Jamie Marais has run up and down Table Mountain 22 times in 28 hours. Cycled up the Sani Pass four times. In 12 hours. In gale force winds. It doesn’t stop there. These are just two examples of the extreme challenges Marais has set for himself. After recognising the battles many South Africans were facing, Marais decided to push himself to accomplish the most difficult physical trials on the African continent. He wanted to show that no matter how mammoth a task may seem, there is always a way to overcome it.
Marais founded the Four Giants Challenge to support the Sabrina Love Foundation, an organisation that supports children with special needs in the Garden Route in the Western Cape. He is demonstrating the power of sport, and using his physical abilities to help others. Of the four challenges Marais created for himself, he has already completed two, setting new records in the process. The remaining challenges include paddling across the entire length of the world’s longest lake, Tanganyika, and to speedily ascend and descend Mount Kilimanjaro within 10 hours.
Regardless of whether or not Marais accomplishes these feats, his determination to aid and inspire others demonstrates that supporting one another starts with compassion and a desire to help. While most of us may not be running up mountains anytime soon, we can still conquer the giants in our own lives, whatever they may be. “South Africans are tough. We are resilient,” Marais says, “and that’s what makes us this beautiful rainbow nation that we are.”
