GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO SPORT NEWS - Back in 1999 when Graeme Fraser (then aged 44 and past his prime as a sportsman) announced that he was going to create, coordinate and personally complete the Millennium Big5 Challenge, there was a mixed response. And no wonder!
Fraser planned to complete all five of the following events in the year 2000:
- the Dusi Canoe Marathon;
- the Midmar Mile Swim;
- the Cape Argus Cycle Tour;
- the Comrades Marathon; and
- an ascent of Mt Kilimanjaro.
Huge was the surprise when Fraser and 34 other athletes (including some big names such as Dusi legends Mark Perrow and Martin Dreyer) completed the Big5 Challenge in 2000.
And now, with the 25th anniversary of this unique event looming in 2025, Fraser and his wife Veldra are pleased to announce that the event is making a comeback.
The five original events in the challenge have in the interim retained their places in the South African sports calendar as major events and still constitute a true test of ability in each sports discipline. And as the challengers learned in 2000, climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, while not necessarily a very technical climb, is no walk in the park!
So for those wanting to set a new challenge for themselves, 2025 may just be the year to tackle the reprise of the Millennium Big 5 Challenge. Previous challengers have described the challenge as a life-changing, personal best achievement.
Fraser and Veldra, the directors of BIG5Co, are excited about the prospect of introducing the adventures to an entire new generation of athletes.
Launch
At Andante Wedding and Conference Centre, just outside Gqebehra, on Thursday 14 September, a symbolic start to the Millennium Big 5 Challenge 2025 took place which had several well-known canoeing, cycling, running and swimming personalities participating.
Present was:
- Terence Parkin – Oympic Silver medallist 200m breastroke and twice a winner of the Midmar Mile (including especially in 2000)
- Andy Birkett – 13 times the winner of the Dusi Canoe Marathon, World Marathon K1 Canoe Marathon Champion in 2022 and silver medallist recently in Denmark
- Chad Ho – 7 times winner (imn succession) of the Midmar Mile and still the record holder for the event, plus World Open Water 10 mile Champion
- Natasha Panzera (nee Figge) 6 times (again in succession) winner of the Midmar Mile
- Nic Bester – Comrades winner, 4 second places and 9 gold medals overall;
- Rob Rudman – well-known Port Elizabeth cyclist, with National colours for “DownHill” racing and one of three founders of the The Herald Cycle Tour ;
- * Hein van Rooyen – who has represented South Africa in marathon canoeing.
- Josh Fenn – current under 23 World Surfski Champion
- Matt Fenn – current World Under 23 Canoe marathon Champion.
Others in attendance included local athletes from various disciplines such as Nicky Grobler, Bruce and Tracey Campbell, Sebastian Dech, Jan van Eeden, Luthando Fatyi, and Steve Lambrechts, as well as Comrades Race Director Rowyn James (13 Comrades finishers) and Sticks Stiglingh, President of the Eastern Province Athletics Union and who has national colours for steeplechase.
Let’s do it!
All those in attendance received personal challenges issued by BIG5Co for them to participate and several other challenges were issued by email to those athletes who could not attend the launch.
But the Millennium Big 5 Challenge 2025 is not exclusively for top level athletes. In fact, the majority of successful challengers in 2000 were ordinary Joes.
Of course there were many lessons along the way in 2000 and Fraser will incorporate these into the Millennium Big 5 Challenge 2025.
One major development will be using the ability of the challengers to raise significant amounts for charitable causes and to place the work that these charities do in the public domain. Tony Deering, one of the original challengers and sponsor of the launch event and founder of the Millennium Big 5 Challenge 2025 Charity Trust, together with Ronwynne Fourie (St John’s – the principal beneficiary of the trust) and Graeme and Veldra Fraser who will be its trustees, signed the trust deed creating the trust at the ceremony.
Fraser also launched his book Summit Vision which deals with the 10 life lessons he learned in the challenge in 2000 and his overall experience in 2000.
For a detailed info pack about the Big5 Challenge 2025, contact Graeme and Veldra Fraser at legaleagles@srvalley.co.za .
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