Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 125, December 2019 | Page 16

THE RUNNING
MANN
By Stuart Mann
Levelling Up in Laingsburg
It took me a while, but I finally made it to Laingsburg for the Karoo Ultra 80km, and soon learnt why a select small
number of runners say that finishing this ultra is the real test of a long distance runner in South Africa.
When life gives you lemons, make
lemonade. When life gives you rocks,
make distance markers!
(Marathon #226 / Unique Marathon
#129 / 28 September 2019)
must have on his CV. I also love a bargain, and with an
entry fee of just R100, this is the cheapest rand-per-
kilometre race in the country!
I’d had my eye (or should that be last few
malfunctioning brain cells) on the Karoo Ultra for
some time, but had never quite mustered the stupidity
to actually enter the damn thing. I was planning to run
last year, but was saved when the race was cancelled
due to lack of sponsorship. However, with the long-
term future of the event in doubt, I jumped at the
opportunity to enter as soon as the 2019 event was
confirmed.
Shock to the System
Logistically, this is one of the hardest races to get
to. From the Highveld, it’s a two hour flight to Cape
Town or George, followed by a three-hour drive into
the middle of the Great Karoo Desert. Fortunately,
I travelled with my friend Julian Karp, a veteran of
10 Karoo Ultras. The Karoo is known for being hot,
dusty and dry, and it fully met expectations when we
stepped out of the comfort of our air-conditioned car
to check into the hotel. With temperatures in the high
30s, it is important to hydrate properly in Laingsburg!
Although South Africa is known for being “ultra mad,”
in reality our runners only have sporadic bouts of
insanity. The two main delirium-inducing culprits are
Comrades and Two Oceans – the only two ultra-
marathons in the world to record over 10,000 finishers
– and there are just three other ultras (Loskop, Om Die
Dam and Irene) that boasted more than 1000 finishers
in 2019. Furthermore, the second half of the year is
rather sparse, with just a handful of road ultras on
the calendar – and all these races have to be content
with a few hundred institutionalised patients... sorry,
participants.
Now you’d have to be crazy to voluntarily check
yourself into the nuthouse. Likewise, there are no
rational explanations for entering ultra-marathons in
the desert, only justifications, but we do it anyway.
At 80 kilometres, Laingsburg’s Karoo Ultra is what
long distance snobs call a “proper ultra.” As such, it
is a race that any self-professed running connoisseur
Of course, deserts are known for their extreme
temperatures, and it was a chilly walk to the start at
the local sportsgrounds, where a small brass band
kept us entertained until we were sent on our way at
6am. (Sidenote: At Comrades, The Last Post is played
by a lone bugler after the 12-hour cut-off, but facing
a very long day wandering around the Karoo Desert, I
thought it would have been more appropriate to start
the race on this sombre note.)
Crossing the infamous Buffels River
More kilometres to run (80) than
runners to run them (71) at the start!
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ISSUE 125 DECEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za