David Grier

David Grier is a trustee and ambassador for the ‘ Cipla Miles for Smiles Foundation’, raising funds through adventure for Operation Smile,South Africa, who perform corrective surgery on children born with cleft lips and palates.

He has shaped the experiences of the last four challenges into a series of inspirational talks. His message is of hope and ‘making a difference’ in peoples lives through change, positivity, the right attitude, recognizing opportunity and never giving up.

Davids Talks

SPICES TEA AND PHILOSOPHY Starting in Kashmere, in the foothills of the Himalayas at the most northern temple I began this epic run down India, travelling through 10 provinces which in the end felt like 10 different countries.
BURNT VANILLA The Burnt Vanilla talk is centred on David’s journey to and across the island of Madagascar. During this challenge, David had to fight energy-sapping and potentially life-threatening illnesses.
HOPE IN THYME Hope in Thyme is an inspirational account of David’s journey around the coast of South Africa. An action-packed adventure close to home. David shares rare footage captured on this three-month challenge.
COURAGE AND RICE This is an account of David’s journey along the Great Wall of China, achieving a first run of the entire length of the great wall. Pushing his body and mind to the limit.

David was born on the 16th of January 1960 into a Cape Wine farming family in South Africa, here his love of the outdoors, food, wine and adventure began. He set out to take all his passions to the extreme and explore the limits of the human mind and body.

After studying Hotel Management, David set out into the industry, starting the first of a string of successful restaurants. Always pushing the boundaries in the food industry he slowly began to make his mark in the industry culminating in his most recent restaurant being rated in the top 100 in SA. This led to television, brand exposure and his own range of food products.

Despite David’s success in the food industry, this didn’t quench his thirst for exploring the great outdoors. After watching a documentary on Sir Edmund Hillary and his summit of Everest, David was inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary’s words of “This is my Everest, go out and find your own.” And so David’s adventures began.

To date: David has run The Great Wall of China (4200km in 93 days), run the entire coastline of South Africa (3300 km in 80 days), paddled from Africa to Madagascar (500km in 12 days), run the Island of Madagascar South to North (2700km in 67 days), run the entire length of India (4008 km in 93 days).