TRAIL RUNNING
Journey to a 100 Miler
In 2017 , 34-year-old Cape Town runner Andre Pienaar stood at the start line of the RMB Ultra-trail Cape Town ( UTCT ) 100km trail race . Five years prior , he would have been pretty surprised to hear that this would happen ... and another five years on , Andre now has his sights set on the new flagship UTCT 100 Miler race , happening this coming November . Again , somewhat to his surprise . e – BY MARYANN SHAW
Andre in action during the 2017 UTCT 100km
With a distance of 167km , elevation gain of 7516m and a cut-off of 45 hours , the new UTCT 100 Miler is going to be a big day out for any runner , no matter their speed , endurance or experience . For Andre Pienaar , it will be his first attempt at the distance , and the reason he is still somewhat surprised that he will be lining up at all is because running has not always come easily to him . “ I ' ve struggled with asthma my whole life , and I was the kid – and then adult – who couldn ’ t run 5km without walking ,” he says .
That ’ s why he only started running about eight years ago , after working with The African Attachment filmmakers , composing scores for their films and advertisements . One of their clients was Salomon TV , and their films were about the epic feats of local trail running heroes Ryan Sandes and Ryno Griesel , as well as international trail running greats like Kilian Jornet .
“ I think that after two years of working with this amazing content , I started to ‘ drink the Kool-Aid ’ and started to try and run a bit around Lion ’ s Head . I would run for 500 metres , then walk for 500 metres , and eventually I had run my first five kilometres without walking , then my first ten kilometres without walking . I remember a massive goal of running up the backside of the Lion loop on the Fresnaye side , without walking , and thinking I would be a ‘ runner ’ if I could do that ,” says Andre .
Eventually I did my first ‘ proper ’ mountainous run in about 2015 or 2016 , the 38-kilometre Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge . It took me six or seven hours , and it was the first run that was more than just a morning out – it felt like a whole day ! It was the first thing I did that I would consider very hard . I then did the Bastille Day 50-kilometre , and progressed to the Puffer , which was then 75 kilometres .”
READY FOR MORE
After that Andre stepped it up to the Ultra-trail Cape Town 100km in 2017 . “ The race itself was exactly what I wanted , it was perfect really , in that it was a true ultra-race experience , from highs to lows and back again . When I got to Alphen Trail [ About 75km into the race – Ed .], I just broke down completely when I saw my wife and dog . I wasn ’ t sure I could go on . I then
Having overcome asthma , Andre was able to tackle the big trails . marched to Newlands Forest and started to feel a bit better approaching the UCT aid station . From there something clicked and I regained some strength .
This has always been something I hang onto in a long race , knowing that no matter how bad you feel , you can still push through and get back on track . From the Block House to the finish , I think I ran a PB on every single segment . It was the perfect day emotionally – I got to peel away the layers until Alphen , where I was then a shell of myself and down in the gutter , and by the time I got to the finish line , I was on a high . After training for a whole year to achieve this , I got so much out of the experience .”
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
Like many runners , Andre says the COVID-19
“ It worked for me as a break from working with music … running on the mountain , I could just hear the wind and the trees , and it was a good break for my ears . I progressed from five to 10 kilometres , then up to 21 kilometres , and then it just developed from there .
64 ISSUE 153 | www . modernathlete . co . za