SA’s Endurance Legend Breaks Freedom Record… Again!
Seven-time Dusi champion and endurance legend Martin Dreyer breaks Freedom Challenge record again but fails in sub-10-day bid.
Seven-time Dusi champion and endurance legend Martin Dreyer breaks Freedom Challenge record again but fails in sub-10-day bid. – by Mike Finch
Endurance athlete and legend Martin Dreyer pulled off one of SA’s most astonishing endurance feats when he finished the 2300km Freedom Challenge from Pietermaritzburg to Wellington on Friday morning in a new record time – although missing out on his goal of breaking the ‘impossible’ 10-day barrier. Dreyer held the previous record of 10 days, 16 hours and 40 minutes but finished the 2017 event on Friday in an unofficial 10 days, 6 hours and 40 minutes.
Many believed that a sub-10 day time was impossible given the average daily mileage of 230km across tough, technical and unforgiving terrain but Dreyer was on track to pull it off going into the final 24 hours.
Dreyer, 49, faced freezing conditions and gale force winds over the last three days after having already survived on little sleep. But Dreyer, renowned for his mental toughness, is not one to give up easily, as evidenced by this Whattsapp message on Wednesday night: “Got klapped by a rain squall proper approaching MacGregor. Walked some when gale headwinds brought speed down to 5km. Not sure sub-10 on cards if wind persists. A great challenge…”
However, by Thursday, even the tough-as-nails Dreyer was battling: “That rain and gale wind this am was the straw that broke camels back,’ Dreyer lamented.
Dreyer survived a harrowing night through the treacherous Stettyns Kloof Pass near Wellington where he was forced to hike and battle through thick bush before finally making contact again early on Friday morning.
“Sorry guys/girls we didn’t get the sub 10 days,” Dreyer told a WhattsApp group tracking his progress. “Not to worry, nature punished me for it. Another story…. On the bright side we got a new record…?. You guys are legends, thanks from the bottom of my heart for your rad support. Best me put this baby to bed and finish the last 12km.”
Dreyer finally finished in Wellington at 12:40pm and was welcomed home by his wife Jeannie and kids.
The race, complete with 37000m of climbing, is considered one of the toughest mountain biking endurance events in the world after it was established in 2004 to decide whether Comrades runners or Berg River paddlers were tougher. Participants are given 26 days to finish with their only reward being the coveted Freedom Challenge blanket given to all who finish inside the cut-off.
Participants battle sleep deprivation, are faced with navigational challenges (GPS navigation is not allowed) and constantly changing weather that often includes gale force winds, snow and extreme cold. Dreyer, for instance, had only taken short sleep breaks of only 90 minutes at a time to fend off, what endurance riders call, ‘sleep monsters’.
The race – also known as RASA (Race Across South Africa) – takes competitors over tough technical terrain and through multiple mountain ranges from Lesotho to the Karoo and through multiple national parks, private farms and nature reserves.