Robert tackling the mountain - with a smile! |
November 29, 2007
The Obudu Mountain Race is now in its third year and has grown in
popularity, with more than 20 international runners this year, compared to 8 the
first year. 100's of Nigerians try for the top money prize, running in
everything-- including barefoot and flipflops! It is a difficult challenge,
climbing just over 11 km through 21 hairpin bends up to a the plateau at the top
up at 1500 metres. Robert Warren and Richard Carroll ran for CERCOPAN and raised
a whopping 1.5 million Naira or about £6,000 for CERCOPAN. Incredible! Thank you
so much to all who donated, and to Robert and Richard for taking up the mountain
challenge!
Here is Robert's description of the day.
"There were just over 400 entrants to the race, including
elite athletes who had been flown in from around the world by invitation (and
very friendly people they were too). The top runners warmed up
by actually running before the race. Erm.....not so for us, having been totally
intimidated during the drive up the night before. The women set off at 8 am,
followed by the men 25 minutes later. The mountain is totally unrelenting. There
are just steep sections and steeper sections for the first 10 kilometres. About
half way up I was overtaken by some young children, and the only motivation left
was to crush Richard's time. That drove me on to what I felt was a great result
- an hour and twenty minutes for the 11.25 km climb, placing 143rd. But Richard
really went one better by cruising in only ten minutes later - all
achieved with no training at all! Between us we have raised 1.5 million Naira in
donations so far. A big thank you to my friends for their warm support of all
the hard workers at CERCOPAN! " Robert
You can still sponsor Robert and Richard until
the end of December - just click on
this link and give through JustGiving. Give today! |
