Freedom Challenge... step ONE

The short story is…The Freedom Challenge we know as today was kind of a beautiful accident. A frustrated environmental lawyer thought it was a good idea to do his Comrades training by running from the finish of Two Oceans marathon at UCT to the Maritzburg startline of the Ultimate Human Race(the 89km road one, now known as the “Gerda Steyn Parkrun XL”). He managed to sign up one additional willing soul to join this pilgrimage, and they finished. Cool. While this massive human achievement has been recorded as wildly unremarkable it marks a significant development that we will refer to as Massive step ONE in this article.

The next year, it turned out the pool of people who can take off two months to footshuffle across the country was a limited sms group. It seemed like a better idea to flip the route and can Two Oceans, start with Comrades, ride a bicycle to the Berg river canoe marathon and make the most ridiculous Run/Bike/Paddle triathlon imaginable. The timing seemed “workable”. The small problem was that this lawyer hadn’t actually ridden a bike since high school so was pretending that bit was possible, and despite some pretty wide ranging web1.0 marketing managed to sign up just two more willing souls to join this wider pilgrimage (50% of these attendees was a blood brother who may or may not have lost a bet round the christmas table). They finished, and Massive step TWO became the first three riders to ride what is now known as the Freedom Trail (it was initially the #crosskaroo).

With great gusto, and the nostalgia of ten years of democracy the Freedom Trail Xtreme Triathlon Challenge was born (XTC). Word of mouth (and Web 1.1 marketing) got six people to the next starting line, and importantly this erstwhile lawyer was now in a vehicle juggling the circus instead of being a competitor (not sure what is easier). The event was an actual thing (and the plan at the time was to somehow sell timeshare in it).

Turns out, and history is a good record that,  the masterstroke was the middle leg. The bike section is just a bonkers amazing journey across the ever changing fabric of our incredible country to do that will change your life and anyone who has earned their blanket will fight your opinion on that down to the last stuk of droewors. The effort then justifiably went into maximising this offering and the concept of doing all three has waned over the years. While this is Massive step Three, and what we currently know as RASA - the flickering flame that is step Two still draws the occasional moth to this XTC nirvana. That is where things get sketchy. I’m part of a process to try and dig this amazing story out of the depths of a figurative Masakala donga but turns out the story is not yet done.

We have on unreliable evidence uncovered about 15 people who have completed this full XTC journey of doing a run+ride+paddle combo and being crowned as finished it. More than a handful have begun this journey and eventually faltered on the way to the Velddrif finish line - to no shame from the author, but rather a tear to their efforts. It’s a complicated thing as the timing and racing are moving parts and it’s become a background affair.

This is a moving story, both meanings intended. Firstly it seems no one has actually completed this hat trick since 2013 (would love to be wrong here - get in touch). Secondly, we have a new hero to follow and the story is hotter than a sealskinz drying on a Ntsikeni fireplace. Carel Botha blanket wearer #342. This YSTER signed up for the XTC in 2023. He finished the Comrades, he finished RASA, but he got caught out by the Berg and is an honorable mention in XTC folklore. More importantly, he is back. He finished Comrades on Sunday and is now trucking through the most insane FC winter craziness we have had since climate change got real serious. This author also did that selfsame Comrades on Sunday, while he was heading through the Umkomaas on his bike I was wondering if I would be able to tie my own shoelace this month of June. The cap doff to the front of the FC pack rider in Masakala is a solid one, watch this space - as long as I get this soap box this story will be shouted louder as the dot gets closer to Velddrif!

So the diligent might still be wondering what Massive step One was? It’s the actual trail, devised mostly over maps and phone calls in a time before google earth and then scouted on foot. Only for it to go backwards by bike (mainly) ever since.