Keep calm and make sure you’re not overtaken by a rhino!!

It’s 2 days before we line up with the other 49 998 runners at the London Marathon: time to put our legs up, embrace the idea of carboloading and trust that our training will get us through 42km while wearing one of the craziest fancy dress costumes to grace the streets of London. For all the beautiful supporters who have donated to our fundraising campaign, we’re sending a HUGE thank you on behalf of the rhino’s and hope to do you proud on Sunday! We’re of the opinion that if there isn’t a YouTube video of it, it didn’t happen, so keep an eye out for one final THANK YOU gift next week.

For everyone running the marathon, we wish you good luck. Russel and Michael will be starting right at the back of the runners corral, and will be looking to overtake as many people as they can. You’re welcome for the motivation;)

For friends and family who will be in London on Sunday, we would love LOVE your support along the route. There is no way to overstate how much your cheering will help two staggering rhinos get to the finish line. Here’s a groovy video showing the best spots to support from. We’ll be easy to spot, promise.

This week has been packed with last minute preparations for the marathon and fundraising. Russel is becoming quite the celebrity, and featured on South African radio this morning (https://www.ofm.co.za/ListenLive). Michael is organising a repair kit for the rhino suits for quick fixes along the route, and the rest of the team at Save The Rhino International are giving the rhino suits a last check over (a dry clean would be great thanks!) We’ve been told that the material that the suit is made from is very absorbent, and acts like a sponge soaking up water and becoming heavier in the process. Please England, can you please note rain on Sunday!

Donations are still coming through thick and fast. Our fundraising stays open until 12 June, so it’s not too late to donate! Without further ado, here’s our latest shoutouts!

Kim (Kimbo) White Ex housemate, ex Irene joller, ex UCT lad, you get the picture, Kim goes a long way back with Team Shake n Bake.  Your life hacks never disappoint; from experimenting with ketogenic diets to charting out the weeks left in our lives and hanging them on the wall as a motivator. Thanks for the donation, and never stop experimenting!

Captain Stuart Blackbeard Stuaaaaaaaaarrrrrtttt!!!!!  Original Shake n Bake member, we’re sad to not have you on the team this time. Hope the surf is good in Australia, and your pickup line “hey baby” is still working out for you;) We’re looking forward to a catchup braai in Irene soon.

Faye She is the newest member of the Cambridge squad, but that hasn’t stopped her from showing her generosity and supporting our crazy antics. Muchos gracias!

Jon “Maverick” Oldnall Last and not least, whiskers himself! We would have preferred you to join us on the run, but your generous donation is the next best thing (hearing heavy breathing through your paperclip nostrils for 42km would have been a treat). Don’t think we’ve forgotten about Iron Man Zurich 2018…

All donations go toward protecting these unique animals. We’re running for you and your family little dude!

Our fundraising is still open, so for those procrastinators out there it’s not too late to help us get to our goal of £3000!  It’s an easy online process, and proceeds go directly to Save The Rhino International and their field programs running in Africa and Asia. Click on the link below to donate!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/runningoftherhinos

Last but not least, thanks to all our supporters and readers who have faithfully trudged their way through our  blog posts and FaceBook notifications in the lead up to the marathon. We couldn’t have done it without you.

This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.

xoxo

Shake n Bake Baby!!!!

Feeling the love from around the world

Status Update:

Its been a long time since we gave everyone an update of our progress leading up to the marathon, which is now only 16 sleeps away! Your donations have been coming through thick and fast, and we want to thank everyone for your generosity. We have raised a whopping £1516 but are still only halfway to our target, so if you haven’t donated yet, get on over to our Virgin Money Giving page to donate. Then get your friends, family and work colleagues to donate. 100% of proceeds go to Save The Rhino which is doing a sterling job in bringing the rhinos back from the edge of extinction.

We really can’t believe it will be happening so soon. Mike and Russel have been getting their affairs in order and making promises they hope to keep to each other, like never leaving each other behind…

Training:

The training for the London marathon has been going according to plan apart from a few bumps and bruises along the way. We have been scratching off each week of our training plan, although the English weather hasn’t exactly been playing it’s part. 32k training runs in rain and howling wind is great for character building….

All of this training for a single day and a single mission: let’s keep the rhinos around

Nonetheless, being able to prepare for the London Marathon has helped two crazy South Africans explore all the beautiful sights that London and Cambridge have to offer.

Russel finding himself on the wrong side of the Thames, and Mike taking the racing line at the Silverstone race track

Meeting our fellow rhinos!

On the 20th of March, Save The Rhino hosted a great event for rhino runners to meet up, trade stories of their black toenails and get PUMPED for the big run. We had interacted through FB chats and numerous posts of all the incredible fund raising that has been done. The whole team running for Save the Rhino in the London marathon have raised a MASSIVE £65 354!!

Word travels far and wide in the 21st century, and the pupils from Kronendal Primary school in sunny Cape Town, South Africa have been lending moral support to help Russel and Mike.

Vote of thanks so far:

Now for the part you’ve all been waiting for…there are a bunch of people who took up our initiative for donating to our case (and hence have also helped create our marathon playlist). The playlist is taking shape but there is still places available!

We would like to say thanks for our donars so far, Hanako Fujisawa, Rob Hargreaves, Philip Pilgertorfer, Ishu Pathak and Marisol Martinez, your donation keeps the rhino cause running. We wanted to give a special shout out to our dear friend Max Dudley for donating a whooping £500 to our cause, what a legend, even though it was made under duress. Kidding. He was drunk.

Elisa, you’re a conservation super star, and we can only aspire to do as much for the lagosta ovo as you have. If you’re still looking for a director for your NGO, Mike is keen to put his masterplan into action in turning Sal into the world’s largest eco resort…

Jens, aka YES, has been so moved by our efforts to save the rhino that he is visiting South Africa later this month to see  the majestic creatures in person. He might also be going to a little festival in the desert which involves burning things, but that’s just coincidence.

Yasthil you’ve been around since the good old days in Westville when we were blowing things up in the science labs. Looking forward to having you in Camb for a while. Hope your cycling skills are improving.

Street collections:

We headed to the streets of London on the 4th of April to drum up some donations the old fashion way, in our rhino costumes and showing the public what we are made of. Feel free to follow our stories on Instagram @rdaries29 and @mikeschmidza. If you’re partial to a bit of tweeting, head on over to Mike’s Twitter hanlde @mikeschmidza.

We will be heading to the streets of Cambridge on the 15th of April to raise awareness and donation from townies and gownies alike.

Hope to see you soon! #runningoftherhinos #savetherhino #londonmarathon