IN PHOTOS: Damien Kühn conquers 24 hours with a little help from his friends
Runners and walkers, fast and slow, joined the ultra-athlete for Run the Block.
Well-known Lowveld ultra-athlete, Damien Kühn, completed 141km during his 24-hour Run the Block over the weekend.
Run the Block started at 16:00 on Saturday, January 17.
A festive atmosphere reigned at Plato Coffee and along the 1km loop on Ehmke and Ferreira streets as friends and supporters joined Kühn on parts of the challenge.
Many jogged or walked with their dogs in intermittent rain, and chatter and jokes spurred on tired bodies and minds.
The starting squad ran clockwise around the loop and, as people walking and running with Kühn changed, they turned around and went anti-clockwise. Bored with this, some ran clockwise and others anti-clockwise.
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“The support was great and I think the event had a good number of entrants, given the format and the constant rain. It was great to see the number of young kids who came with their friends and did it as team building,” said Kühn.
While he did not achieve the distance he had aimed for, he still covered the equivalent distance of over one and a half Comrades Marathons. “I mostly felt good for the first 80km. I then struggled a lot with pain in my left leg. It was likely due to the camber in Ehmke Street. That eventually subsided. I made some fuelling errors also, but it is always good to test the systems and relearn what you think you know. My goal was 160km but I’m still happy with the 141km that I put up. I do much better when I don’t run in circles, but surprisingly I’m looking forward to hosting a similar event later this year.”
Kühn has a busy 2026 ahead of him. “I plan to participate in multiple 100km races this year, and the Mac Mac 200 Mile also. The schedule is quite tough, starting on February 28 with Beast 100km and then Pass2Pass 100km the following weekend. I’m excited for the year ahead and I’m embracing the kilometres to come,” he said.
During these races, Kühn will only have his body and his mind to conquer the path ahead. He will fondly remember the comradeship and spirit shared with others, running the same loop 141 times.
