Two triumphant South African athletes have become the first
people in recorded history to run the entire Great Wall of China in
one attempt, while also personally measuring its length.
Crossing the finishing line earlier today after four months of
running, climbing and sometimes even crawling for six hours a day
across relentlessly treacherous and weather-pounded terrain, the
sore-footed sportsmen sent an ecstatic "We did it!" message home to
their families and fans, including some of the handicapped children
in whose name they undertook their phenomenal journey.
The runners, Capetonians David Grier and Braam Malherbe, will
return home next Wednesday.
The two middle-aged fathers tackled their ultimate endurance
test as part of the 'Cipla Medpro Miles for Smiles Challenge', an
annual event challenging extreme sportsmen to raise money for needy
youngsters.
This year's endeavour supported Operation Smile, whose
international medical missions surgically repair the cleft lips and
palates of needlessly-suffering children whose facial
disfigurements rob them of a happy and fulfilled life.
"Our mission was to show these and other youngsters, including
our own, that everyone can do anything if they put their mind to
it," says Malherbe, whose teenage son Ben joined him on the last
leg of the gruelling trek.
"We pushed hard to arrive back for Christmas, when we hope to
inspire patriotic South Africans to give the gift of a smile to
children born without one."
So how long is the Great Wall of China? Wait and see…
By taking a direct route along the undulating 'spine of the
dragon', the record-making runners also became the first to
personally measure the exact length of the Wall, popularly thought
to be up to 5,000 kilometres long. Their findings, currently being
verified, will be presented at a Cape Town Welcome Home dinner in
February.
The China Wall fund-raiser is the bedrock activity of this
year's Cipla Medpro Miles for Smiles Challenge. This has also been
supported by National Smile Awareness Month, which gave rise to a
'Right to Smile' children's charter, South Africa's first public
laughter yoga session and a Children's Art Challenge.