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Into the sea

Friday, 17 October 2008david_finish

After 100 days on the road the final sunrise of the journey was slowly edging its way across the sky, splashing colour into the drab dusk, burning away the morning chill in the sea air. I remember standing in front of the estuary at Kosi Bay and briefly thanking John for the months of dedication that he had put in seeing that we remained hydrated and fed on the road. There was a quiet rise of emotional feeling beginning to build up, it had been such a long, hard and a personal mental fight all the way, to keep myself in that zone with all the distractions going on around me on a daily basis. Yes I was mentally exhausted. Physically I was in a better condition, but this for many reasons had been a real test of mental strength. Switching on my Sports Tracker for the last time, I leaned forward and my body followed with an automatic engagement into muscle memory and off I ran, the last 18 km of the coast was slowly unravelling.

Slowly plodding up the sandy dune inland to the border post between South Africa and Mozambique, I will never forget the chorus of young voices that I heard floating down the valley from a school raising the flag and singing our national anthem, I looked up at the flag, bright and colourful flapping in the morning sun, it was just such a special moment, as I stared at it through my emotionally glazed eyes, a feeing of pride ran though me, yes I am proud to be part of this country.

The next stop was a sign that read 200m to the border, the excitement was now really building. The crew went ahead and got all our vehicles cleared as well as our passports stamped, it was an hour wait, but a welcome time just lying in the grass along the roadside and to reflect on what I had been through, the beauty I had seen, the people I had met along the coast and what this journey has come to mean to so many children.
The signal came from the crew we were cleared to go, up we got, flags in hand off we ran through the border crossing and on to Ponte de Ora. Hooting shouting waving and the rest on us went, winding along the maze of deep sand roads back down to the coast.

On entering the village of Ponte, the streets came alive with the excitement of our journeys closure, things were really becoming overwhelming for me, every emotion and feeling that I had controlled and suppressed over the past months, were now rising within. On we ran, but all I wanted was the sea, just to run into it and soak away all these feelings .Finally, there it was beautiful turquoise blue tropical water just calling, the waves were like open arms beckoning me. I sprinted down the beach with Braam and we ran into the sea. There was a massive wave which seemed to climb up towards us and stall as if it was the finishing line marking the end of our journey. As I hit the wave it seemed to explode into millions of particles and just envelope me. Drenched with emotion and the sea water I sank to my knees and quietly sobbed within.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to help make a difference.

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