From the Cape Flats to Comrades Glory, Denver van der Bergh’s epic 1680 kilometre journey of hope. By Adnaan Mohamed
Everyday for the past 35 days, my phone has lit up with a message from a man who, by every metric, should not be alive—let alone running the length of a country. But Denver van der Bergh is not merely alive. He is ablaze.
He sends me updates from the side of dusty roads, from inside blistered shoes, with sweat streaking his face and his voice steady with fire. Each message is a verse in a larger hymn—an unfolding gospel of grit, grace, and glorious resurrection.
Denver, 48, has just completed the first chapter of what he calls The Serenity Run, a 1,680km spiritual odyssey on foot from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg, culminating this Sunday in the 89km Comrades Marathon.
But this isn’t just a long-distance run. It’s a thunderous testament to the human capacity to climb out of hell barefoot—and keep running.
“There’s already so much suffering in the world. I just wanted to spread a little hope.” Denver says proudly.
FROM COLD STREETS TO BURNING PURPOSE
He didn’t start this journey on a starting line. He started in the dark.
Denver grew up in the Cape Flats, where dreams are often smothered by survival. His early years were marred by trauma—the kind of silent, slow poison that rots from the inside.
“I blamed myself when my grandfather died,” he told me once, the way someone might mention a long-healed scar. “I stopped believing… in everything.”
By 23, he was deep in addiction. Alcohol first, then drugs—a slow drip that pulled him under for 25 years. His life was a series of burning bridges.
“I thought it was a habit. But it was a cage. I kept trying to unlock it with shame, but shame only built more bars.”
He attempted to take his life. He didn’t want to run anymore. Until someone—an employer, not a therapist—offered him a choice: face the music, or seek help.
THE FIRST STEP
Ramot Treatment Centre in Parow didn’t look like salvation. But it felt like it.
“There was no judgment,” he said. “Just people who had seen the darkness, and survived it. That’s when I knew I wasn’t a monster. I was a man with pain that hadn’t been named yet.”
In recovery, he discovered the Serenity Prayer. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change… It wasn’t just a prayer. It was a map. And Denver decided to follow it—one trembling, blistered step at a time.
THE FIRE RETURNS
At Ramot, he started jogging.
What began as playful laps around the rehab garden became races. Then rituals. Then redemption.
“I started chasing something again,” he told me once. “But this time, it wasn’t an escape. It was a return—to myself.”
The races came. Two Oceans. Comrades. And then, this year, something monumental: to mark five years of sobriety, Denver decided to run from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg… and then lace up for his back-to-back Comrades Marathon.
“I wanted to give back to the place that gave me my life. To raise R500,000 for Ramot. To show someone out there—you, maybe—that it’s possible to come back from the brink.”
A RUN LIKE NO OTHER
Every day for 35 days, Denver has pounded the tar. Alone. Carrying nothing but a GPS tracker, a small team on call, and a heart like a war drum.
Fifty kilometres a day. Hills that bite like wolves. Heat that bakes through bone. Days when his calves locked like iron gates. Nights when sleep slipped through fingers made for prayer.
“I’ve had moments where I felt like quitting,” he messaged me once, somewhere in the Eastern Cape, after pushing 73km in a single day to make up for a day lost after picking up an injury.
“But then I remember—I’m not running away anymore. I’m running toward something.”
Each kilometre was a step into healing. Each road sign, a reminder that the past may chase us, but we are not obligated to stop and greet it.
“I’M FIVE YEARS SOBER BECAUSE SOMEONE ONCE REACHED OUT TO HELP ME”
That’s what Denver told me on day 29, in a gravel lay-by, while a storm rolled in behind him. I saved the voice note. I still listen to it when I need reminding.
There is nothing ordinary about this man. Not his smile, which now glows like sunrise on stained glass. Not his journey, which reads like scripture scribbled in sweat. And certainly not his message, which echoes louder with every step:
“We write off addicts too easily,” he says. “But addiction isn’t failure. It’s untreated pain. I’m proof that healing is possible. That broken doesn’t mean beyond repair.”
THE FINAL STRETCH
After running the first five kilometres with his Celtic Harriers club mates from Rondebosch Common in Cape Town on 1 May, Denver arrived in Pietermaritzburg just after 9 a.m. on Thursday 5 June, legs weary but spirit unshaken.
Members of the Collegian Harriers met him at Southgate Mall and escorted him for the final 3.9km to Comrades House.
Now, he rests. But not for long.
On Sunday, he’ll face the Comrades Marathon, the iconic 89km stretch between PMB and Durban. For most, it’s a mountain. For Denver, it’s the home stretch of a resurrection.
THE DREAM THAT BECAME REALITY
Denver often describes his journey as “running through fire to find the ocean.” And indeed, every kilometre of The Serenity Run has been a baptism by flame.
But here he stands—scarred, smiling, and stronger than ever—ankle-deep in a tide of hope.
“THIS ISN’T JUST A RUN. IT’S A RESURRECTION.”
That’s how he put it in one of his early messages to me, back when we both knew what lay ahead, but not what would rise from it.
I’ve watched this man climb out of his past like a phoenix scraping skyward. I’ve felt the crackle of that fire with every update. And I’ve come to believe what Denver proves every single day: That pain is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of purpose.
So on Sunday, when the record 22 000 Comrades field surges forward, look for the man who’s already outrun his demons. He won’t be at the front.
He won’t be at the back. He’ll be somewhere in the middle—steady, radiant, running not away from something, but into everything he was meant to become.
To support the Serenity Run or donate to the Ramot Treatment Centre, visit https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/serenity
Follow Denver’s journey at @theserenityrun on Instagram
Denver can be tracked in the Comrades Marathon here: https://rtrt.me/ulink/CMSA/CMSA-COMRADES-2025/tracker/RN6XZ8LK/focus
