810km all done, but Comrades still to go
Hilton Murray is on the verge of completing a historic run
BY the time the 21 000 Comrades runners were stretching and warming up for the marathon earlier this morning, Hilton Murray’s body was already screaming in pain, even before the starter’s gun had fired.
Murray had already covered 810km over the past nine days, starting in Johannesburg last week Friday. The 89km Comrades would be the final stretch.
“For everyone else, the start is just the beginning. For me, it’s the end.
“I’m really looking forward to [the marathon]. My wonderful wife, Lizette, has been with me all the way these last few days, making sure that I’m eating right, which is so important,” he said last night, after he reached Pietermaritzburg.
Murray and his friends Hazel Moller and Carlo Gibson had planned to run the equivalent distance of the Comrades every day for 10 days to raise money for two charities, Pet Empowerment in Townships (PETS) and The Pink Drive, a breast cancer awareness initiative.
Despite a good start, injuries and illness caught up with the other two, and left Murray as the last man running the “Ten in 10” challenge.
Gibson pulled out with an injury 10km into Wednesday’s run and was doubtful for today’s race, while Moller has a stomach ulcer that stopped her in her tracks on Thursday.
Now, with 810km behind him, Murray is focused on getting to the finish line at Sahara Stadium, Kingsmead, to complete his “crazy” fund-raising challenge — as his friends and family have dubbed it.
At 5am today, he joined the other runners at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall for his 11th Comrades — having finished all his previous attempts.
The injuries sustained by his running mates prove just how tough the challenge was, Murray said.
But it was the motivation of running for The Pink Drive, in particular, that kept him going, even after losing a lot of weight and waking up every morning with weary, aching legs.
A family member of his was recently diagnosed with cancer.
“It’s amazing how many people close to you battle with cancer. Knowing that I can raise money for a cancer charity is a huge motivation. It makes it a little bit easier.
“When I start [the marathon] I would already have won. For me, this is a personal victory. I’m in awe of the ability of the human body. I’m just an ordinary runner, and if I can do this, than any fit person can do one Comrades,” he said.
It was Moller who came up with the original idea. Murray’s first reaction, when Moller tried to recruit him, was to laugh off her suggestion.
“But then I thought about it for two weeks. I thought it was possible, so why not go for it?
“I told my friends about it and the reaction was the same — they all started laughing at me,” Murray said.
By the time the final shot sounds at 5.30 this evening, signalling the cut-off time for runners to finish with a medal, Murray is hoping to have already crossed the finish line at Kingsmead. SOLDIERING ON: Hilton Murray on the R103 outside Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday morning