Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 122, September 2019 | Page 45

TRAIL RUNNING
have in our bodies, hearts, minds and spirits! It was
really powerful, and I’m grateful to have shared it with
a friend like Sean, and everybody from my support
crew, albeit indirectly. I also took the opportunity to
honour and pay tribute to my Gigi girl, which was a
special moment for me too.
It was auto pilot on the downhill through Silvermine,
past the dam, back on the road, out the gate and
across the road onto Ou Kaapse Weg. We were
pleasantly surprised to hear the legend JJ de Villiers
cheering us on for an awesome end to Day one.
Ray and JJ Bell were there to meet us with blankets
and more Steri Stumpies, and Ray had got me my
favourite dinner, a peanut butter bliss smoothie and
Prince Wrap from Kauai for the trip home to rest.
Back to the Trails
I did not sleep well. My legs were a little sore, but
my biggest ache was the bottom of my feet. I think
it was from the sand in my shoes. I was, however,
more overwhelmed by the experience, reflecting on it
and going through all the messages from family and
friends. I slept lightly for about four hours and then got
up just before 4am. It was chicken mayo, veggies and
chocolate for breakfast, and the running started just
before 5am.
This was followed by a quick toilet stop, which further
strengthened our friendship, as Sean graciously
passed the ‘white gold’ to me from the neighbouring
stall. Then it was a bit of complaining about sore feet,
a sand-removing shake of the shoes and back over
Ou Kaapse Weg, through the gate, past the dam, this
time heading towards Constantiaberg.
Tired Legs, Slow Progress
We found a rather large slug on the path, which we
dubbed our mascot and pacesetter, as his pace was
representative of the speed at which we were going!
I could feel yesterday’s fatigue and was moving very
slowly, but moving nonetheless. It was misty as we
climbed, but the morning sun shone through, bringing
out the saturated colours of our surroundings as we
summited Peak 11. I tried to jump onto the beacon for
a photo, but my legs were not ready for that kind of
commitment and I just ended up kicking Sean instead.
there was a (relatively) small climb called Vlakkenberg,
which I also suggested be renamed to something
more appropriate (but inappropriate to repeat here).
We came across some trail runners who recognised
us from the social media posts Ryan Sandes had
been doing, and they gave us a round of applause
and encouragement as we passed.
We descended past a pig farm and back onto the
road at Constantia Nek, where Ray was waiting with
friends Gen and Justin. It was such a nice surprise to
see them, and they joined us up to Klassenkop (#12).
The company was great and the way up was mainly a
steep Jeep track, which made a pleasant change from
the millions of rock and stair climbs. As we passed De
Villiers Dam on top, the path converted to single track,
which then became bushy, then rocky (like the moon
again, or what I would imagine a place like Utah to
look like), and ultimately involved crossing a gully, via
The downhill along a mountain bike track
allowed us to pick up some speed
again and see from a distance
the mountains and
surrounds of Hout Bay
we had conquered
yesterday. Then
Another start in the dark and as we set off, we noticed
a set of eyes reflecting the light of our headlamps.
It was a little bokkie. This was so cool to see, and
on another perfect winter’s morning, we summited
Muizenberg Peak (#10) just before 6am, looking down
on a lit-up city still fast asleep. This was a nice warm-
up peak to get the heart pumping and legs going
again, but I was having trouble getting water from my
hydration pack, and was concerned that there was an
issue with the drinking pipe.
After a crazy amount of fiddling fuelled by frustration,
rage and thirst, I finally discovered that by simply
twisting the little mouth nozzle to 90-degrees, the
free flow of water is unlocked. I have had this pack
for months, done countless runs with it, and I only
realised this now! I may not have provided too much
functional use or benefit to Sean, or myself apparently,
but there is no doubt that my moments of being an
absolute imbecile provided Netflix-level entertainment.
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