Barkly East Reporter - 20 April 2012
Herding and Feeding the Order of the Day
Our local farmers are without doubt a tough bunch. Battling wool and meat prices year after year and then there are floods and drought, snow and blizzards. Up the Bell River valley they have that extra burden of distance to market.
At the very head of the valley, nestling at the foot of Bobbejaanskop lies 'Hamilton' home to Francois and Hannalie Nel, the last farm before the road crests Naudesnek.
Francois Nel is used to watching his sheep running after one another, and Hannalie has a reputation of providing superb meals for guests and her much loved family, always making sure they are well fed.
It will come as no surprise to learn that for the past 23 years without fail Francois and Hannalie have been doing the same for the runners taking part in the UTi Rhodes Trail Run.
Francis and Hannalie are the only people to be involved with the event as a feeding station every year since its inception. This year will be their 24th year out on the road, providing for the runners and watching them run past in brilliant multi-coloured flocks.
As the first feeding station on the route Francois and Hannalie are out in our winter sub-zero temperatures before the sun rises setting up their station. Often the refreshment freezes in the bottle as soon as it is exposed to the cold. Many of the runners are unable to grasp the offered cup, with the cup slipping through frozen fingers.
In 2002, when heavy snow forced a route change, the Nel's became a vital link as runners passed their tables three times on the clover-leaf route. That was a bitterly cold day and the temperature never reached zero at their station.
In 2008, on the 20th anniversary of the UTi Rhodes Trail Run the organisers presented Francois and Hannalie with a beautiful framed gold medal for their outstanding efforts, and in recognition for being the only 'surviving' feeding station team from the inaugural run in 1989.
Many of the runners are drawn back to Rhodes year after year with the run having an enviable reputation for being one of the best organised extreme events in the country and many of the faces have become very familiar to the Nel's.
