Millennium challenge for the macho

South Africans have always liked macho sports events. "The tougher, the better" is like a motto to us. Over the years there have been a number of extreme events that have come and gone. Some have survived and taken their places in every sportsman's calender.

Among those that have established themselves in the greater sporting arena are the Iron Man Triathlon, held every year in late summer; the Washie 100-mile run between Port Alfred and East London and, of course, the country's most famous sporting event, the Comrades Marathon.

Only in South Africa could a 90-kilometre race with hills and heat be called a marathon - anywhere else in the world it would be known as an ultra-marathon and labelled insane, as the international standard marathon distance is just over 42 kilometres.

This weekend a few hardy souls are running, walking and surviving their way through the hills of Barkly East, Rhodes and Elliot. The challenge is called the Skyrun and is another 100-mile (160km) slog.

All the events listed above have one thing in common: they all take place on one day. (If disaster strikes, some of them could last longer than 24 hours, but in essence each of them will be run in a single day.)

Next year, however, an endurance event - the Millennium Big 5 - with a difference will have its inauguration. The difference is that it is a contest consisting of five separate and unique endurance events and it will take the better part of nine months to complete.

It is exciting and challenging enough that it should, like the Comrades, become a permanent fixture of the South African sporting calendar.

The Millennium Big 5 starts with the three-day Dusi Canoe Marathon in January. In February, challengers must swim the Midmar mile. In March they will head to Cape Town for the 105-kilometre Argus, Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour. There is a brief training respite in April and May and then Millennium challengers must run the Comrades in June.

The final leg of this arduous challenge is an ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro to be held in either August or September.

Initially, the enormity of the challenge takes the breath away, but when one realises that many endurance nuts take part in at least two of the events every year, it becomes less daunting.

I, for instance, paddle the Dusi and ride the cycle tour every year, while I run the Comrades on the odd occasion.

I only have to programme my mind for the slog up Africa's tallest mountain and then find a way to disguise the fact that I will be wearing children's water wings and the Midmar Mile becomes a possibility.

The latter event would be a real problem and a challenge for me. When it comes to endurance events, swimming is my Achilles' heel. While I like to frolic and play in swimming pools, swimming length after length or racing in the water is definitely not for me.

The thought of stroking my way across the murky depths of Midmar Dam for an hour really scares me. I have tremendous admiration for Penny Heyns, Ryk Neethling and Brenden Dedekind because they perform so brilliantly at something that I do so poorly.

If I want to complete the Millennium challenge I have to do something about this glaring weakness. The same applies to the rest of those who have taken up the challenge. All have strengths, and all have weaknesses. There are some interesting entrants who illustrate this point.

Mark Perrow has won the Duzi several times before and, with paddling partner Martin Dreyer, he should win the 2000 Dusi easily. However, Martin is yet to run a standard marathon, let alone a Comrades. He is understandably concerned about the finish line in Pietermaritzburg on the 16th June.

Alan Robb has more Comrades gold medals than any other runner in the history of the race. He also swam competitively for Transvaal Schools. He recently sat in a canoe for the first time, however, and my spies tell me his early paddling sessions at a local dam were quite amusing (he was under water so often, spectators believed he was taking Scuba lessons).

He is therefore very nervous about his January date with the Umgeni and Umzinduzi rivers. Other interesting entrants include Phillip Holiday, former world lightweight boxing champion. Boxing prowess may come in handy at the chaotic scramble at the start of the Midmar Mile.

Eighteen-year-old Janice Cohen is the youngest entrant and is also a South African kayak sprinter. The Dusi holds no fears for her, but everything else does.

The only competitor who seems totally oblivious to fear of the event is Cliff Andrew.

Cliff, an amputee, is confident he will get through all five events. Early research indicates that the Comrades is causing the most concern for entrants, then the Dusi.

I have a feeling the five days up Kilimanjaro might just prove to be the undoing of some of the more over-confident competitors.

Whatever the outcome, the Millennium challenge has a certain attractive quality. I have a feeling this is an event that will still be around at the end of the next century.

Anyone interested in taking part should phone Graeme Fraser on 082 433 0081.