I leave shortly for Swazi Xtreme, my 6th year at the race and my 4th consecutive year racing. This time is going to be drastically different. I'm racing with AR friend Evan Price (Team Tension Structures, Cape Town) and 2 celebs: Comrades King Bruce Fordyce and Egoli's David Vlok.
Most novices would have been reading AR.co.za, trying to learn about the sport before their first sprint, nevermind that this is arguably Southern Africa's most difficult race. These two? Nothing. They haven't even read my emails properly with clothing and equipment instructions! They're going into this completely cold turkey. And, despite my briefing on "What is AR" (complete with slideshow) and warnings of "this will be unlike anything you've ever done before" and "This isn't a running race where you just pull on your takkies and go", I still don't think they get the picture.
Last week Thursday Bruce called to ask "What are Ziploc bags?". On Monday he called to say that his shoes from Nike had arrived but he wasn't sure they were the right ones. "They've got leather all over and they're waterproof", he said. As I only got to see them last night (Tuesday night; we're leaving today, Wednesday) I was relieved to see that they're regular trail shoes and are right for the job. Last night Bruce did ask, "We'll be on roads and trails anyway won't we?".
Yes, I did start laughing.
I collected Evan from the airport this morning and we're all set to go. I can tell you that this is going to be one helluva experience for me and an even bigger one for them. *evil laughter*
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