Global Limits’ Hemisphere Crossing, São Tomé 2020
Global Limits’ Hemisphere Crossing 2020 is a 200 kilometre, six stage ultra-run set in the island of São Tomé in the Bight of Africa. The course will run through the tropical island’s extravagant countryside, through jungle, cocoa and coffee plantations, remote settlements and along spectacular, undeveloped beaches. The 60 runners can expect to climb around 6000 metres during the race, in extreme humidity and of course tropical heat, and to finish on the Equator, on a smaller island just south of São Tomé. One of the competitors in the Hemisphere Crossing 2020 was Kevin Webber, a T4 cancer sufferer who has outlived his diagnosis by 2 1/2 times. Read his story here. To see how the race developed read from the bottom of the page.
The end: It’s hard to express what events like these mean to the runners. Cameraderie, with its light sense of ‘friendliness’, just doesn’t do justice to the heartfelt feeling - of the memories of physical suffering and satisfaction that draw people together. Some will remain lifelong friends.
Day 5: The second to last day, Day 5 of the Hemisphere Crossing was 27.5 km long and saw the runners run through São Tomé’s incredibly lush interior. But the key feature of the day was the beaches as they headed towards the island’s southern tip, first at Jale below and then the finish line at Praia Piscina, a very picturesque beach that is home to nesting turtles.
Day 2: Runners head into a banana plantation in the highlands of central São Tomé on the second stage of Hemisphere Crossing 2020. The stage was just more than 30 km and finished in the pouring rain at a guest house in the jungle. A runner from São Tomé, Ismael Tavarez, is leading the race after these two stages.
Day 6: The final day of the Hemisphere Crossing took runners to the southern point of São Tomé and then on a boat to another island, Rolas. After a circuit of Rolas they reached the finish line, dead on the Equator. The 200km, 6-day stage race was won by local runner Ismael Tavarez and the women’s race by Veronique Messina.
Day 4: The long day, Day 4 was around 59 km long and so runners set off before dawn. And the course did not let up as it took them repeatedly inland into the jungle and back down to the coast again, passing through plantations and then streets lined with villagers cheering them on. The field is still led by São Tomé local runner Ismal Tavarez and the leading female runner is Veronique Messina.
Day 3: The 29km course headed from the heart of São Tomé downhill to the south-east coast of the island, passing waterfalls in the deep jungle, along muddy tracks through cocoa plantations and through villages. Runners arrives at the coast at Boca d’Inferno, a water-spout fed by the sea.
Runners at Globallimits events are required to carry all the food and equipment they need for each daily stage, but the rest of their belongings are taken in hand by the race organisers, who also build a camp with tents at the end of each stage. There the runners are reunited with their equipment bag, which contains all the food they need and spar equipment they need for teh following days’ stages.
Day Zero: Global Limits’ Hemisphere Crossing is the first multi-day ultra to take place in the small country of São Tomé and Principe and has attracted considerable interest with local runners. It started with a 5km Prologue around the centre of the capital, passing historic buildings including the Presidential Palace.
Day 1: The first stage of Hemisphere Crossing 2020 was 37.9 km long, starting inland at a botanical garden and heading north through farmland and villages to the north coast, then back inland to Monte Cafe, an area of plantations as the name implies.
Day Minus 1: Registration, with equipment and medical checks for Global Limits’ Hemisphere Crossing were carried out in the grounds of Hotel Miramar in the capital, also called São Tomé, in the north-east of the island. Competitors need to have with them bedding and all the food, clothing and equipment they need for the event. Tents are provided at each night’s encampment, which moves, with their spare equipment, while the runners are out on the day’s course.
São Tomé and Principe is a country of some 200,000 people which lies in the Bight of Africa, west of Gabon and south of Nigeria. It became independent from Portugal in 1975.
Photos courtesy of Global Limits, which will be staging four events in 2020. See more about Global Limits’ races.