Saturday, April 19, 2025

August 29, 2013

The Continental Run2Stop Challenge Is A Race Against Hunger [VIDEO]

Ladies and gents, boys and girls, allow me to jog your memory. Last year you may have caught wind of the Continental #Run2Stop challenge. What is that, you ask? Let's pause here for a second. Watch the video above to get the gist of of the thing.

Ladies and gents, boys and girls, allow me to jog your memory. Last year you may have caught wind of the Continental #Run2Stop challenge. What is that, you ask? Let’s pause here for a second. Watch the video above to get the gist of of the thing.

Got it? Good. Let’s get up to speed on the format.

Over the course of the Run2Stop Challenge, two teams will run, cycle and complete community upliftment projects in order to win what amounts to a fairly brutal five day race spanning the length of Gauteng, and the North West Province. Teams are composed of the following:

  • One professional runner
  • One professional cyclist
  • One member of the public runner
  • One member of the public cyclist
  • Two celebrities
  • One blogger
This year, that last one on the list is me. Heads up: I’m much better at complaining about being sore and tired than I am at writing, so I’ll attempt to combine the two activities when I report back from the challenge every day from 4 to 8 November.
I’ll have to perform one goodwill challenge per day (calling my parents doesn’t count) varying in difficulty and duration. The race organisers tell me that my tasks can be just as physically demanding as the athletic legs of the race. But if I’m truly honest with myself, I’m glad I’m not the guy who has to run 30 kilometres every day, for five days in a row.

That’s not to say that I won’t have bleeding fingers at various points along the way.

What you have here is 19,000 meals packed in one day.

The race starts in Joburg, and heads to Potchefstroom, before moving on to Phokeng, Cullinan, Vereeniging, and finally back to Jozi.

Why should you care?

For one thing, I think you’ll enjoy watching me suffer.

For another, you can help me win the race. And if I do, I will join my team on a trip to the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil. And you might just come with us. But more about that later.

But on a more important note, the Run2Stop Challenge is designed to make you guys aware that there are thousands of kids in South Africa who are intensely hungry every single day of their lives, and there’s very little that they or their parents can do to make it out of that situation without a leg up. It’s a beautiful race, sure, but it’s also a reminder that there kids in our country who did nothing to deserve the life that they have, and they need your and my help.

For now, keep up to date with the vibe at run2stop.com. You’ll be able to check out the route, some rad images of our genuinely lovely country, and training tips for the next time you’re planning on packing food parcels until you get clawhand.

You can also follow Continental on Twitter here, and on Facebook for the latest progress, here.

Alright! I’ll check in next week. Please give me positive re-enforcement.

Streak