EL Good Samaritans help fellow runner
TWO East London adventure racers- turned-heroes gave up their chance to finish one of the toughest and most gruelling races in the country when they stopped to help an injured competitor.
Lauren Lincoln and Heather Joyce came across an injured Marina van Deventer just before the halfway mark of the gruelling 50km Liberty Health Rhodes Trail Run, held last Saturday .
Van Deventer had broken her ankle and was in considerable pain and the duo, along with two other runners, helped get her to safety at a checkpoint some 3km away .
Van Deventer, 51, a GradeR Pretoria teacher, underwent surgery on Monday following the accident, which saw a steel plate with eight screws being inserted into her ankle. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen when I started out," she said.
The Rhodes Trail, which was started 21 years ago in an effort to ensure the quiet hamlet did not "fall off the map", has a reputation for being a cold, remote and tough thin-air event. "Many runners who have run both the Comrades and Rhodes Trail say it's the far tougher event of the two," said organiser Darrell Raubenheimer .
"Held in a remote part of the country, it's extremely challenging in that it starts in sub-zero temperatures and climbs to an altitude of 2680m. Runners have to deal with icy cold rivers, rocky terrain, knee- deep snow and some dangerous sections where they literally run along the edges of rocky precipices."
The 2009 event was Van Deventer's first . "It's such an awesome race and it's always been one I've wanted to do," she said.
She had almost reached halfway when disaster struck.
"I was 3.4km from a checkpoint when I put my foot into a hole and my ankle turned over. I immediately knew something was wrong."
A fellow running club member put her on his back and they set off for the checkpoint. "We ended up falling so I told him and the others to leave me and carry on and finish the race," she said. "Everyone that passed me was so kind ."
A short while later, Lincoln and Joyce came across the stricken Van Deventer. "She was in quite a state when we got to her and she was crying and rocking backwards and forwards," said Lincoln.
Soon after stopping they were joined by Ross Lesser and Dr Anton De Munnik , an orthopaedic surgeon from Mpumalanga.
"She was incredibly fortunate that she had an orthopaedic surgeon running behind her," said Raubenheimer. "Using branches and plastic packets they made a splint for her broken ankle."
Joyce went ahead to get help from the mountain rescue team while Lesser and De Munnik dragged Van Deventer by her arms through the snow and Lincoln held her legs.
"She was crying out in pain, but was terrified about being carried on someone's back in case they dropped her," said Lincoln.
"At one stage we almost lost Anton over the side of a cliff because of the way we had to carry her."
The foursome were eventually met by the mountain rescue team, which transferred Van Deventer onto a stretcher. From there she was taken to Rhodes and then Pretoria .
"I definitely want to run it again ," said Van Deventer.
The Rhodes Trail is run on an invitation-only basis and invitations to the following year's race are forfeited if a runner fails to complete the course, so the four were risking their race next year .
But Raubenheimer said the invitations would not be withdrawn . "There was no way we could leave Marina in that state," said Lincoln. - By ANDREW STONE
Lauren Lincoln and Heather Joyce came across an injured Marina van Deventer just before the halfway mark of the gruelling 50km Liberty Health Rhodes Trail Run, held last Saturday .
Van Deventer had broken her ankle and was in considerable pain and the duo, along with two other runners, helped get her to safety at a checkpoint some 3km away .
Van Deventer, 51, a GradeR Pretoria teacher, underwent surgery on Monday following the accident, which saw a steel plate with eight screws being inserted into her ankle. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen when I started out," she said.
The Rhodes Trail, which was started 21 years ago in an effort to ensure the quiet hamlet did not "fall off the map", has a reputation for being a cold, remote and tough thin-air event. "Many runners who have run both the Comrades and Rhodes Trail say it's the far tougher event of the two," said organiser Darrell Raubenheimer .
"Held in a remote part of the country, it's extremely challenging in that it starts in sub-zero temperatures and climbs to an altitude of 2680m. Runners have to deal with icy cold rivers, rocky terrain, knee- deep snow and some dangerous sections where they literally run along the edges of rocky precipices."
The 2009 event was Van Deventer's first . "It's such an awesome race and it's always been one I've wanted to do," she said.
She had almost reached halfway when disaster struck.
"I was 3.4km from a checkpoint when I put my foot into a hole and my ankle turned over. I immediately knew something was wrong."
A fellow running club member put her on his back and they set off for the checkpoint. "We ended up falling so I told him and the others to leave me and carry on and finish the race," she said. "Everyone that passed me was so kind ."
A short while later, Lincoln and Joyce came across the stricken Van Deventer. "She was in quite a state when we got to her and she was crying and rocking backwards and forwards," said Lincoln.
Soon after stopping they were joined by Ross Lesser and Dr Anton De Munnik , an orthopaedic surgeon from Mpumalanga.
"She was incredibly fortunate that she had an orthopaedic surgeon running behind her," said Raubenheimer. "Using branches and plastic packets they made a splint for her broken ankle."
Joyce went ahead to get help from the mountain rescue team while Lesser and De Munnik dragged Van Deventer by her arms through the snow and Lincoln held her legs.
"She was crying out in pain, but was terrified about being carried on someone's back in case they dropped her," said Lincoln.
"At one stage we almost lost Anton over the side of a cliff because of the way we had to carry her."
The foursome were eventually met by the mountain rescue team, which transferred Van Deventer onto a stretcher. From there she was taken to Rhodes and then Pretoria .
"I definitely want to run it again ," said Van Deventer.
The Rhodes Trail is run on an invitation-only basis and invitations to the following year's race are forfeited if a runner fails to complete the course, so the four were risking their race next year .
But Raubenheimer said the invitations would not be withdrawn . "There was no way we could leave Marina in that state," said Lincoln. - By ANDREW STONE
