documenting the encounters, obstacles and achievements of 12 months of hard fundraising and charity work across Africa.

Whilst circumnavigating the African Continent I will complete the following challenges:

To complete five marathons of at least 26 miles
To climb five of the highest mountains in Africa
To visit as many of the sites across Africa where the Victoria Cross has been won as possible (VC180 Challenge)

"The challenge to make every penny count"

Have a closer look at the site and find out more about how we'll be spending 2008.

Keep up to date !! - The action is happening as we speak...

Click here for the latest diary entry

Click here for the latest photos

Click here for the latest route

My name is Ben Southall and for the last decade I’ve travelled extensively throughout Southern Africa taking on projects and expeditions to test my abilities and discover exciting new areas of the African continent, whilst in the UK I take part in fitness and endurance events to raise money for charity and thought it was about time I combined the two fields to create my own fundraising expedition from with others could benefit.

So was born Afritrex: the logistical equivalent of one man trying to build spaghetti junction using Taiwanese instructions and a broken shovel.

The idea was simple: take one continent; attempt to circumnavigate it and whilst doing so try and stay fit enough to complete a number of endurance challenges to raise money for my chosen charities and whilst doing so post it all on the internet!

This is set to be the most challenging, exciting and exhausting year of my life, can I really do it?

"The answer is I don't know,

so why not find out!"

This is me Ben Southall and this is my mission throughout 2008. Stay in contact with my progress updates on how things are going through this site.

I’ll be keeping you informed of my progress through biweekly updates to the site, route information and with regular photo and video blogs.

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