Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 122, September 2019 | Page 46

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gi
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still going at the pace of the Constantiaberg slug...
but I was going. Sean did stop to wee a lot, though,
throughout the challenge, which allowed fantastic
opportunities for me to snack, often. With the sound
of his piddles, coupled with the rustling of my energy
bar wrappers (along with my clicking ankles and the
bass from my heart beat, compliments of the Red
Bull), we created our very own “ode to the peaks”
anthem.
Time to Reflect...
Then, Devilʼs Peak was done! In trying to find the
appropriate rock to balance my phone on for a self-
timer shot, I probably added an extra kilometre to
my total distance. Anyway, out onto Tafelberg Road,
Ray and Tam were waiting with more Red Bull and
an assortment of sugary snacks, and then it was
auto pilot to the end. There was no more pain, no
more frustration, and I was hardly taking in the views
anymore, just the occasional glance up to where we
were, and where we needed to be.
Into the Home Stretch
I had done Devilʼs Peak (#13) the week before, so I
felt confident about the last stretch, but I had heavily
underestimated the mission between Peaks 12 and
13. Day 2 had a lot more distance between peaks
than Day 1, and I started to feel a little frustrated,
because we would climb up and then go down again,
then up, then down. Nursery Ravine was a very steep,
technical down, but eventually we entered the forest,
so in my head we were almost close to my ‘home
turf.’ After more up, down, up, down missions, my
feet were starting to burn and for the first time, I was
starting to feel a little fed up.
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Eventually we came across a landmark I thought
I recognised as an area I run through often. White
rocks. Well, turns out there are a lot of patches of
big white rocks in the forest, and we were in fact
4km further back from where I thought we were. It
was, once again, very disorientating, but this time
also disheartening. I became frustrated with myself
because I already have a complex about how dreadful
my navigation is, so this really ticked me off. Sean
continued to be encouraging, but I was grumpy and
had lost my sense of humour, so I told him to allow
me to sulk.
Finally, a waterfall I really did recognise, and Ray
standing under it with more Red Bull. My smile
was back, because for the first time in the whole
challenge, I knew exactly what I was in for. Red Bull
chugged, another one in my backpack and up and
over Newlandʼs Ravine. Sean was motoring, but I was
ISSUE 122 SEPTEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
Racing to catch the sunset, dodging a string of cars
that were trying to do the same, we finished the
13 Peaks loop at Signal Hill at 18:17 on 3 August,
having run 37 hours, covering 115.8km and 6585m
of elevation! Tam and Ray popped the champagne,
and I was climbing the beacon like an ape, and doing
handstands all over it. Sean just celebrated calmly like
a civilised human being.
At the end of all of this, I found the perspective and
hope I was looking for. I learnt a lot from the beautiful
heart my Gigi dog had, and increased appreciation
and love for the incredible people I have in my life.
I found physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
strength I did not know I had. It was my so-called
quarter-life crisis that led me to this point, so maybe a
quarter-life crisis is not such a bad thing after all, but
rather a blessing.
Necker
a tree, to get to the beacon (a pile of rocks). This was
another of my favourites, being particularly unique,
and the laughs with Gen and Justin made it that much
more awesome. Gen also fell. I laughed again. Later I
fell too, so Karma. And overall fall scores were tied.