It was a grueling long but successful day for 31 year old Daryl ‘Daz’ Howe who was one of a number of runners raising funds for charity in the 39th Old Mutual Two Oceans marathon.
Daz suffers from C6 cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs to an extent that doctors said he would never walk, but at 15:30 on Saturday afternoon the Australian from Perth crossed the finish line in 10 hours 5 minutes and 58seconds.
It is believed that Howe has run himself into the record books as the first person suffering of cerebral palsy to finish an Ultra marathon.
With a best of ten marathon times of 5 hours 21 minutes, he had been expected to complete the race around 8 hours, and had been started one hour early by the organisers. However the strong south easterly impacted on his progress. “Keeping balance is one of Daz’s greatest challenges” said Marc Smith who ran with him the whole way, “the swirling and buffeting wind was the most challenging for him, just to keep upright”
Despite his own disability Howe entered the race to raise funds in the name of the JAG Foundation to enable under privileged primary schoolchildren in South Africa to participate in a running programme.
“He has an amazing affect on other runners – One runner ran along side to shake Daz’s hand saying ‘The closest I got to God today was meeting you’” continued Smith. “Daz’s strength, tenacity and conviction are unbelievable. It is so humbling”