In just over two months’ time, 40-year-old Westbrook father, husband and church pastor Tom Basson will board a plane bound for Kathmandu, Nepal. Once there, he will attempt to break a Guinness World Record by competing in the world’s highest obstacle course race, followed by running a full marathon at Mount Everest base camp.
Tom is one of those people who sets big goals and then chases them down with everything he has. Now, as he readies himself to face what is sure to be his biggest challenge yet, he is doing so with the love and support of his family, his church and his many training partners behind him.
Deciding to run a marathon is a big deal. Deciding to run a full marathon after completing an obstacle course race is an even bigger deal. Doing both of these, back-to-back at 5 364m above sea level? Well, there probably are words to describe that.
And yet, on 8 November this year, Tom will set off to join a small team of athletes who, together, will be facing this incredible challenge in their attempt to set a Guinness World Record for ‘absolute total ascent and descent in a single Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) event of 10 000m’.
Father of two and husband of well-known author and speaker Jess, Tom is also the lead pastor at Grace Family Church in Umhlanga.
Having grown up in KZN, Tom has always been extremely sporty – although not in the typical sense of the word. Instead of participating in sport such as rugby, hockey and tennis at school, Tom discovered and became passionate about gymnastics from a very young age.
“I was hooked from about six years and would train for up to five hours every day, even representing South Africa in international competitions. I actually travelled with the British national team in my early 20s and made it to the junior Commonwealth Games. I maintain that this kept me out of mischief as a child,” Tom laughs.
After school, he studied physiotherapy at UCT and, after completing his community service in rural KZN, he and Jess (his then girlfriend) spent three years travelling the world. “It was the best thing we could have done. When I felt the call to ministry, I knew it was time to go home.”
But while his faith and church are a very important part of his life, Tom says it has always been important to him to have a life and focus outside of work, too. “Exercise is like therapy to me, only it’s cheaper,” he laughs.
When they returned to South Africa Tom tried to find a sport that suited him and didn’t want to join a typical gym. He did some running and surfski paddling (he has competed in both the Duzi canoe marathon and the Comrades), but it was only when he stumbled on OCR in 2016 that Tom says a fire was truly ignited for him again.
“I did (and loved) the Warrior Race – and did really well in it. I thought, ‘here is a sport I can do’.”
Determined to improve his performance (especially on the running side), Tom contacted Claude and Trish Eksteen who own Adventure Obstacle Training in Umhlanga.
Tom says one of his proudest moments in his OCR career was when he placed second in the 35- to-39-year-old category at the 2017 OCR world championships in Canada.
He attributes his success to his incredible training and support from his AOT family. “We really are like a family. It’s strange, but when you suffer together you really do form a different bond with people,” he says.
When he heard about the Everest challenge Tom decided to give it a go.
Tom doesn’t only enjoy competing, he says, but thrives on the preparing and training process as well. He trains in his home gym three times a week and is currently in the best shape of his life. His training includes a combination of high intensity cross-fit, track running and low intensity running.
As a busy father, husband and pastor, Tom says he probably isn’t training as much as the other challengers, but he’s okay with that. “I have always given myself six hours a week to train, and try to ensure that it doesn’t interfere with my family life.”
Tackling the Guinness World Record challenge is not something Tom takes lightly. In fact, he says it felt like he had two mountains to climb until recently.
“The first mountain I had to overcome was financial, having to raise the funds to take part. We set up a Thundafund account and managed to reach our goal. Anything we raise over now will go towards the Durban North Baby Home.” Tom has also had great support from his two main sponsors, Mahindra and Saloman SA.
The 14-day journey starts with trekking to the Everest base camp (which is the same height as Mount Kilimanjaro). The team will then compete in an obstacle course race at base camp before running downhill to complete the full 42km marathon straight afterwards.
There is a medical team on hand and they will all be closely monitored, but Tom says he knows there is no way of really knowing how his body is going to react at that altitude. “It’s a bit of a gamble and my goal is just to try and stay healthy for the full 14 days. Mentally, I’m preparing myself to get really comfortable with being uncomfortable! We’re going to be cold, nauseous and in pain. It’s a real ‘grit’ event and it’s going to be all about resilience.”
Details: Follow Tom’s training and nutrition journey on @tomobasson or www.tombasson.com and find out more about the record challenge at: www.worldshighestocr.com
Text: Leah Shone
