“YOU got to be flippin’ crazy to do this race,” veteran Washie 100 ultra runner David “Butch” Duffey grinned maniacally yesterday afternoon, minutes before walking off to the starting line to try and finish race number 20.

About to join Derek “mad Murdoch” Parker, who has 20 finishes under his takkies, and 21-time trailblazer Eric Wright as only the third person to nail down 3200km between Port Alfred and East London, Duffey said the epic all nighter was a “monster that you just have to respect”.

“If you don’t, it will cut you down,” he wisely warned.

Part of a “lunatic fringe” of 32 male and 10 female ultra athletes brave – or crazy – enough to try the 160km moonlight meander last night, Duffey said once the bug bit it was hard to kick the habit.

“I love this race … I enter every time to finish.”

Although not running this year, Mad Murdoch’s polar bear hallucinations on the road are the stuff of legend.

“If you see polar bears in the Chalumna Cuttings, you are not in Antarctica – you are running the Washie,” veteran organiser Clyde Mountford quipped.

He warned “seconds” that tail the extreme athletes through the night to be extra vigilant and maintain visual contact with their charges from Bira until sunset.

“This is Africa I don’t want to make a big noise about past incidents…keep your runners in sight, there are a lot of sharks out there.”

Said Democratic Republic of Congo born Christian Kyony: “A friend of mine told me about the Comrades Marathon and I have now run five of them…the same lunatic told me about the Washie and I am now here I am running my first 100-miler.”

The race had become a family reunion as 10 of his family had come from Limpopo, Pietersberg and Johannesburg to second him.

Defending champ Mogale Piloso said the 16-strong navy team had set their sights on finishing three 100 milers in three months.

Selborne College schoolteacher Julie Patrick – and her all girl back- up team – said ywere doing “100 miles for 100 smiles” to raise funds for Carel du Toit hearing impaired centre.

Organiser Sandy Mountford said 12 people had entered a newly introduced 50 mile run – which would begin 80km outside East London at 5am this morning.

At the time of going to press at the 40km mark at Fish River, Piloso was leading the race in pleasant cool conditions, in a time of 3:39.20sec, from 28-year-old novice Johannes Bekker, who was 17 minutes behind and Manuel Alves, 49, of Gauteng in third position. - By DAVID MACGREGOR

Port Alfred Bureau

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