Ballito’s Harry Botha (81) out desert duelling in Morocco
He is being symbolically supported by his Ballito running club, the Dolphin Coast Striders, with runners walking the journey with him on treadmills set up at the club.
Intrepid Ballito athlete Harry Botha is currently battling the elements to complete the gruelling Marathon des Sables (MDS), a desert footrace in Morocco – and he’s doing it as the oldest competitor at 81.
Well-known for his international athletic adventures, Harry joined the self-supporting race last Friday along with about 1 150 endurance racers from across the globe.
He is expected to carry his own weight in food, water, medical supplies, cooking utensils and more across the heart of the southern Moroccan Sahara over a distance of 242km.
Taking on and completing this mighty challenge has been Harry’s dream for the past three years.
He was on track to enter in 2019 but an injury prevented him from competing. And, of course, the subsequent years were missed owing to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Preparation for this year’s race has been tough. An operation for an umbilical hernia at the beginning of February caused temporary concern but Harry maintained he felt strong and would consider it a success to simply be at the starting line.
“After that, I will take the race day by day,” he said.
The Ballito running warrior has completed several epic adventures across the globe and is also the proud owner of the highly coveted Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star medal, which he earned by completing all six major marathons in Berlin, London, New York, Boston, Chicago and Tokyo.
He has run marathons across seven continents, including the North and South Poles, the Mt Everest Base Camp Marathon and the Great Wall of China.
“More people have reached the summit of Everest compared to the North Pole. And after visiting the six cities in the Abbott World Marathon Majors series, I looked for something different and found the MDS.
“It had become a burning desire for me, a goal like no other. I will never be fulfilled in my life as a runner until I have at least tried to complete the Morocco race,” he said.
He is being symbolically supported by his Ballito running club, the Dolphin Coast Striders, with runners walking the journey with him on treadmills set up at the club.
The 242km race is set across six stages, with the most gruelling being stage four, traditionally the longest. This year it will be 90km long, close to the record of 92km.
The start of the race on Friday kicked off with a storm sweeping over the bivouac, first bringing with it sand from the west, followed by thundershowers. Temperatures dropped to about 15 degrees.
The remaining stages will entail daily 30.4km stretches.
Follow Harry live by visiting marathondessables.com and entering his tracking number 969.
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