TRAIL RUNNING
I had my hamstring surgically reattached to my pelvic bone in September 2019 , and only started run-walking again in January 2020 , but just a year-and-a-half later , I went for this seemingly impossible challenge . It ’ s about consistency , as I have regularly trained five days a week , with two strength sessions , including obstacle training . But even more importantly , it is about believing in yourself … it ’ s that mental game .
Managing your expectations for an ultra-distance of this magnitude is definitely one of my key tips for any prospective 13 Peaks runners . I studied the map and recced quite a bit of the route before we started , as it is good to know that despite being at peak 10 , you still have a marathon and 3 more peaks to summit ! I also chatted to a number of ultra-runners who had completed the challenge , so I feel I had a realistic idea of what to expect .
Obviously , you need to plan your timing carefully . We chose the end of May for our run , as it is most likely cooler weather with less chance of rain , and hopefully no wind . We did really well , too , running in 10-degree weather through the night , and only in the latter part of our challenge did we come up against some rain and wind .
You also need to be able to laugh at yourself ... Throughout our challenge , we talked and joked , and we even came up with our own , self-proclaimed award for the 13 Peaks Challenge , as the team with only 13 seconds of no talking during the whole challenge ! I ’ m also fantastic at getting names of places muddled up … like the famous Dive Board above Kloof Corner . I kept hollering out Surf Board ! Thankfully , I have teammates who understand my , um , creativeness !
Logistics and Good Friends
Successfully taking on the 13 Peaks Challenge requires the right combination of planning , logistics , navigation , nutrition and gear . As part of this , logistical planning included knowing where our seconding vehicle would meet us and how to pack our gear in between . After completing Lion ’ s Head ( peak 2 ) and running through to Kloof Corner , our seconders were only able to meet up with us again after the Table
Dawn ’ s prized jumping pic on the Dive Board ( a . k . a . the Surf Board
13 Peaks Wall of Honour
Dawn ’ s finishing time of 32:33:37 Puts her in 13 th position on the women ’ s Two Day leader-board ( at the time of writing ). Here ’ s who is holding the top positions for each challenge category at present .
Multi-Day Men : Ross Dold ( 13:44:46 ) Women : Kristen Heath & Hayley Preen ( 17:15:05 )
Two Day Men : Frederick Gerner ( 20:01:00 ) Women : Jana Trojan ( 23:10:15 )
One Day Men : Matthew Healy ( 15:32:13 ) Women : Naomi Brand ( 17:45:56 )
Impossible Men : Ryan Sandes ( 13:41:10 ) Women : No finishers yet
Mountain leg ( McClears , Grootkop and Judas Peaks ), on the other side at Suikerbossie .
From Suikerbossie we just packed the basics , as we saw them regularly between Klein Leeu , Suther and then up to Chapman ’ s Peak . From Chappies we tagged Noordhoek and met up again with our seconders at Silvermine Gate 2 , before heading out to Muizenberg
Fastest woman Naomi Brand
An Amazing , Incredible Experience
If you have a bit of spare time , check out Dawn ’ s 36-minute video of her 13 Peaks run . The first 20 minutes takes you through the Peak Peeps Team ’ s journey , with all the peaks , nutrition and hydration , motivation , humour and more , while the latter part shows the team ’ s post-run celebration and personal interviews about takeaways from the run and lessons learnt along the way .
Peak which is a 9km round trip . Once again , we packed sufficiently , as our next peak to tag would be Constantiaberg , and then we headed all the way to Constantia Nek . This was the last time to refuel with our seconding team before we tagged the 12th and 13th peaks of Klassenkop and Devil ’ s Peak , and then we were back on the Tafelberg Road for the final 8km road stretch to complete our adventure at Signal Hill .
52 ISSUE 142 JUNE 2021 / www . modernathlete . co . za