Strong body, strong mind gets runner through epic race
A local runner pushed his body and mind to the limits at the recent 37-hour trail race through the Addo Elephant Park
A strong mind and strong body is what local runner runner, Gerald Pavel, attributes to his successful completion of his second 100miler.
Describing the journey leading up to the race which required intensive training and sheer grit and determination on the day of the race itself, Gerald said it had been an incredible experience.
“The race was very technical with a 5640m elevation gain. There was a stretch of 17km after halfway that took me five-and-a-half hours to do. There were steep climbs with twists and turns of very wild territory!” said Gerald.
Conscious of the many people who supported him gave Gerald the courage to keep going making every one of the 161km count. “Thoughts of eveyone kept me going, especially when I was going through the tough physical and mental patches of the race. One of the realisations I came to is that the body is an incredible tool. It can do anything that you train or tell it to do. At Addo, I pushed my body beyond anything that it has ever done. I ran, walked, climbed, descended, and went through countless river crossings for 35 hours and 40 minutes. All in all I may have stood still or sat down for a total of about 25 minutes which included nature breaks, re-fueling at checkpoints and for the all-important medical check-up 111km into the race. In my life, I have never been up without sleep or rest for that long,” he said.
Gerald said runners who attempted the race needed both a strong mind and a strong body, working well together.
“A couple of times I had hallucinations along the way. A few times, the branches looked like snakes and I 'saw' a lot of other scary things. We were promised that we would feel the true thrill of running wild and we got it!” he said.
He thanked Charmain Shandu for the support , his dad Franz and mom Brigitta Pavel who came all the way from Austria to support him and see him run.
“Back home, I thank my kids and everyone that wished me well and tracked me and sent me words of encouragement, especially after reading about me in Berea Mail,” he said.
