TRAIL himself into the Groot Rivier as he crossed the floating bridge to the finish line , much to the amusement of the spectators . As mentioned earlier , Höche claimed fourth place , and fifth went to Christiaan Greyling , who had put in a stellar run after starting in the first non-Abangeni start group , having missed a top 24 slot by 15 seconds in the Prologue the day before .
Running on Experience
In the women ’ s race , Tarboton led from the opening kilometres , and it looked as if she might be able to challenge her own course record , and in so doing supplement her prize money with a R100,000 bonus from the presenting sponsors , EasyEquities , and race owners , Faces . “ It was a good day , but the conditions were really tough , and I think I underestimated them , so it was a bit slower ,” Tarboton noted upon sealing her second Otter African Trail Run crown . “ I felt really strong , and the rain was actually very nice , it helped me stay cool . All in all , I ’ m stoked . I thought maybe I had a record in me , but it wasn ’ t the day for it .”
Bianca Tarboton made the most of her knowledge of the route
Tarboton still came within less than seven minutes of her course record , placing an impressive 17th overall , and her margin of victory was 27 minutes over Lijan Burger , who herself enjoyed a good day out – much better than her previous attempt at the race . “ I felt much better this year , and I think it ’ s pretty common for people to post a better time second time around at the Otter . Course knowledge certainly helps here ,” she said . “ There are definitely areas I can still make up time in , including the river crossings . I timed Bloukrans really wrong – as I got out , a wave hit me to the rocks – but I ’ m happy with my run . I stuck to my plan , and I ’ m happy to have improved my time , which was my goal coming into the race .”
Another happy finisher was third-placed Ruth Cozien , who was also the first veteran over the line in the women ’ s race . Holding back tears , she said : “ This is way beyond my expectations . I came in hoping for a top 10 finish . Today was awesome . It was everything it was supposed to be . It was beautiful . It was tough …”
2023 Otter African Trail Run
Men
1 . Robbie Simpson ( 4:12:36 ) 2 . Kane Reilly ( 4:14:34 ) 3 . Johardt van Heerden ( 4:18:50 ) 4 . Marcel Höche ( 4:27:26 ) 5 . Christiaan Greyling ( 4:33:00 )
Women
1 . Bianca Tarboton ( 4:52:01 ) 2 . Lijan Burger ( 5:25:19 ) 3 . Ruth Cozien ( 5:31:58 – 1st veteran ) 4 . Rebecca Watney ( 5:46:18 ) 5 . Annalise Scholtz ( 5:55:34 – 2nd veteran )
Johardt van Heerden takes a quick finish line swim
Robbie Simpson ran a well-judged race to win the Otter on debut
Bianca Tarboton takes her second win at Otter
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