Final Trans-Alpine post

Dear Smile Foundation Donors

We did it! Not that Karen and I hadn't expected to complete what we'd set out to do, but standing on the start line surrounded by majestic Alpine peaks it suddenly hit home what we were in for!!!

And looking around at the other competitors we wondered if we weren't totally out of our depth. The field looked strong and professional, a lot of runners fully sponsored by sports and nutrition companies, and all appeared to be in tip top condition, and thoroughly at home in the surroundings and conditions. We reassured each other that appearances aren't everything, we'd done the training and that a large part of success in these endurance adventures is in the mind anyway......so we did a final check on our shoelaces, held our heads up high, and were very happy when the starter's gun finally went off.

It was tough.(Again, not that we hadn't expected it to be!!) The next 8 days and 240km were a complete roller coaster mixture of hardship, pain, fun, excitement, exhaustion, feeling of achievement, camaraderie, education, awe at the magnificent scenery, all accompanied by an amazing feeling of togetherness amongst the 312 (in teams of 2) runners. The weather conditions were extreme for summer in the Alps, we had 3 days of snow and only saw the sun on days 2, 7 and 8. Running in snow and sub-zero temperatures was such a novelty for us Africans that I don't think we regarded it to be as much of a nuisance as some of the other competitors did. Numb fingers and freezing skin didn't prevent us from wasting quite a bit of running time taking photos until my digital camera announced 'system failure' and stopped working, at -10deg! In fact with the howling North wind, the temperature was actually lower, luckily the wind pushed us in the right direction - we had started in Germany and headed due South to Italy, via Austria and Switzerland. (Great map on the race website www.transalpine-run.com as well as plenty of photos, K + I appear on day 5, leaving the village of Scuol.)

Quite early on in the race we settled into a comfortable routine of getting out of our sleeping bags early, pulling on the same running gear (we all smelt as bad as each other so nobody worried) stretching achy muscles, eating a good continental breakfast and then lining up for another start. The terrain varied from easy mountain trails to ankle-wobbling scree slopes, from soft Alpine grass to iced-over boulders, never a dull moment, and a lot of the time we even had to stop chatting and concentrate on our feet! While the distance wasn't to be sneezed at, it was actually the daily ascents and descents (11 peaks in total) that were the main challenge, and of course the altitude. The organization was superb, our kitbags were delivered to each overnight village where we slept in schools (on classroom floors) sports centres (on indoor tennis courts) and even in an ice rink.

We ran well together, pulling each other along, Karen was stronger uphill and I took the lead on descents, so we went faster as a team than if it had been an individual race. We spent happy times getting to know folk at the back of the field and plenty of laughs, although still all competitive (but pretending not to be!) re our own positions within that part of the field. We managed to make the daily cut-offs, would have been a bit hectic to go all that way and be pulled off just because of one's speed, or rather lack thereof. But the best bit of all was our steady climb in position over the 8 days - from 148th on day 1(out of 156 starting teams) to a finishing position of 115th. (In the Women's category we finished 11th out of 16 starting teams.)

It was a phenomenal experience, and felt more like a journey than just a run with all the borders crossed and countries visited, and made all the more rewarding because of the money you all so kindly donated to The Smile Foundation - final tally is just over R49 000.00! We had no idea everyone would be so spontaneous and generous, maybe seeing it as offering plenty of reward for plenty of difficulty?!?? but as one friend wrote in the letter accompanying her pledge: “I am pledging money in gratitude for my own children's well formed faces - and because you, and NOT ME - are doing this race!” She also offered the opinion that we were barking mad to attempt such an event, but I would counter that by saying that none of us need focus on our limitations, rather rejoice in our abilities and have fun while doing so!

The Smile Foundation is always grateful for any fund raising efforts, no matter how large or small. We have since met one of the children who had an op during the most recent Smile Week which was very special - with no funds she would not have had that opportunity, and it has already MADE A DIFFERENCE to her. So many thanks to you all.....

with love from Karen and Jane.