Intrepid duo eat up miles to give smiles

Janine Oelofse GARDEN ROUTE BUREAU CHIEF

CAPETONIANS David Grier and Braam Malherbe stopped over briefly in Plettenberg Bay yesterday on their quest to run 3500km around the coastline of southern Africa to raise funds for Operation Smile SA.

The intrepid runners set off from Oranjemund in Namibia on July 1 and aim to hang up their running shoes in Ponta D‘ouro in Mozambique by mid-October.

En route, they will stop at Frere Hospital in East London on August 24 where they will meet the 70 children who are having their cleft lips and palates surgically repaired thanks to the funds the men have raised since 2006.

The run, known as the Cipla Spar Miles for Smiles Coastal Challenge, in association with Round Table SA, has seen Grier and Malherbe cover just over 1600km so far.

In 2006, the two men became the first people in recorded history to run the length of the Great Wall of China in one attempt, taking 98 days to cover 4200km and making it possible for 55 children to smile proudly following their surgery. At present they are covering about 45km per day, six days a week.

Grier, 48, is a chef and restaurant owner while Malherbe, 50, is an environmentalist and works in youth development.

“We wanted to make a difference in the lives of these children. It‘s just a 45-minute operation, but it changes their life forever,” Grier said yesterday.

“We also want to show kids that nothing is impossible. There is so much disillusionment these days and everyone wants to know ‘what‘s in it for me‘, but the greatest thing is the gift of giving,” Malherbe added.

“We want to help these children who feel ostracised, who can‘t talk properly and who feel ugly inside,” he said.

After the Great Wall run, pharmaceutical company Cipla, which sponsored the runners at the time, set up the Cipla Miles for Smiles Foundation specifically to raise funds for Operation Smile.

This year, Spar is co-sponsoring the run while Round Table SA is holding fund-raisers around the country for the cause. The South Cape Round Table, which stretches from Swellendam to Plettenberg Bay, has donated R48000 to Miles for Smiles, with the Plett branch yesterday handing over a cheque for R5180.

Both men said the community support had been amazing.

“As we left Knysna, all these children from the informal settlement kept pace with us and couldn‘t believe how far we‘d already come. This is a journey of hope and we‘re showing people there is hope for the future.”

Grier said he looked forward to meeting the children they had helped and to spending time with his own children when the run was over, while Malherbe said he was looking forward to finishing his book, which deals with their two ground-breaking runs and how it can relate to life.

Their logo traces their journey, a literal smile around Africa. To see their progress visit www.milesforsmiles.co.za