There aren’t many who are crazy enough to say yes to the question “who wants to run three days in a row without sleep?” but Bay ultra-marathon runner Steven Lancaster is one of them.
He’s doing it four times this year – and topping that feat by presenting the Galaxy Bingo ONE12run in Port Elizabeth on Sunday September 29 so folk in his home city can get a taste of it, too.
Lancaster is tackling his fourth “100-mile”(160km) race this weekend, starting the Karkloof 100 in KwaZulu-Natal at 8pm on Friday September 20 and finishing, if all goes according to plan, before sunrise on Sunday.
Heat, rain, plummeting temperatures and wind can increase the DNF – “did not finish” – rate considerably.
However, Lancaster is not as concerned about the weather, blisters and exhaustion as he is about getting lost.
“Although it is a marked route, you get tired and might miss a sign.
“There were so many goat tracks on the Drakensberg 100miler, for example, that that you might be 2m or 100m off.”
Lancaster is proof that grit can take you far – at one stage in his life he was so badly injured he thought he would never run again.
“After school I tore ligaments in both my ankles and it took 15 years before I could run 5km without pain.
“In high school I’d represented Eastern Province for hockey and loved running.
“After the injury I never thought I’d run without pain or be able to finish a marathon.”
But run he did and, like the movie character Forrest Gump, he has just kept on running.
Since then he has moved from track to trail, and undertaken longer and longer distances.
People often ask him why he clocks up so many kilometres and his answer is that it is for #RazeaBar, his personal project which raises funds for four charities: The Herald Christmas Cheer Fund; Children’s cancer charity Rainbows and Wishes; Rhino conservation outreach started (and still based in Port Elizabeth) One Land Love It; and the SA Veterinary Association’s Community Vet Clinics.
That keeps him going when running through an icy night, up or down a mountain, after a day without sleep.
“Perspective is a wonderful gift,” Lancaster said.
“Knowing there were others out there worse off than me that I could help with my efforts when in pain and zombie mode kept me alert enough to keep moving to the next goal.
“Thinking of the beneficiaries of #RazeABar helped to keep my head in this game. ”
The salesman at Cellucity has already completed three SA 100-mile races since the start of 2019 for #RazeaBar.
They are the Addo Elephant Trail Run, Mac Mac Ultra in Pilgrim’s Rest, Mpumalanga, and the Ultra Trail Drakensberg.
Because the Karkloof in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, is the fourth, he has called his 2019 efforts Run AMUK, after the first letter of each run.
Lancaster loves trail running and raising funds for charity, so much that he has organised an endurance event for the city.
Next weekend he will present Nelson Mandela Bay’s first ONE12run, an endurance trail run at the Grass Roof in Sardinia Bay.
The ONE12run kicks off at 6am on Sunday September 29 at the Grass Roof and, just to prove he is not alone in his madness, there are already more than 50 individual and team entries signed up to run without stopping until 6pm that day.
“People have asked often these two questions, and the ONE12run enables them to discover for themselves: ‘What’s it like to run for so long?’, and, ‘how do I step up from 5km to more?’
“Entering as an individual or a team allows me to be an enabler for people’s goals and dreams.”
However, unlike the 100milers he has been grinding out, thanks to the layout of the Grass Roof trail route, entrants will never be more than 900m away from the finish line.
“People often look for ways to give to reputable charities and ways to challenge their own limits,” Lancaster said.
“This is a way for them to do both in a sport I am thoroughly enjoying at an accessible venue for athletes, their families and friends to come and support.
“Running is not an individual sport, even if you have to do the effort by yourself.”
The organisers also have ensured a team of medics from ECMR will be on hand, and there will be refreshments galore on sale at the Grass Roof country restaurant and cafe.
For more information on the ONE12run follow the #Razeabar or ONE12run Facebook pages, on contact Lancaster on 076-027-5280.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.