A 50-km Ultramarathon for Low Back Pain

This is a guest post by Dr. Michael Pretorius, Clinic Supervisor in Mahalapye, Botswana.

By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Baobab (Adansonia) in the Makgadikgadi Pan's National Park

I am going to be running the Salt Pan Ultra Marathon 50km on the 30th of September to raise money for the World Spine Care clinics. This is a 50km ultramarathon known as the hardest flat ultra on earth due to the extreme conditions you run through. Running through the Makgadikgadi salt pan, which is the largest salt pan on earth, brings extreme heat, dust, wind, sand, and mud.

“It’s the closest thing to running on the moon you will ever experience.”

The race will start at 05h00 from the race village situated at the southern end of the pan. It will still be dark and relatively cool for the first 45 min before the sun comes up over the pan for a beautiful sunrise experience. After this point, it gets very hot very quickly – expected temperatures are around 35 degrees Celsius… with no shade. There are a few aid stations along the way to refill your hydration vests and get calories in. The third aid station is under a baobab tree over 1,500 years old.

They say in the middle of the pan, you cannot see land in any direction you look, only flat white salt for as far as the eye can see. Previous runners have said it's the closest thing to running on the moon you will ever experience. It is an opportunity to remind yourself just how big and beautiful this planet is and how small we are in comparison, to reconnect with Mother Earth through disconnection and isolation from technology and society, even if only for a few hours of mental perseverance and physical pain.

I have been training for various races throughout the year, and a few weeks ago, a friend from Johannesburg contacted me and offered me an entry to this run as he could no longer make it. With this race being situated in Botswana and not too far away from where I am staying, I immediately decided to do the race and use it to raise money for World Spine Care.

As a non-profit organization, we rely on volunteer doctors from all over the world who give up their time to provide evidence-based musculoskeletal care in underdeveloped countries. Donations help keep the organization running and allow us to provide quality care to people who need care. When a family member cannot work due to back, neck, or other musculoskeletal disability, they do not suffer alone – their family, children, and community are also impacted. This is especially true in low- to middle-income countries where access to healthcare may be limited. The result may be a catastrophic chain of events for a family struggling to eke out an existence.

We have plans for the World Spine Care clinic in Mahalapye to move into a new space and expand into a multi-room department. This will allow us to host more volunteers and provide more services to the patients. Donations to this cause will help WSC provide equipment for the expanded clinic as well as help support more volunteers to come in and volunteer.

I invite you to support me as I run 50 kilometers through blistering heat by making a donation to World Spine Care.

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