100km in Mauritius
Alan Barnes took on the mighty Mauritius Challenge for WaterAid:
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| Alan Barnes with his Mauritius Challenge medal |
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I first came across WaterAid in late 2003, when Diageo Plc worked with them to fund a three year project in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. I love running, and I love Africa.
In April I completed a 100km challenge in Mauritius.
We started at 5am, with 72 head-torches winding their way up the first of far too many hills. As the sun came up and it got hotter the going got tougher. I have tired, feeble knees, ankles and Achilles and wasn't ready for this!
It was all off-road, over unforgiving rocky tracks, up and down steep forest paths with treacherous tree roots, across rivers and through mud. It grew dark at 6pm and I still had 30km's to go.
I had started the steep descent, from 600m to 40m in 5kms, through the forest when darkness closed in.
Once at the bottom, and immediately I turned to face a 700m climb in 5kms. The path was narrow, slippery, rocky and very steep. The soup never tasted so great a the top!
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| Alan enjoys a well-deserved beer |
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I finished through the sugar cane fields and came in 30th out of the 45 finishers. Most importantly, I raised £5000 that will make a difference to people who deserve it most.
A little sweat, a few falls and a tired body is a very small price to pay if you can assist just one person to live a better life.
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