Mark Goulding, Lauren Greeff, Kevin Rodwell and Clinton Hardenberg racing with Nicki Goulding, Pam Goulding and Thursia Hardenberg seconding.

It was with much anticipation that we pulled into Malkerns Club to the sight of so many teams packing gear and ready to race. Later, we registered and got our maps on which we had to copy our CP points from a master map. The route was looking mighty interesting. The anticipation was thick in the air! After a hair-raising briefing we enjoyed a super pasta meal and then made our way to our accommodation on the “animal farm” where peacocks, roosters, horses and dogs went bump in the night…and before we knew it we were under the start banner and ready to roll!!

LEG 1- RUN/HIKE, SWIM, KLOOF 6 am –10 am day 1 Friday

LEG TIME: 4 hrs | RACE TIME: 4 hrs (accumulated race time includes time spent in transitions)

We set off just after 6am on Friday 28th May in the bunch and were soon hunting for CP1 in a marshy riverbed sucking in the chilly morning air. The first few CP's were to be found using a series of instructions based on magnetic bearings, which added a nice twist to finding them. After a bit of confusion we found CP1 hanging on a tree and kept going to CP2, where 2 marshals were hidden. A very refreshing swim through a dam took us to CP3 and certainly woke all the senses. We continued through pineapple farms, Mark got himself hooked on a barbed wire fence, pulling out a nice piece of flesh on his inner thigh- close call…charming. I just told him it looked fine (J) and we moved on soon coming to the Lusutfu River where our aim was to find an island with CP4 on it. After a bit of searching we spotted quite a strange sight of a soccer field on an island where CP 4 was hanging on the goal posts. We cleaned out our shoes after crossing the river and set off up a nice path that took us over a koppie where we popped out next to a road that lead all the way down to T1 and the rafting put in, where our seconds were waiting, after having met the local panga-wielding (although very friendly), wood cutting locals. They had set up transition in the direct path of the local cattle, causing much confusion.

LEG 2- RAFTING 10:30 am-3:30 pm day 1 Friday

LEG TIME: 5 hrs | RACE TIME: 9.5 hrs

The much-anticipated rafting was far beyond anything we could have ever expected. It was a brave leg to include in a race and turned out to be challenging but fantastic. In our team our members have rafted the Zambezi and the Nile, but there you have guides that choose your channels and tell you which way to lean, here, you're totally on your own. Yes, we had vague directions, hints and some orange stickers to follow, but when you're pumping down the river, you lose track of what rapid you're on and so it was just when in doubt stick to the left most of the time!! We only portaged the “toilet bowl” rapid which was frightening, but shot all the others and got some awesome photos on our underwater camera. Mark and I decided to shoot this one waterfall rapid, thinking we'd make the most of the rafting and there wouldn't be many other big ones….how wrong we were!!

All of us had times when we got a bit bashed up on the rocks further down the river and Mark's paddle had a huge attraction to the back of my head. Kev got stuck alone in the boat on the “DSTV” rapid and I eventually lost my paddle on “the bulge” rapid because Mark and I flipped the boat. I was left hanging on a massive boulder and jumped into Kev and Clint's boat as they came past, as we went around the corner we picked up a very battered Mark and pulled him into the boat as well. It was quite a sight with all 4 of us on 1 boat, chasing our other floating boat down the river, but all in all it was an awesome leg. The water was HUGE and the experience quite unforgettable! Mark paddled the last 2kms by himself with me hanging on in the front. We were suppose to scout a few of the rapids, but every time it was too late and we were on the rapid before we could do anything and just had to hang on and hope for the best. What a rush!! On the way we had clipped CP5 and CP6.

LEG 3- HIKE 3:30 pm-4:15 pm day 1 Friday

LEG TIME: 45 mins | RACE TIME: 10 hrs 15 mins

We set off from T2 with Team Jungle, and made our way to T3 where our seconds gave us a quick bite to eat and we got ready for the biking leg. Something about my “dry” bag didn't work and everything was soaked, so I swopped some gear for dry gear before we set off. At this transition we found our seconds rather stressed. They were anxious about us on the rafting leg (without experience or river guides) and had been subjected to a booming McCain's truck for hours. It seems that the “musical transitions” lend a whole new dimension to races, but can't compare to the quiet sounds of the bush.

LEG 4- MOUNTAIN BIKE 5 pm-11 pm day 1 Friday

LEG TIME: 6 hrs | RACE TIME: 17 hrs

The first section of this bike leg to T1S was quite straightforward, a few steep hills and losing the daylight, we chatted along the way to Team Jungle and another pair team and were soon climbing some horrible hills into the mountains. We punched CP7 on the fence and later popped out on top of the ridge with a stunning view of the valley lights down where we had been earlier and then we just kept descending and climbing past quiet rural farms for what felt like ages. The marshal at CP8 warned us again about the XL descent coming up and mentioned that a few people had already come off their bikes, so we set off down what is definitely the steepest and roughest downhill I have ever been down, I spent some time on my bike, but mostly I ran down hanging on for dear life. When Clint got to the bottom he swore he had seen a poster that said, “Chuck fears Darron Raw”, he said he wasn't hallucinating and that it really was there! We punched CP9 at the bottom of the hill with wide grins and the adrenalin pumping before making the short ride into T4.

Our seconds were very glad to see us in one piece after that downhill and gave us some nice warm food and told us that some of the teams were having a bit of a sleep before the mammoth hike we were expecting. After stocking up on supplies and getting warm we decided to push on without sleep at midnight after 18 hours of racing.

LEG 5- HIKING & KLOOFING Midnight Friday– 5:30pm Saturday day 2

LEG TIME: 17.5 hrs | RACE TIME: 35.5 hrs

After initially looking for a bridge to cross the river which we didn't find, we continued up the river on rough cow paths, following a fence line most of the way, we had to backtrack and retrace our steps quite a few times, eventually losing some time trying to decide if we were still on the main river or a tributary of it. We were pretty tired by then and decided to sleep next to one of the CP points on the 120km race until it got light.

The night sky was so incredibly clear with millions of stars lighting up the sky. Mark suggested we see how many shooting stars we could count, but I think we were asleep before he even finished his sentence! We camped down for 1.5hrs of sleep and awoke with the daylight when straight away we saw where we were and crossed the river along a little wall, made our way through some cultivated land and crossed a great footbridge over the Ingwempisi River. We were now on the right track and followed a great path next to the river. At one point we saw teams (Bearing Man and another) on the other side of the river hanging on precariously to rocks as they tried to traverse the steep sides. At some point we crossed the river (fresh morning swim) and then proceeded to do some ugly bundu bashing all the way to CP13. As we got there Darron landed in the helicopter and reassured us that we were now on the hiking trail and the path would be better. Well, the only difference was that we were now following little white painted footprints, but the terrain was just as difficult to get through.

Team Jungle caught up to us along the way. They were going at a great pace after having a good sleep at T4. Bruce and David interviewed us, curious as to our sleep strategy and how they could catch up to us after they stopped to sleep for a good 4 hours or so at T4. That's the beauty of the unpredictability of AR; you never quite know what's going to work out best in each different race. Our team doesn't usually sleep out of the comfort of a transition and this race proved to us that we won't try sleeping out in the bush again if it can be avoided, it's very uncomfortable and cold!

We overshot the turn of the trail up the mountain a bit, but backtracked and were soon climbing our way up to a beautiful waterfall and awesome view of the valley below. Once again we lost the little white footprints and wasted some time, but got going again making sure we could see the next footprint from the one we were at to keep us on the trail. The trail led us over a ridge and down towards CP14 at Khopo Lodge. The lodge was bizarre but stunning, built into the big boulders, with sweeping views of the valley, an outdoor shower perched on one of the rocks and bunk beds with trees forming the supports of some of them. We followed a track up and around to T5, as the sun was setting, where our super seconds spoilt us with foot rubs and good nosh.

Thursia, Pam and Nix, you were brilliant, I know the waiting was very long, but you did such an awesome job encouraging us and feeding us so well. It was here that we heard of the adventures of our seconds. After leaving T4 around 01h00, they had battled for about 3.5 hours to find the turning to T5. After many, many U-turns and a narrow escape with a drunken driver, they gave up and went back to Malkerns Club to camp until morning, knowing that time was on their side. They too discovered how much easier “navigation” is in the daylight. The hike had taken us 17.5 long hours, and besides sore feet we felt good. We had a 1-hour sleep before setting off into the night at 8pm on the bikes.

LEG 6- MOUNTAIN BIKE 8pm Saturday– 10:30 am Sunday day 2

LEG TIME: 14.5 hrs | RACE TIME: 52.5 hrs

We were expecting the ride to take us about 6 hours, but as AR goes, this certainly wouldn't be the case. We went via OP2 and followed the rough jeep track, climbed out of the valley and descended down another. It was here that we turned off the track too early, which resulted in a very extended way of getting down to the Ingwempisi River again. A local pointed us in the correct direction and we followed a jeep track down to CP15 at a new camping hut before turning around and climbing back up the same track to the main road. We continued along for a few km's, with Clint fighting off the sleepmonster on his bike, until our next decision came of choosing a route to CP16. We hunted for a track; wasting some time with our rather slow scouting (dead of night, tired scouting) but eventually got going again. This path turned into more of a track, before becoming a cow path again. The next section was quite a haul as we climbed up and through a neck with our bikes on our backs. What was that about “hiking up hills and riding down them???” We passed some very quiet houses and soon saw the flashing light of CP16. We had to write in our own time here, which for us was 2:20am, none of us had a pen so I scrawled it in with a piece of charcoal we found on an old fire. Wow had we been out with our time estimate…you never know what the Swazi Kingdom is going to throw at you out there.

Our next section went a bit pear-shaped as we climbed through another neck and past some plantations. Mark got us on the correct road but unfortunately we went down a road to the left of the more main road and descended too far. By this time, the sleepmonsters were biting and we decided to have a sleep until it got light so we could then work out where we were. It was so cold and we lay down in someone's driveway but didn't even really sleep coz we were shivering too much. Clint kept a watch on our bikes and when a local came past he asked him for some directions (which were totally off course). His 2 companions were so freaked out when they saw these bodies wrapped up on the side of the road that they screamed blue murder and ran off up the road (we think they had been drinking!). Our “sleep” from 3:30- 5:30 was horrible, so we got going and realized that we had only been about 1km from the correct road all that time…Quite frustrating but we pulled ourselves together and soon popped out at the tar road. We flew along to OP3 and enjoyed the fast descent into yet another valley. There were so many kids along the way yelling and waving at us in the early morning.

We found CP17 hanging on the fence of a school and kept going. A 120km team, Tropic of Capricorn got there at the same time as us, it was nice to see some other friendly faces. Clint's chain decided to break just after this, but a quick fix got us on our way again, with Clint's 2 new little friends running along next to his bike, giving him a push. We hesitated with our decision of which road to take down to the tar as one local had told us a bridge was washed away, so we took a little longer route to get down. Here we realized we really needed to push ourselves as time for finishing was becoming as issue. We made our way passed OP6 and climbed an awful hill to the top of the mountain. Team USN drove passed us in their car right near the top and yelled encouragement to us, thanks guys, you made that last bit much more bearable! We rushed down the other side, chasing cows and goats off the road eager to finish the leg. The punch was missing at CP18 so we pushed on. All of us ran out of water in this next section about 1.5kms from the end of the leg….good timing indeed! It was such a relief to pull into T6.

We had been out for 14.5 hours, arriving here at 10:30am. Our seconds were about as glad to see us as we were to see them! The transition was in a cut area of “plantation”. Our seconds had arrived at about 22h30 the night before and set up camp as best they could. It seems the 3 of them had also succumbed to the effects of sleep deprivation and spent about an hour giggling at vegetable jokes while cooking a Pasta & Sauce dinner before getting some much needed sleep, in a cozy tent, I might add, not someone's driveway.

Clint made us all laugh by insisting that “they roll up the tar roads at night in Swaziland”…a fact we'd all have to agree with.

The next decision left us a bit disappointed. We were told that there wouldn't be time to get through the kloofing section and we were to just hang around and go down to the ropework later and go through after the other teams. By the time the whole process of waiting around from 10:30am, getting the ropework done and getting back to T6, we had been there for 6.5 hrs, which I'm sure would have given us enough time to complete the leg. We still feel a bit hard done by but were told we'd get an estimated time for the leg and an official finish…but it still feels horrible to not have done that leg. The delay did, however, allow time for Thursia and Pam to give us Arnica leg rubs. We are so spoilt.

LEG 7- ROPEWORK 12:30 pm –5 pm Sunday day 2

LEG TIME: 4.5 hrs | RACE TIME: 59 hrs

The ropework itself was awesome, a positive being that we got to do the team abseil as well (from the 120km course), which was the best abseil I've ever done for that reason alone. To abseil down with all 4 of us at the same time was something unique and we stopped on the way down to take photos. Clint is a sports action photographer in the making, he clicked away with his digital camera for the whole race, sometimes flying past us on the downhills, one hand on the handle bar and the other snapping away…really awesome Clint, thanks!! We punched CP22 at the bottom of the abseil and set up for the belay.

After completing the belay our next wait was unfortunately affected by another team's one member who froze on the ropes (sorry don't know the whole story, but it took ages for us to be able to jumar). After sitting on the ledge for about 2 hours we could each start our jumar. The slippery rocks made it a bit tricky, but the view was amazing. A rather scary climb up the rope “ladder” in 2 very thin looking trees lead to an exhilarating Tyrolean Traverse across the waterfall…WOW! Thoughts running through my head were how much weight the harness could hold, would those skinny sapling trees hold the ropes up and what if a rope snapped???? We each made our way through the ropework, punched CP23 and were soon rushing up to T6 to get the race over and done with.

It was also super for the seconds to be able to watch the ropework section. Thanks to Darron for his “second friendly” races.

LEG 8- MOUNTAIN BIKE 5 pm- 6pm Sunday day 2

LEG TIME: 1 hr | RACE TIME: 60hrs

We flew via OP5, took one wrong turn, got our first puncture for the whole race but then made our way passed CP25 and as it got dark found our way all the way back to Malkerns. The feeling of being so close to the end is one of the best feelings of accomplishment, we raced into the end at 6pm, having raced for 60 hours exactly! What an awesome feeling! We came in as team 15 out of the 23 that started the 200km race, 40 mins or so behind the previous team.

After some chatting and a beer we jumped in the cars and checked into our hotel, what a fabulous idea Mark. Comfy beds, delicious food and a good sleep saw us ready to tackle the drive home the next morning after visiting some craft markets and the Swazi Trails offices. The weather was rainy and miserable and I just kept thanking my lucky stars that it didn't rain during this fantastic race….

Clint, Kev and Mark, you guys are so awesome to race with, never a bad word spoken, never a raised voice or an argument…I couldn't ask for better teammates, thanks for an unforgettable experience! Mark, how you keep your concentration on the navigation is beyond me, well done to you (and Clint for all your help) you did a great job!

To Pam, Nix and Thursia for your super seconding, we REALLY appreciate all the time and effort, all the encouragement and support and for helping to keep us going through our longest race (in terms of hours) to date.

To our great sponsor KREATURE.CO.ZA, thank you for your support, you certainly make competing in these races possible. Thank you for the use of the Zartek radios as well, which enabled our seconds to chat to each other, while driving in 2 cars through the dark of night in the middle of the unknown. www.kreature.co.za

To K-WAY for our racing tops, thank you, they looked great. We appreciate your contribution.

We finally conquered a Swazi Xtreme, thanks Darron and your helpers for an amazing race, we'll definitely be back again. To Gustav and Roc ‘n Rope, the ropework section was intense but good fun, thank you! «