SA runners conquer Great Himalayan Trail in record time

Griesel said he was looking forward to a shower and “good South African food” when they got home. The duo are expected to arrive in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Porter said on Friday that his traverse and the one completed by Sandes and Griesel could not be compared because they were run in different styles.

In an open letter to Sandes‚ Griesel and their support crew‚ titled “Why you will not be beating me and anyone else”‚ Porter objected to the support crew trying to give them a remote resupply by helicopter‚ an effort which failed.

“The whole idea of the Grand Himalayan Trail is to be in remote mountains and to raise your own game to match that of the environment around you‚” he said. “The cost of that single helicopter flight probably equalled the entire cost of my Grand Himalayan Trail effort.

“The sheer cost of your trip has ensured that there is no way to possibly compare your effort to mine. Or anyone else[’s]‚” said Porter‚ nevertheless wishing them luck for the last few kilometres.

The support crew on the expedition said in a post they were trying to resupply Griesel with medicines against frostbite.

Sandes said: “If people think that this attempt is just about beating a record‚ they have clearly missed the point entirely. This attempt is more about the experience and the amazing adventure that we have had. This is a once-in-a-lifetime type experience‚ not just a record attempt.”

Leslie‚ who is making a documentary about the feat‚ said the runners had no support crew. “We are here to document and film everything. The helicopter is not for Ryan and Ryno‚ it is just for the film crew to get them around and to get the high mountain shots.

“They tried once ... to get antibiotics to Ryno via helicopter as it looked like at that stage that Ryno would be losing those fingers. They didn’t find them though.”

- TimesLIVE