TRAIL RUNNING
“ Even when talking to James , we avoided the topic of podium and records , and that allowed me space to focus on myself . Before the race , he told me that the person who slows down a bit and runs conservatively does the best at Otter , so I started conservatively , didn ’ t surge and just maintained a continuous effort , but I was always in the lead . Well , that ’ s all I knew , as I never had any info on the chasing pack – I didn ’ t want to know – nor did I know how I was doing in relation to the record , and the new mindset paid off nicely for me .”
Record-breaking Run
It seems typical that an introvert such as Bianca would downplay her result , but she actually had an awesome run . Seemingly not phased by the warm temperatures and stiff headwind that caused a number of other runners problems on the day , she led the women ’ s race the whole way and came flying into the finish seventh overall , stopping the clock on 4:45:34 . That shattered Toni ’ s two-year-old record by more than seven minutes , and was just over 40 minutes faster than second-placed Julika Pahl of Namibia !
The organisers and sponsors had put up a R50,000 incentive for a woman to run faster than 4:40 , but Bianca says she deliberately chose not to chase that . “ Although I was aware of the incentive , to be honest , I didn ’ t think sub-4:40 was possible on the Classic course , as I would have had to take more than 12 minutes off Toni ’ s record to do it ! I thought it could be done on the RETTO course , which is faster , but until my 4:45 , I didn ’ t think it was possible this way . That wasn ’ t part of my mindset though … I didn ’ t want to spoil my run by racing harder to go for that time , and possibly tiring later , or worse , hitting the wall again . Perhaps I can do it in the future , but my approach will be the same , take it as it comes , with no pressure to chase wins and records ,” says Bianca .
Still , reaching that same point where she collapsed in 2019 was a poignant moment for Bianca , and she says just reaching the final stretch of beach feeling good really made her appreciate her great run still more . “ This time I had no bad patches and didn ’ t hit the wall . In fact , I felt good throughout the race . I did roll my ankle just before the Bloukrans River crossing , but thankfully it only hurt for 30 seconds . I had two more mini-rolls later in the race , within minutes of each other , but I was able to keep going . However , the ankle blew up a bit after the race , so I had to take a week off to rest it .”
“ Where my mind was blown most was coming down the stairs onto the beach . That part was really scary in 2019 , because I was so weak , I thought I was going
That winning feeling at Otter 2021
to fall off the cliff . James was standing at that point in that race , and he was in the exact same spot two years later , but instead of needing to pull me across the beach this time , we were both smiling as I passed him . I was actually shocked as I broke the tape . It was such a surreal moment , because two years ago I had felt so terrible , but this year everybody was happy and stoked , and all my team were there to celebrate with me . It was a moment I will remember forever , and it made me feel very thankful for where I had gotten to in two years ,” says Bianca .
Massive Health Scares
To put her incredible run at Otter into further perspective , it came after a really tough year . “ First Rob ’ s mom got COVID and ended up in the ICU , on a ventilator . That was really scary , as we ’ d heard stories that people don ’ t come off ventilators again , but she made a full recovery . That ended well , but it was very
Bianca dominated the 2021 Otter and shattered the course record
52 ISSUE 148 JANUARY 2021 | www . modernathlete . co . za