Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 125, December 2019 | Page 51

TRAIL RUNNING
At least one third of the participants will be repeat
offenders and at briefing the night before they usually
reminisce about getting lost. The rest sit quietly
clutching their maps and GPS and hope they won’t.
If Tolkien was in the room, he would tap them on the
shoulder and say, “The world is not in your books and
maps, it’s out there.”
It’s not the distance they worry about. To be eligible
to apply, each runner must have run at least one
proper trail marathon in the previous 12 months. This
rule was implemented after four road runners with 20
Comrades finishes between them decided the same
length divided over two days would be easy for their
first ever trail run, and failed to make the first cut-off
at 12km! Physical stamina, mental endurance and
all-terrain agility is crucial when undertaking this ultra,
but having a sense of direction, and failing that, a
sense of humour, helps tremendously too.
The Department of Forestry manages the hiking route
and directional signage. Some enthusiastic workers
have applied a frenzy of footprint markers in one
area, while others were more frugal with their paint
and sometimes more creative in their placement
of the yellow footprints. “Just be sensible... and if
you do call me, make sure you’re coherent. If you’re
panicking, I will put the phone down on you,” says
Graham. “Don’t worry, it will all make sense when
you’re out there,” he promises to his now wide-eyed
audience before chasing them off to bed.
ENCHANTED WORLD
And so it became the much-loved Hobbit Journey. The
six-day Amathole Hiking Trail in the Amathole mountain
range of the Eastern Cape is marketed as “the
toughest hutted hike in SA,” thanks to its long distance,
rugged terrain and relentless profile boasting a glute-
busting elevation gain of 4800m and quad-aching drop
of 4100m, all at an average height of 1500m above
sea level. The annual two-day Hobbit running event,
covering almost all of this route, avoids the use of such
superlatives and remains refreshingly understated.
Instead, a diverse group of mountain-loving runners
searching for the personal touch that is so often lost
in big races sign up to spend a weekend gallivanting
cheerfully along a challenging hiking trail, tackling a
route that is too taxing, too technical and too sublimely
beautiful to blindly race at full speed. Both the trail
and the environment demand one’s full presence and
respect in order to pass safely through it.
TOUGH CHALLENGE
Being limited to 35 adventurers makes for an intimate
event that plays out in a similar way every year.
In the 4am darkness outside the Arminel Hotel, the
Hobbiters check in their bags that will greet them
atop a mountain that evening and then, swaddled in
blankets, set off in a convoy of buses from Hogsback
to the start at Maden Dam, two hours’ drive away.
From there the blur of technical clothing disappears
quickly into the indigenous forests that fantasy tales
are woven from.
Each athlete has opened a new book and falls into the
rhythm of their own story, stepping through time and
space to enjoy the contemplation and musings that
only a long run in a mountain range can evoke. This
is occasionally broken by the more literal kind of falls
over the gnarled feet of the wizened old trees and
stops to fill water bottles from streams and take
selfies with real-life magic mushrooms and
giant earthworms. (The latter is not imagined
as a result of the former – the area really is
populated by benign monsters that grow
up to a metre long!)
the dog appraises everyone’s biltong stash for the
big climb ahead. Graham’s little mongrel has run the
route herself and dishes out that familiar and warm
empathy that just about all the event staff exude, none
more so than the race organiser herself, though. To
be welcomed at Cata Hut at the end of a monumental
day out by the loud hailer that is Tatum Prins, is to
know what hugs were created for. Whether you are
first or last, at midday or sunset, her unconditional
exuberance turns anything arduous into awesome.
TRAIL CAMARADERIE
Sauntering in at the back is always Mike-the-Sweep,
still chatting and laughing regardless of who, or even
if, anyone is with him. Mike Webb has incomparable
knowledge and experience of the route, making him
the best piece of safety equipment out on the course,
but he does come with an official warning. Because
Mike can talk the hind legs off a donkey. His Talk the
Walk tactic has coaxed many a straggler to fasten
their hind legs back on and find the energy to push
just that little bit ahead to where it’s quieter. Although
mercilessly teased, he is invaluable, fiercely loved,
and appreciated by all. Take note and be aware that
the earplugs listed in the recommended gear are not
Before heading up to the plateau where
the capricious weather takes no heed of
the ruling season’s suggestions, there
is a compulsory kit check where the
safety crew scrutinise those ‘hope-
you-won’t-need-them’ items and Nzuri
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