Into the furnace of new Desert Storm
Williamson takes to Kalahari Adventure
EAST London’s John Williamson has over the years participated in a number of Adventure races in various parts of the world and next week will take part in the prestigious Kalahari Adventure Run, his third in that part of the Northern Cape.
The race starts on October 28 and ends on November 3.
For good measure, Williamson, 43, the owner of a number of fast food outlets, has also undertaken four other strenuous races. His first was a run across the Jordan Desert about five years, followed by an exciting experience in Iceland, then a move to Asia with races in Sri Lanka and a year later through the Gobi Desert.
Despite temperatures in the Gobi reaching as high as 50ºC, Williamson considers the Sri Lanka run was the toughest of all, mainly because the humidity reached 100% with temperatures of over 40ºC each day.
“You find yourself drenched with sweat, just as if you had stepped out of a swimming pool,” he said.
He added that while in Colombo he saw a Buddhist monk in a temple and for about R10 received a blessing from him. The monk gave him a cotton wrist band to wear in the race, but as he ran the band would squirt sweat into his eyes as he ran – that’s how humid it was at times.
Unable to bathe regularly, Williamson, with a smile, admitted at one point along the route, the wind was behind him and he suffered a terrible smell, and thought perhaps it was elephant droppings he had smelt.
“Then I realised I had got a whiff of myself!” he laughed.
Each race is run over seven days, and covers a distance of between 230km and 250km. Each athlete is responsible for his or her own clothing, sleeping bag, water bottles, medical tablets and dehydrated foodstuffs. Items are kept as light as possible. He estimates everything he carries along 10kg.
“For instance my backpack weighs less than a cellphone,” said Williamson.
Most international runs include over 100 athletes but the Kalahari is smaller with about 50 to 80 runners taking part.
The superbly fit Wlliamson backs himself to excel in the smaller race, stating that he usually comes in within the top 30 of each race and in fact finished 12th out of over 100 runners in the Gobi race. He was ninth last year (out of about 80) at the Kalahari.
Each runner has a full physical before the race and a check of their vital signs because the races are so demanding, they have to be passed 100% fit to participate.
Although there are dangers from wild animals (elephants in Sri Lanka, snakes in the Gobi and Kalahari), everything is done by the organisers to ensure the athletes, who come from all over the world, are safe.
“The big danger in the desert runs, is to ensure you stay hydrated,” Williamson stressed. He said that water is available at each checkpoint along the route, but it gets so hot it’s like drinking “bath water”.
Over the years Williamson has made some real friends and they come from such diverse countries as Japan, England, Australia New Zealand, Singapore, the US, Brazil, Canada, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Greece and Turkey.
“We stay in contact and I have probably 20 real friends among the runners. One is a billionaire banker, one an earl from the UK, and members of the Jordan Royal family. Yes, running the race is a real leveller of people.”
Williamson and his wife, Janice, also visit Hong Kong regularly.
For Williamson, the Kalahari some wonderful memories.
“There are stunning sunrises and sunsets,” he said. “As you run you will suddenly come across some beautiful wine farms.”
Williamson is hoping East London adventuress Kim van Kets will also be participating in the Kalahari Run this year. Van Kets is familiar with the area, having undertaken a run and cycle along the Orange River some three years ago, complete with a section of the river being rowed. the race weighs less than holds