Determination, The Autobiography: Hope and Determination - The Inspirational Story of the Life-Changing Power of Sport.

By Jamie Marais

South African ultra-endurance athlete Jamie Marais made history by becoming the first and only known person to speed-summit Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain twenty-two times in twenty-eight hours over two days. Climbing more than sixteen thousand vertical meters - almost twice the height of Everest - his mission was to raise support for the Sabrina Foundation who care for children with special needs and to inspire people to realise that nothing we are facing is too big to overcome. This was the first in an ongoing series of solo extreme-endurance challenges across various sporting disciplines including vertical running, mountain biking and stand up paddling, each of which take place in a dangerous setting in untamed Africa with intensely challenging physical objectives and natural threats including unpredictable weather, brutal mountain passes and dangerous wildlife.
Jamie's autobiography 'Determination' tells the gripping story of his personal transformation from a substance-abusing teenager into an elite athlete taking on world records and the defining moments that have shaped his journey of evolution. This book takes you behind the scenes of his extreme endurance feats and into the mind of an athlete who has achieved what is often considered to be humanly impossible. Jamie also shares the secrets of accessing superhuman strength and how this can be applied to achieve success in sport, business and everyday life.
‘Stress and depression are among the leading causes of death, but exercise is one of the simplest and most effective cures there is. Exercise can literally save your life.’
Jamie believes that ‘the body follows where the mind leads’ and inspires people to believe in themselves and face the giants in their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jamie Marais
• Release date: Jul 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005264475

Jamie Marais

In August 2016, Jamie Marais made history by becoming the first and only known person to speed-summit Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain twenty-two times in twenty eight hours over two days. Ascending more than sixteen thousand vertical meters, almost twice the height of Everest, his purpose was to raise support for Sabrina Foundation who care for children with special needs and to inspire people to realize that nothing we are facing is ever too big to overcome.This was the first in an ongoing series of solo ultra-endurance challenges, each of which take place in a dangerous setting with intensely challenging physical objectives and natural threats including unpredictable weather, altitude, steep mountain passes and dangerous wildlife.As a teenager, Jamie overcame his own giant of substance abuse and believes that sport and hard training changed his life and gave him a reason for living.‘Stress and depression are among the leading causes of death, but exercise is one of the simplest and most effective cures there is. Exercise can literally save your life.’He believes that ‘the body follows where the mind leads’ and inspires people to believe in themselves and face the giants in their lives through motivational talks about the life-changing power of sport and the secrets of accessing superhuman strength.Born in 1976, he attended school in the city of East London before relocating back to Cape Town where he was born and currently resides with his wife and three children.

Book preview

Foreword by Phil Liggett

This image: Supplied by Phil Liggett

Everyone from an early age in life needs a challenge; a target and a reason for being on this earth. I was born into a family where my sister was eighteen years older than me and my father was a seafarer sailing the World. Hence the age gap between us siblings and the fact that at forty six, Dad probably thought that doing business with Mum was a safe bet on his return home after three months to and from Australia by ship. He was wrong, Mum conceived, and I was born. Thank Heavens that she did not die during childbirth as nearly eighty years ago giving birth at forty six was considered a serious risk.

So my life began and by the time I was ten years’ old, Mum was very ill, and I faced my first challenge of looking after her while Dad kept sailing. He never knew how ill Mum was because on his few days at home between trips I was not allowed to mention it and she would appear normal. Reason was, Dad would not have returned to sea and we would have no money to survive on.

My life started with a challenge and has been my way of life ever since. From my cycle racing days and an attempt to become a professional rider, to my first television commentaries it has been a never-say-die journey. I could not have had a more fortunate life thanks to making the most of what I had.

South Africa has a lot of young people who need challenges and, as they fight to hit their target, they will become better people along the road.

Jamie’s book – Determination – is about a person who started down the wrong roads and fought his way out to become an envied person. This, is what all of the young people of South Africa should be doing.

I have interviewed the finest athletic stars from various sports around the World and not one appears to stand out…except they all possess a determination, an inbuilt will of iron to succeed whatever the personal cost.

In Jamie’s case his battle was to break away from drugs and achieve, showing everyone it is possible to stand tall and be someone special if you put your mind to it. He is now a very special person who not only found a road to his summit but also wants to show others the way.

Successful people in business or sport or just life are not kicked into life with silver spoons in their mouths.

They have faced their challenge, hurt themselves in pursuit of it, and never looked back, the result of which is a man or woman who can walk tall in life and feel that being a champion is not so bad after all.

We can all be champions if we try.

Phil Liggett

The Voice of Cycling

***

Preface

My physio Reinhard Bester releasing my ITB during the Table Mountain world record attempt. Photo by Julian Goldswaine

Why is it that some of us go through life maimed and crippled by the same experiences that shape and mould others into high performance individuals? What does it really mean to be successful and what are the metrics we use to measure our own success? More importantly, why are those our metrics and how did they come to exist in our minds?

The person you are today is a result of the sum of all your past experiences and how you have reacted to, dealt with and processed each of them. Combined with their collective impact on your psyche, this has formed and established your inner convictions and what you believe to be true about yourself.

Failure, disappointment, setbacks and challenging circumstances are as unavoidable as the changing seasons and the moments and experiences that break our resolve have the potential, if approached with a different attitude, of becoming defining moments that bring growth, personal development and the advancement of our dreams and goals.

 Fearless confrontation of the difficult and a refusal to quit in the face of overwhelming adversity produces strength of character and important attributes such as perseverance, determination and the kind of mental attitude that will enable you to hoist your sails to the winds of change and generate momentum from the very same force that drives those less well -prepared onto the jagged rocks of failure, self-pity and despair.

 This book takes you on a journey through the corridors of time as I share the story of my own personal development, the challenges I have faced and overcome and some of the more defining moments and experiences that have shaped me into the person I am today and my transformation from a substance abusing teenager into an extreme endurance athlete with the ability to push myself beyond what is often considered humanly impossible.

 Superhuman strength only kicks in when you reach the end of yourself, but first you have to reach the end of your strength and push through the long dark tunnel of pain, fatigue, physical and emotional exhaustion until finally you enter the realm of finding superhuman strength and a powerful source of energy you never thought capable of accessing.

Suffering and the ability to push through pain is the secret to unlocking superhuman strength, but we as humans have over the passage of time become soft and squishy, a tray of eggs being driven down a bumpy cobble -stone road, surrounding ourselves with well -constructed protective mechanisms all geared around self-preservation and ensuring our ultimate comfort as we journey to a destination we aren't even sure of ourselves.

And then there are those rare individuals who are brave enough to venture out beyond the safety of the harbor in order to discover new horizons and journey into the vast expanse of open ocean just waiting to be explored.

 It is my hope that as you read the pages of this book you will begin to see your circumstances in a different light and your heart will be filled with hope as you realize that nothing you are facing is too big to face.  

Jamie

***

Prologue

One week before my record attempt I was diagnosed with a Labral tear in my right hip socket. I decided to proceed with the challenge regardless.

'‘You're planning to do what?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Well, my plan is to run up Table Mountain twenty four times in a row.’

‘And when exactly do you plan on doing this?’

‘Next week Wednesday.’ I said.

'That's five days away.’

‘I know. But something's definitely not right and l need to find out what the problem is.’

Seeing the direction of my eyes, the nurse snapped at me like a Russian drill sergeant. ‘Don't look there!’ she barked from where she was standing to the left of the operating bed.

It was unfortunately a little too late though. I stared in horror at an assortment of surgical instruments laid out neatly on a tray beside me, specifically a large capacity syringe with a thick, long needle that seemed better suited to piercing through the hide of an elephant.

‘That's the needle that's going into my hip?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ answered the Doctor. ‘It has to be really long so that it can reach all the way into the core of your hip socket.’

‘Is this going to be sore?’ I asked, hoping to God that he would offer me some small reassurance - even a false one would do.

‘It's going to be uncomfortable,’ he said matter of factly, conveniently refraining from providing further detail by developing a sudden intensity of focus on the mundane task of wiping my skin down with an alcohol swab. The nauseating smell of surgical spirits suddenly filled my nostrils, which instantly conjured up feelings of anxiety and unpleasant memories from past injuries and long-forgotten visits to our local family Doctor to stitch up yet another gash.

‘Ok, it's very important that you keep perfectly still,’ he said. ‘This needle is going all the way into your hip socket where we will inject the dye. Here we go... now just relax and take a deep breath.’

***

Part One

The Early Years

Chapter 1

Ants in my Pants

They emerged in silence, flowing out from the tiny holes that dotted the entrance to an underground base. Reporting for duty in their hundreds, the soldiers poured out from the ground, combining in ranks to form a single, moving organism. Communicating via constantly moving antenna protruding from beneath their tiny red helmets, the army set out to attack this giant Gulliver who would dare to encroach upon the nest of their Queen.

I’m about eight years old, sitting on the edge of the pavement alongside our road, barefoot and carefree, enjoying the late afternoon heat of the golden African sun with not a worry in the world except for the melting ice-cream in my right hand. My feet are resting at the entrance to a nest of red ants, and these little guys are not happy at all.

Red ants are part of the aggressive family of ants and much like the infamous fire ants found in the Amazon jungle, they bite into the skin of their victims which causes an intense stinging and burning sensation.

The ants rise up from in-between my toes, expanding out over my feet and quickly making their way up my legs. Feeling a crawling sensation on my feet, I look down and suddenly my flesh is on fire as hundreds of red ants respond to the chemical signal to attack. In an instant my feet and legs are covered in hundreds of crawling, angry red ants, attacking as one and biting down into my flesh. Jumping around as if standing on hot coals, I’m frantically slapping and rubbing my legs, trying to dust off the enraged ants, but many of them still cling fast with their sharp pincers buried into my skin. Adrenalin is surging through my body and I’m sprinting around the garden, eventually running and jumping into the pool.

Could this have been the moment that flipped the switch in my young endocrine system, enhancing its functioning and sending it into overdrive, resulting in permanent hyper intensity? Was this to be my first defining moment, an experience that activated some deep and primal survival instinct manifested through my own neurological reaction to intense pain? From what I can remember, this was the day I first tasted adrenalin and experienced it’s incredible effect on my body. The heightened senses, the feeling of power and massive increase in speed and reaction that it gave me. Since that day, I have always been drawn to danger, and the feeling of being alive that comes about with my senses bristling and my skin prickling as the primal survival instinct kicks in. In these moments, everything slows down, and my mind is sharp and clear.

I've always been a little hyperactive. That kid who could never sit still. I generally ran everywhere, and never seemed to run out of energy. I still feel like that to this very day. I get bored easily, and I walk quickly. Things need to happen, and it needs to get done. If I do what I have to do when I have to do it, I can do what I want to do when I want to do it. That’s my personal motto. Well, one of them anyway. Efficiency is key.

I am always asking questions, trying to figure it out, trying to understand. Who? Why? What? Where? When? Who said that? Why can’t it be done?

If it doesn’t make sense to me, I don’t do it. Period.

I have to keep moving. Time is always against me. My to do list is never done and sleep is a frustration to me. I could get so much more done if I didn’t have to sleep. Ironically, I shut down the moment the clock strikes nine pm. Those who know me well are acquainted with the fact that I’m absolutely useless after nine o'clock at night. My famous party trick is falling asleep in the middle of conversation at dinner parties and barbecues. It’s become kind of an acceptable and anticipated norm among close friends and family, even though highly embarrassing for my wife. Come five am though, I’m rearing to go and ready to take off like a rocket.

Being active has always been a part of my life, as far back as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are those of pushing myself as hard as possible during primary school training sessions around the athletics track, or riding my bicycle at the age of twelve for hours on end, covering up to a hundred kilometres exploring winding, unknown country roads, completely alone and totally at peace within what was a very dangerous environment for a twelve year old kid to be out riding a bike alone with no way of contacting anyone should something happen. The lonely back roads of the Eastern Cape were my training grounds and it was here that my love for the sport of cycling and pushing myself through endurance training took shape. Out on the roads, I often dealt with being alone by waving at cars and truck drivers and smiling at them as they passed by, who honked their horns and waved back at me enthusiastically, seemingly just as appreciative for some fleeting company out on the roads.

I quickly realized that if something had to have happened to me out there, these would be the only people that could actually stop and physically help me.

I had some crazy experiences too as a kid that toughened me up for good. When I was just five years old, my parents took me to play on a farm owned by some friends near Johannesburg. Whilst there, I insisted on riding their large black stallion (young Jamie would of course pick out the biggest and most intimidating horse in the herd). As I was mounting up for what was meant to be more about sitting on the horse and posing for a photograph than actually riding it, the resident farm Saint Bernard ran out the yard and started barking at the horse. The stallion spooked, reared wildly and took off. I fell backwards off the horse, but my left foot got stuck in the stirrup and I was dragged behind the galloping horse down a gravel road for what must have been about fifty yards before my foot finally dislodged. The owners ran up to me as I lay mangled in the middle of the road, moaning in agony and shock, mildly concussed and in a lot of pain. I remember it all so clearly. My face and body were scraped and bloodied, and I left the hospital layered in bandages, unable to move for days. Then there was my bout with Meningitis. I contracted this dangerous illness at the age of nine and then again at age eleven with an equally dangerous variation of Meningitis called Encephalitis. During both episodes there were moments when I the odds were stacked against me and I was gravely ill with a temperature of over forty degrees Celsius. I remember having to endure endless lumber-puncture syringes into my lower back, deep into the spinal column to draw up brain serum for testing and analysis. Fortunately, my dear mother was a highly qualified nursing sister and under her wing I was in the best possible care that I could be. Mom made the hundred and thirty kilometre drive through to the specialised ward at the private hospital in Pretoria every single day, and never left my bedside, except to return home at the end of a long day of sponging me down and distracting my mind with tales of her own childhood adventures in an effort to reduce the violent fever and cold shivers that gripped my body for days on end.

Then there was the time I went cliff jumping at a spot called Windmill Hole on the East Coast of South Africa in a small town called East London where I went to high school. I was fourteen years old and always up for a challenge. Windmill Hole was an old abandoned quarry that was said to be over thirty meters deep with an underground river flowing through it. There was a sheer cliff that rose almost vertically out of the water with various ‘levels’ you could climb up and jump off into the crystal clear waters of the quarry. Level one through until five were fairly easy jumps but as you climbed higher, the jumps became increasingly challenging and dangerous. One of my friends told me to climb up to the top of the cliff to level ten as the view from the top was incredible. The clifftop was over seventy feet high. After eventually climbing my way up to the top, I inched my way towards the edge of the precarious cliff and peered over. I remember realising how high it was up there and wondering how I was going to climb back down. The view indeed was amazing but peering out over the heights of the cliff I was so terrified I literally had to hold on to the roots of one of the nearby trees creeping over the edge to prevent myself from passing out from fear. It was so high I was actually dizzy and the deep pool of water at the bottom was so small it looked like a little tiny swimming pool that would easily be overshot if I jumped off. The problem with jumping at Windmill Hole is that the cliff rises out the water at an angle, so you have to jump out really far to avoid hitting the rocks lower down on the cliff face.

‘Come on