THE RUN FROM THE SEA TO THE STARS

This youtube movie pretty much tells the story, I had very little footage as I did not want to waste funds on bringing a person along to film,
so the pictures are not the best but at least it gives a good idea of what went on during my days.

The route -- here [right] is a map of the route taken, starting in Kenya, from the coast line of the Indian Ocean, across country, into Tanzania, then up the mountain.

I believe it was the first time anyone has attempted this route running the whole way from absolute sea-level to the top of the world's highest free standing mountain, and the thought was to make it an annual race, but after doing it... not so sure it would work for a few logistical reasons.

To be honest I did not enjoy myself at all, and each day was just a count down to finishing the run. I tried not to focus until I was at least half way through the run. Terrible things happened like on Day Two when I urinated pure blood; I did not know what this meant and had nobody to ask! It was uncomfortable and all the way I felt one inch away from getting a stress fracture. I kept on going because simply put failure was never an option.

It was only after completing Day Three that I started to relax and believe that I would be able to finish in good health. The strange thing was that all my worries had been whether I would be able to get up the mountain as fast as I planned; to be honest that was the easy part!

Two other people attempted this run along with me, Rodney Cutler and Mina Samuels. Although we started the first couple of kilometers together from Mombasa Iafter just ten minutes I found myself running alone as they were going to attempt to walk and run the journey -- mine was a run apart from the time I spent drinking water. However neither Rodney or Mina completed the challenge: Mina quit on the first day due to blisters, and Rodney quit at lunch time on the second day albeit after a gallant effort on day one. [Although both continued on the route using their Van and then jumping out at select stages to run parts each day, & then in Tanzania they went on a 6-day trip that would take them up Mount Kilimanjaro as noted in an Esquire Magazine article by Peter Martin].

Looking back the run has become more special than when I was doing it. It was only when I got back down to the bottom of the mountain that I realized I did not even really look at the view once I got up. Basically as soon as we had taken the pictures on the peak we ran down the mountain; it was not a holiday, it was a fund raising mission.

I had not even planned for that part of the trip! My plans actually had been very, urm, scant. On Day One when being roasted by the sun I had a little thought, "Hm, it might have been a wise idea to pack some suncream!" As far as medical went I had a toothbrush and toothpaste. The great part about the run was no blisters, no injuries... although one day all my quadriceps muscles on my right leg went a dark brown; I figured this must be from all the pounding I was giving my legs by running such a distance.

Before the run it was all about fund raising, the is the pre-run video [below] used for fund raising. Weird to see how very accurate it was in its depiction.

The film was put together by an extremely talented woman from Brooklyn called Pilar Newton, and she very kindly donated her services free of charge.

I would also like to thank so, so many others -- all the people who stood by me and donated, especially Shmuel Harlap who made the trip possible by his personal support.  Thus I dedicate the run to Shmuel.

I never dreamed it would turn into a $131,311 fund raiser, and that was just my donations. Rodney Cutler and his team also did a fund raiser around this event - especially with the team climb: Dr. Rick Nierenberg a Doctor from Yonkers who did the climbing part raised an additional $14,000! Thanks to Paragon Sports for donating the camping gear, and thanks to Clif Bar who came through with a giant box of boxes of Clif Bars; they were my daily diet and really made a huge difference in my ability to complete the challenge.

Of course my support vehicle driver Mohammed Said who became a great friend - I could not have asked for a better support man.  Each hour he was parked with a liter of water ready for me to down, and someone I continue to keep in touch with... thena shout out to Cliffe Lumbayso and his friend Jude for finding the drivers and doing the logistics not only for my run but also for the others... Asante sana!