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One man, four giants, two world firsts and two Guinness World Record Attempts – he is an Awesome South African
“All of us face giants – but no giant is too big to face”. Jamie Marais
South Africa is currently facing massive challenges (Giants). Many people have lost hope and depression is currently one of the leading causes of death in our country, because people simple cannot cope with the stresses, realities and challenges they are facing.
As a response to the challenges our country is facing, Jamie decided to look for four of the biggest physical challenges he could take on – some of which have never been attempted before – as a way of inspiring people to realise that “No giant is too big to face”.
These challenges, collectively referred to as the “Four Giants Challenge” take place over a period of approximately 8 to 12 months in iconic settings such as Table Mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Tanganyika, the second largest lake in the world. His reasons for doing this are to promote awareness of the life-changing power of sport, to inspire people to believe in themselves and realise that “no giant is too big to face”, and to raise support for selected charities using his physical ability to help those with a physical disability.
Jamie’s first of four challenges will be to run up Table Mountain 24 consecutive times in a row, resulting in 72 kilometers of vertical running with a total vertical ascent of more than 18 000 meters. The second challenge will be an official Guinness World Record Attempt for “Greatest vertical height on a bicycle in 12 hours”. He will achieve this be cycling up and down the 18 Kilometer Du Toits Kloof Pass between 10 and 15 times in the allotted 12 hour period in order to break the current record of 9 400 meters. He will then face the third Giant – Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, where he faces the immense challenge of crossing the 676 km longest lake in the world on a Stand up Paddle board. With storm-driven waves of up to 6 meters, large colonies of hippos and some of the largest recorded crocodiles in the world, Tanganyika is an incredibly dangerous place and paddling for 10 to 14 days on a stand up paddle board will be a formidable challenge. Finally, Jamie will travel to Kenya where he will attempt a speed ascent of the highest mountain in Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro by running up and down in under 10 hours.
As a man who has overcome tremendous personal challenges including winning his own battle against teen drug addiction, Jamie believes that anything is possible and wants to inspire people to believe in themselves and to realise that “No Giant is too big to face”, and using his physical ability to help raise support for those living with a physical disability.
For more information and to follow the Four Giants Challenge (video), visit Jamie on Facebook
Jamies 4 Giant Challenges:
- Challenge 1: Table Mountain Climb twenty four times in a row – greatest number of consecutive summits ever attempted. This gruelling challenge amounts to 72 km’s and more than 18 000 vertical meters of climbing, nearly twice the height of Mt Everest. (Challenge window earmarked for week of the 18 – 22 of July 2016)
- Challenge 2: Du Toitskloof Pass Twelve hour Guinness World Record Attempt for “Greatest vertical height on a bicycle in 12 hrs”. This challenge will see Jamie cycling up and down the 15 km Du Toitskloof Pass in Paarl as many times as possible in 12 hours to set a new world record, with a target of breaking 10 000 vertical meters in 12 hrs.
- Challenge 3: Lake Tanganyika Stand up paddle the entire 676 km length of the largest lake in Africa, Lake Tanganyika. This challenge is extremely dangerous as the lake is highly unpredictable, seeing waves of up to six meters, not to mention 20 foot crocs & high hippo population. If conditions are favourable, Jamie will be attempting a 24 hour Official Guinness World Record for “Greatest distance on SUP in 24 hours, flat water”. Flat water being the key…
- Challenge 4: Mt Kilimanjaro Speed ascend / descend up and down in under 10 hours. 5898 m high. The biggest danger Jamie faces on this challenge is altitude sickness as he will be face more than 4 000 meters of vertical ascent into a low oxygen zone. Normally a six to eight day hike, running up and down the highest mountain in Africa in under ten hours is a formidable challenge.
Special accomplishments include:
- Jamie recently made history by becoming the first person to repeatedly run up and down the treacherous Lions Head mountain in Cape Town for 12 hours non stop, summiting 12 times in 12 hours and covering over 60 km with a vertical gain of nearly 5 000 meters. This is the greatest number of summits ever recorded in 12 hours. See video here
- He also competed on one of the top ranked elite cycling teams for several years between 2005 and 2008.
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