Swazi Xtreme (Lizelle S)

This weekend was the 10th and final Swazi Xtreme. We all raced, in different teams. Lizelle Smit raced in a mixed pair with experienced racer, Nathan Thompson. They were the first placed pair. Lizelle has written of her experience at this race, her first multiday adventure race, below.

Must say, my body has never in my life ached this much, but can feel I am getting some of my strength back...hopefully. Must say I absolutely love telling all the stories about the race to all my friends and family. It sounds so hard core, guess due to the fact that it was a hard-core race. Here is a brief report on my experiences.

The Swazi Extreme was an event of ALL firsts for me. I did my first ever three-day non-stop event, my first proper river paddle, my first jumar and finally my first ever cliff jump. In a sense, I expected this race to be hard, being the Swazi and all, I had no idea however, it was going to be PURE TORTURE at some stages.

This event made me realise that no-one can ever be able to predict what will happen in an event. If the distance before the event states 250km, don't bargain too much on that figure. Luckily, with my more experienced racing partner Nathan Thompson, we were able to push through the painful moments, which mainly came about the last day, to
acheive a first place in the pair category. This race for me was about finishing at any cost, even if it meant I had only one hour of sleep throughout the event. I think in some stages the lack of sleep helped me to get over the fact that this was a HARD race....as I saw some cool elephants, big crocs and massive frogs jumping around, all of these minor illusions definitely gave me some funny moments to look back on.

At the end of the day my racing partner had to pull me through and he did it flawlessly, I realise that racing in pairs is a lot harder than it seems, especially if you are a girl, having to carry your own weight and all, yet I managed to do it. I have done some tough races in my life but this one was by far the most challenging. Having being able to finish it gave me the largest sense of acheive thus far in my life. Now trying to recover, I think back and all I know is that all the pain and suffering was WORTH IT!! Plus being pampered by loved ones afterwards makes it even more worth while ;)

I dare say that I look forward to planning my next adventure, as I am now, without a doubt, a complete adventure racing addict... hopefully I will remain one for the rest of my life, which in this sport may not get me to a 100, but who cares if you experiece the amazing things we have at Swazi Xtreme and to have met people that you otherwise would not have.

       Lizelle Smit