Afritrex - Project News

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING AFRITREX, posted on 21 Jun 2009 by Ben Southall
My first Australian dive, and I loved it!, posted on 10 May 2009 by Ben Southall
The final few days before departure...., posted on 29 Apr 2009 by Ben Southall
Finally the sun shone over Easter!!, posted on 15 Apr 2009 by Ben Southall
WOW....I'M OFF TO AUSTRALIA AS ONE OF THE FINAL 16!!!, posted on 05 Apr 2009 by Ben Southall
AWESOME A PERSONAL BEST!!!, posted on 30 Mar 2009 by Ben Southall
And so now we just sit and wait I suppose!!!!, posted on 23 Mar 2009 by Ben Southall
The Best Job in the World…., posted on 03 Mar 2009 by Ben Southall
AFRITREX IS OVER...., posted on 02 Jan 2009 by Ben Southall
Libya is gone!! We're waiting for a boat now!!, posted on 26 Dec 2008 by Ben Southall
The dirt has ended, the tarmac is back..., posted on 04 Dec 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE NINE COMPLETED....., posted on 26 Nov 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE EIGHT COMPLETED!!, posted on 30 Oct 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE SEVEN COMPLETED.....ON TOP OF AFRICA!!, posted on 16 Oct 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE SIX COMPLETED!!, posted on 30 Sep 2008 by Ben Southall
RWANDAN RUNNING....., posted on 21 Sep 2008 by Ben Southall
A Land Rover advrt from Africa....for your amusement!, posted on 09 Sep 2008 by Ben Southall
LOGISTICS AND PLANNING....., posted on 23 Aug 2008 by Ben Southall
8th AUGUST UPDATE, posted on 08 Aug 2008 by Ben Southall
Heading north...., posted on 31 Jul 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE FIVE COMPLETED!!, posted on 18 Jul 2008 by Ben Southall
VC180 UPDATE, posted on 04 Jul 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE FOUR COMPLETED!!!!, posted on 16 Jun 2008 by Ben Southall
SO HERE WE GO......., posted on 12 Jun 2008 by Ben Southall
THE COMRADES IS UPON ME........, posted on 09 Jun 2008 by Ben Southall
THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA IS CONQUERED……, posted on 02 Jun 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE THREE COMPLETED!, posted on 30 Apr 2008 by Ben Southall
WE'RE OFF AGAIN!!!, posted on 09 Apr 2008 by Ben Southall
A WEEK AND WE’RE OFF…….., posted on 03 Apr 2008 by Ben Southall
TWO BECAME ONE....., posted on 26 Mar 2008 by Ben Southall
THINGS ARE CHANGING...., posted on 13 Mar 2008 by Ben Southall
WE'VE NOW GOT TO MALI!!, posted on 27 Feb 2008 by Ben Southall
The SAHARA HAS BEEN CROSSED, WELCOME TO SENEGAL!, posted on 10 Feb 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE TWO COMPLETED!!, posted on 27 Jan 2008 by Ben Southall
CHALLENGE ONE COMPLETED...., posted on 22 Jan 2008 by Ben Southall
MOROCCO UNTIL THE END OF JAN...., posted on 06 Jan 2008 by Ben Southall
AFRITREX IS ON THE ROAD, posted on 02 Jan 2008 by Ben Southall
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN...., posted on 23 Dec 2007 by Ben Southall
READ ON IF YOU'VE RECEIVED A POSTCARD FROM US!!, posted on 28 Nov 2007 by Ben Southall
SNOWDONIA WEEKEND REPORT, posted on 30 Oct 2007 by Ben Southall
UPDATE W/E 14TH OCTOBER 2007, posted on 14 Oct 2007 by Ben Southall
LOGO'S ARE ON...., posted on 23 Sep 2007 by Ben Southall
WINDSOR HALF MARATHON CANCELLED, posted on 20 Sep 2007 by Ben Southall
SO HOW DO WE STAY HEALTHY WHILST ON THE ROAD?, posted on 06 Sep 2007 by Ben Southall
ONE OF OUR SUNDAY PRACTICE RUNS...., posted on 22 Aug 2007 by Ben Southall
NIGHT TIME SHOTS, posted on 14 Aug 2007 by Ben Southall
So now the training really starts!, posted on 06 Aug 2007 by Ben Southall
Petersfield Post article, posted on 26 Jul 2007 by Ben Southall
Hotel Afritrex is now ready to accept guests...., posted on 15 Jul 2007 by Ben Southall
Fitting our home, posted on 01 Jul 2007 by Ben Southall
Let the project commence...., posted on 04 Jun 2007 by Ben Southall
COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS, posted on 20 Nov 2007 by Ben Southall

RWANDAN RUNNING.....

RWANDAN RUNNING!!

The training continues unabated and I’ve upped the frequency and length of my training runs in preparation for the next three challenges, all of which fall within the next 5 weeks; the ascents of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro and the Nairobi Marathon.

We have great distances to cover through east Africa to enable me to be in the right place at the right time to even stand a chance at successfully completing the challenges and this is proving difficult with long hours spent behind the wheel on ‘interesting’ roads!

Finding time to train is difficult too, recently we’ve adopted the ‘Bre drives, I run’ policy which has given me a great chance to run alongside her through some awesome environments and scenery never knowing what hills, surfaces or roads are likely to be experienced!

So into Rwanda we went and into one of their national parks, the stunning Nyungwe Forest Reserve. Rainforest shrouded hills with mists clinging to them, Columbus moneys running into the bush, steep inclines and descents to test my legs and humid, sultry conditions….perfect!

Well I thought it was perfect; the running was good, the heavens opened and drenched me which was amazing and then a Toyota Hilux drove past full of armed military and police, out hops a little jobs worth and asks me to stop which of course I did as his colleagues were carrying AK47’s!

He asked me if I had a letter of permission which would allow me to run within the park…..of course I didn’t, and where would I have got one from anyway! Then added that as Bre had taken a photo of me I would also need to pay the commercial filming fee of $2000!

I explained what Afritrex was all about, handed him my card and business plan with wet, sweaty hands and explained to him the necessity of training and some of the other extreme locations I’d run in…..the Sahara, Nigeria, the Atlas Mountains etc and that I thought this would be another great place to add to the list.

Not having a word of it he insisted that I got changed and with their escort left the park immediately! Not a time or place to be arguing so I obliged and very, very slowly drove the remaining 20kms out of the park stopping every km to take another ‘tourist – not commercial’ photo!

An amusing episode……

Ben