TRAIL RUNNING
The SkyRun is all about skylines , with stupendous mountain vistas accompanying the runners throughout the Witteberg
Stopping to take in the view is a must in this race
The K-Way SkyRun 100 is not like most other runs in South Africa . In fact , there can ’ t be too many runs like it in the world , and no surprise that at the race briefing the night before the run , race organiser Michael de Haast describes it as one of the toughest 100km trail runs on the planet .
However , this was not the real reason I was lining up again . I had decided to run with a purpose , to raise funds for an NGO called One School at a Time , but this decision was only made three months prior to the start , so it was still not the real reason I decided to run again . In fact , by the time I reached Snowden , about 30km into the run , I think I had figured it out …
Comrades Challenge
I had not always been a runner . Up until 2009 , I had been working in a very stressful job , working long hours , eating fast foods and drinking too much . I was overweight and heading in the wrong direction . After my best mate lost his father , who happened to be a multi-Comrades finisher , he decided to run the 2010 Comrades the following year in honour of his father . Completing my fourth Hansa draught at OR Tambo , while wishing him farewell on his way back to the UK , I pledged to run that Comrades with him .
I hadn ’ t even run a 10km race at that stage , but I started training , and with much discipline managed to complete the 2010 Comrades with a few minutes to spare . But I was hooked . I did another three Comrades , but by 2016 , the road had become too mundane for me . I had always had a deep love for nature and realised I could create great balance by combining my new love for running with being out in nature , if I took up trail running . I also realised that running and being in nature made me happier and less stressed . It brought about balance .
When COVID landed in early 2020 , all our lives changed . Midway through 2020 I was starting to experience depression , as many others did , too , and I needed something to pull me right . I realised that Covid was going to be around for a long time , and if I was going to tough it out , I needed to be fit , both mentally and physically – and what better way to get and stay fit and strong , than enter SkyRun again ? So I paid the money , made the commitment and started the discipline of training . In other words , as much as people say you must be mad to take on the SkyRun , the real reason I decided to run it was to preserve my sanity !
To give some perspective , the Comrades Marathon ‘ Up Run ’ is 90km on tarred roads , with a vertical gain of approximately 2000m running from sea level to a highest point of 810m above sea level , with water points every 3km . The SkyRun , by comparison , is a self-navigation , self-supported trail event over mountains with 4000m of elevation gain , at an average altitude of 2200m , and a highest point of 2756m above sea level . My last Comrades ‘ Up Run ’ in 2015 took 10 hours 43 minutes to complete . I had run SkyRun in 2018 , in an energy-sapping heatwave with temperatures reaching 35 degrees , and it literally brought me to my knees nearly 29 hours later at the finish line in Wartrail .
Running poles definitely come in handy on a course with this many steep climbs !
So before describing my second SkyRun , I need to unpack why I decided to run the race again . One reason to do it again in 2021 was to run the traditional route from Lady Grey to Wartrail . The 2018 run was unique , as there had been civil unrest and riots in Lady Grey , the traditional start of the run , so that year the race started and ended at Wartrail Country Club .
48 ISSUE 147 DECEMBER 2021 | www . modernathlete . co . za