Cape Town - Extreme endurance adventurer Gaven Sinclair embarked on a gruelling solo 1 000km running adventure from Gqeberha to Cape Town for the Heel2Heal Challenge to raise awareness and challenge those living with chronic conditions to live better and healthier lives through small steps.
The adventure launched BrandMed’s Syntro-P Wellbeing Programme, a virtual prescribed health and well-being programme established after research revealed South Africa was one of the unhealthiest countries in the world with more than 60% of the adult population living with a chronic condition.
The programme was targeted at people diagnosed with chronic conditions such as diabetes, eating disorders, heart disease, obesity, asthma, hypertension and many others .
Chief executive Riaz Motara said the initiative was aimed at helping South Africans change their behaviour by providing dietary guidelines, exercise and movement routines, breathing techniques, life skills, home monitoring solutions and educational insights.
While Sinclair has been hailed as South Africa’s top extreme endurance adventurer, life coach,motivational speaker, humanitarian activist and the recipient of the Purple Hearts SA Award, he has also had a lifetime of dealing with his own chronic illnesses.
Living with ADHD, dyslexia, iron deficiency and chronic fatigue syndrome, Sinclair said that having a chronic condition was not a life sentence but rather an opportunity to realise a new, healthier and better life and he hoped to help others come to this realisation as well with this journey.
Sinclair has been averaging 50km a day and although he nursed several blisters, chronic fatigue, sunburn and the odd attack of bugs and miggies along the draining route, he was on track to complete his run on November 3 at Ekhaya eKasi in Khayelitsha.
“The run is more about creating awareness and not a race, so having said that being an extreme adventurer my main focus and objective is to finish the run,” said Sinclair.
The adventurer was set to arrive in Swellendam today, where he will be 219km away from his final destination in Cape Town.
“We are all facing extreme challenges every day of our lives. They can be financial, emotional or health challenges but they all affect our well-being. By partnering with Gaven, we hope to empower South Africans to face their daily extreme challenges and to work towards overcoming them, one small step at a time,” said Motara.
Those interested in joining the programme were encouraged to visit www.syntropwellbeing.com and follow Sinclair’s Heel2Heal journey on https://vip.beepdsmart.com/card/gaven-sinclair-adventures.