The Munga - The Toughest Race On Earth

[Nick]

Some more pictures from JB this morning:

 

[Red Robin]

That is Sbu in the top photo. He is from a very rural area outside Wartburg About 5 years ago he pitched up at the Wartburg classic 45Km MTB race on an old road bike. After about 10 punctures the sweep brought him home ,we all  smiled at his naivety but acknowledged his determination. The following year he pitched up on a borrowed MTB and did ok. He then started joining us on a few MTB rides in the area, always with an old pair of army boots for shoes.

He organised a bike from a local farmer and started doing very well in the races. He would sometimes come past my house exhausted and I'd ask " hey Sbu where you been?" " Mr.Mark I went to Muden dam"  he'd say.( thats about a 200Km ride.) on pap and water. After a chow he'd ride another 30km home. I gave him a lift to a few events and always noticed he never ate. I had to force him to accept a meal after the races because he said he did not want us to think he was there just to get a hand out.

 

The first 2 races he podiumed he came to my house to give me his medal that he won.  I refused because I did not do the race. I found he then left the medal at my door later that day. He did the same for the farmer, Guy,  who also helped him.  By then he had hooked up  with Martin and joined the Change a life academy where he now excels.

 

 Another time after Hill2hill he offered to buy me a coke. When we got to the team vehicle they told him they were leaving. He said I must take the money he was going to use to buy the coke- it was R200 note. When I refused he was very upset and said I was hurting his heart because he wanted to gift me, R200 is a lot of money for someone who has very little, I was really humbled.

 

I hope he does well in his race.

 

What an inspiring story!

[Gen]

drugs controversy behind him or not....I will be mega pissed off if he ends up winning this thing

Ja I am kind of with you on this one.. personally I feel there are far more deserving winners out there than him..regardless of his history I just sometimes feel that they (the pros) have it too easy.. there is no juggling jobs and families.. they can only focus on their training.. but hey that's just my opinion on the matter.

 

 

There are riders there having to juggle all sort of things and have overcome so much real issues in their lives just be on a bike

[Uni]

 

I hope he does well in his race.

 

I went looking on the list of riders for Sbu (or a Sibusiso) - found nothing. Went trawling on twitter - Mazwi Msimango? 

[EmptyB]

Ja it got quite hectic at a stage.

....those climbs towards the "end". Must be hell

[Jewbacca]

I wonder how I will feel about getting up after 2.5h.

hahahahaha

 

You get used to operating like that.

 

2.5 hours is generous. At Ea this year we went from day 2 to day 5 with less than 3 hours of sleep in total.

 

There are bad patches and there are good patches. Some of the hallucinations are amazing.....

[Gen]

....those climbs towards the "end". Must be hell

Have you read Amy's write up.. man quite a good read that.

[Thor Buttox]

Ja I am kind of with you on this one.. personally I feel there are far more deserving winners out there than him..regardless of his history I just sometimes feel that they (the pros) have it too easy.. there is no juggling jobs and families.. they can only focus on their training.. but hey that's just my opinion on the matter.

In ultra-ultra-marathons the performance of females to males improves quite radically. Wouldn't it be ironic if his 'low testosterone' came back to help him in an event this long...

[Gen]

In ultra-ultra-marathons the performance of females to males improves quite radically. Wouldn't it be ironic if his 'low testosterone' came back to help him in an event this long...

Ha ha ha.. if I am not mistaken he said here he would continue on the treatment[emoji53]

[mazambaan]

One mother tough race. Heroes all.

 

Chainsaw - suddenly got an allergy coming on; sniffles and all; saved to my inspiring SA stories.

[Gen]

Seriously guys..I have a 3hr ride planned today and I am trying to plan it to get the arse end of the heat and into early evening to avoid the heat and hoping the wind dies down.. I can not even imagine what pain and suffering they are going through.

[NotSoBigBen]

I have no experience of this extreme type of event but I have done a few 24hr races solo and in the last 3 I have not slept at all. Just kept going. I find that if I sleep I wake up all miff and take time to just get going ..... sleep deprivation in 24 hours is not really an issue but for the time these guys are spending out I think it definitely has an effect?

[EmptyB]

Have you read Amy's write up.. man quite a good read that.

Nope...will give it a read later. Cheers

[Gavmeister]

I went looking on the list of riders for Sbu (or a Sibusiso) - found nothing. Went trawling on twitter - Mazwi Msimango?

Sthembiso Masango.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[EmptyB]

Anyone have any idea how much sleep time last year's winner had?

[ichnusa]

2 hrs