Wilmar Sugar and Renewables’ Pieter Van Vuren is on his way to becoming a member of the world's exclusive 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Club.
The Sarina long distance runner completed the 250km Gobi March event in Mongolia last month, putting him halfway towards his ambitious goal.
To make 4 Deserts membership, Pieter has to complete four 250km, self-supported footraces organised by RacingThePlanet at locations around the globe.
“I’ve now got two RacingThePlanet ultramarathons under my belt – the Namib Race in Namibia last year and the Gobi March in June,” he said.
“My next one is in Greece in September this year and the last one will be in Antarctica in November next year.
“It's all about getting to Antarctica,” he said.
Pieter said the Gobi March, his 5th multi-stage ultramarathon, was an awesome experience.
“It was incredible scenery. It's like a desert but it's green," he said.
"Mentally, it was very tough. For the first few days, I really struggled but then for the last couple of stages, I felt strong.”
The race organisers provide tents and water but competitors must carry everything else they will need for the duration of the seven-day event.
“My pack was too heavy – it was 12.9kg,” Pieter said.
“For the first few days I walked quite a bit (60%-70%) because I packed too much.
“Once my pack became lighter, I ran nearly the whole thing because I felt a lot better. That was despite the fact that my blow-up mattress blew a hole on day three, so I had to sleep on the floor for the later stages of the race.”
Pieter said this was the first time he had gone into a multi-stage event without a mobile phone.
“There was no music or audio books; it was just me and my head. It reveals a bit about yourself,” he said.
“It's not like you have a lot of spare thinking time though. You have to constantly think about nutrition and when to drink water and the terrain is challenging, so you need to stay focused.”
Although about 80 runners from across the globe completed the race, Pieter said they mostly ran alone.
Pieter placed 30th overall, with a total time of 42:44:42.
He said he loved the challenge of ultramarathon running and believed the skills required to complete a race helped him at work, in his role as Group Manager Operations (Ethanol and Plane Creek), and in life generally.
“I think, mentally, it makes you a lot more resilient and probably more patient,” he said.
“It also proves that you can do anything you really want to. The body is an incredible thing.”