Categories: South Africa
| On 6 years ago

Pretoria’s ‘Spiderman’ plans to walk 1 550km for charity

By Bennitt Bartl

Pretoria’s own spiderman, ‘Die Spinnekop’, is currently making his way to Krugersdorp on Day Two of his incredible journey between Pretoria and Lüderitz in Namibia, reports Centurion Rekord.

Eric Nefdt, 32, is attempting the 1 550km journey on foot, covering about 40km (or one marathon distance) a day for about 35 days to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation. And he is doing all this dressed in his iconic Spiderman costume.

READ MORE: Charity drive to keep South Africans warm gets on the road

When Centurion Rekord spoke to Nefdt on Sunday, he was making his way to Krugersdorp from Diepsloot, and was about halfway to completing the day’s journey.

“We started the first day at Lagom Café in Lynnwood, and I ran the 40km to Diepsloot, where I started this morning,” said Nefdt.

At Diepsloot, he met the Diepsloot Running Club, who joined him on his journey for Day Two.

“We started just after 08:00 this morning. There is also a man in a wheelchair who is doing the journey with me. He does a few kilometres every day.”

The first day and a half has not been without complications.

“My support vehicle lost track of me for about two and a half hours after I turned off on Ruimte Road and they kept straight on Old Johannesburg Road. I didn’t have my phone with me,” said Nefdt.

Luckily, some motorists stopped when they saw Nefdt’s iconic Spiderman outfit and offered some help.

“I couldn’t get any water, but one of the guys who stopped next to me had a beer so I ended up drinking half of his beer.”

Nefdt hopes to be in Krugersdorp by tonight, where he will be taking an overnight breather before his journey continues tomorrow to Holfontein.

He has also applied to the Guinness World Records to set a record for the furthest marathon run in a superhero costume.

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Read more on these topics: marathon