Cape-Odyssey was a 5 day trail race in South Africa starting in Hermanus and finishing at Boschendale. What makes this event different to anything else I have done before is you have to run it in pairs. My original running partner unfortunately had sustained an injury during the Bull of Africa in August, but thankfully had found me a new partner Ray Cranston a mad Irishman who lives in Johannesburg. I met Ray the Saturday before the race began so not exactly the best way to start! However, Ray is strong and a good runner so I was happy – trying to understand him is a different matter!
Day 1: The first stage of the Cape Odyssey was supposed to be a relatively easy one, 30km from Hermanus to Kleinmond. The first 4km were on road, Ray & I went off far too fast slowing down after 3km so I could get my breathing right. We then headed along the rocky coastal path which took us to our first checkpoint at 10km – in order to reach the CP we had to wade up to our calves in water so lovely wet feet!After the CP we had some more road followed by a track section before going back onto the rocky coastal path, this section included drudging through very smelly kelp with thousands of sand flies. I fell over three times during this section – much to Ray’s amusement! And it was always coming down the rocks, luckily for me I managed to avoid landing on the rocks.CP2 then it was down to the 11km beach section. I was quite looking forward to this bit as I don’t mind running on sand so got nicely into my stride – there were a few times when the sand was too deep so walking was faster. Due to the winter storms the river had swelled which meant that we were unable to get across one section of the beach – Cape Odyssey organisers came up with a marvellous plan of tying together a lot of rubber boats which we then had to scramble across – they even made us wear life jackets for goodness sack!!! There was a definite knack to getting across which I eventually managed – my main objective was NOT to fall in, this would have caused Ray even more amusement. Having got across safely we then had another 3km before getting to a section of the beach where the camber was really bad, my ankle kept on giving way, it wasn’t sore but had no strength in it, so we had to walk this part. I also ended up having my feet taken out by the sea so ended up falling over again – this made some other runners who were passing by at the time fall about laughing – good to know I can entertain and race at the same time!
We finally came into the finish in 3hrs 28mins being piped to the post by Owen Middleton & his partner Paul Boyce of K-Way.
DAY 2Today was due to start at 7am so the hooter to wake everyone up goes off at 5am – I had been wide awake since about 3! After breakfast I went to the medical tent and got my ankle strapped up, whether this will help or not I don’t know, but physiologically it made me feel a lot better! It was the longest stage today, 57km, however due to the overflowing Palmiet River we had a diversion at the start which meant that the overall distance for the day was only 50km. The weather today was overcast so perfect running conditions. We started on a road for 2km before heading up to the mountains . There was to be over 1200m of climbing so fast walking today. Ray and I got to the first CP at 12km in good time. Today there was a small river crossing which usually I would just walk through, but because my ankle had been strapped up and it was the longest day Ray very kindly carried me – what a marvellous man! This as you can imagine got lots of comments from other competitors, some even thought we were married – good grief, even my husband wouldn’t carry me across a river!There was lots of banter today amongst the runners which was great, Owen & Paul tracked us down once more – they are true mountain boys so were in their element. Lots of ups and downs today but nothing too bad, one of the sections was a stunning climb through the Lebanon Forest, quite beautiful. On arriving at CP3 we were told that the next CP would be 12km away, you can imagine my delight when we came across it at only 8km. We had 8km to go to the finish at Paul Cluver which was uphill and through the orchards, Ray decided that we were going to pick up the pace for the last 5km, I did as I was told and just followed with Ray shouting “keep up”. Felt good at the end of day 2 which we did in 6hrs 1min. Had drunk lots of water but hadn’t managed to have a pee – not a good sign but this isn’t unusual for me. Had a massage, went to bed early. DAY 3This morning started cold – headed off for breakfast then joined the queue for the medical tent to have my ankle strapped up. As the race goes on the queues are getting longer with injuries ranging from blisters to various parts of the legs. Having had my ankle beautifully strapped I went back to my tent to organise myself for the day. Today was 42km. We had the steep climb over the Groenlandberg which most people walked. The trail was loose rocks taking us up to 1000m, great views at the top though, although my ankle didn’t cope well with all the rocks, going up no problem but coming down was a nightmare. Once at the top of the Groenlandberg we then had a 15km virtually downhill section to the Elgin Country Club which was to be our finish for the day. I struggled on parts of the 15km with all the loose rocks, Ray loved it and was in his element, unfortunately for him he had to wait for me as teams weren’t allowed to be more than 2minutes apart. It was also extremely hot today which I don’t have a problem with so topped up the tan nicely! Once again we picked up the pace for the last 5km – felt great overtaking people and keeping up with Ray! The finish line seemed to take ages to appear but finally there it was – what a marvellous sight and the location was fantastic. Having showered I then went and sat beside the Eikenhof Dam, a very amusing sight to see runners standing in the water up to their waists chatting, one of the runners had kept a bottle of wine from the evening before and put it in the water to chill – very sensible! The rest of the day was extremely relaxing. Now I need to prepare myself for tomorrow as I know the next two days will be tough for me as they are “real” trail days – well according to me – if you speak to the South African trial runners the only true trail day was to be tomorrow – gulp!
DAY 4 Breakfast, ankles – both this time, strapped up and we were off at 7am. Today’s stage was 44km and I was extremely nervous. I knew that parts of today would be tough. I can keep going endlessly on the flattish ground which Ray finds extremely boring and just can’t get his head round them, whereas for Ray today was going to be heaven (well parts anyway!) Yet more hot weather today – marvellous! We left the beautiful Elgin Country club climbing through forestry – which was stunning and heading towards the Franschhoek Pass. The forestry paths weren’t too bad and I wasn’t finding it too difficult – however, we then got onto single track for the first time in the race – rocks, boulders, my ankles were in hell! I must say I acted like a girl on parts of this stage and fast walked most of it. Various teams passed us (must to my annoyance) they just seemed to be skipping from rock to rock! I was thrilled to see the CP at 23km followed by flattish dirt roads – I was once again in heaven! We crossed the Riviersonderend River by means of a swing bridge which you have to go over one person at a time – this was great fun and I was greeted at the other end by one of the runners who wanted to shake my hand because of my WR – rather embarrassing but nice. We then had a 7.5km hard climb, 4km on the road which again I didn’t mind, then we hit the single track again to the top – what a marvellous sight that was, then we had a final 3km run downhill – more rocks and even a ladder to climb down, the finish was insight but they had got the distances wrong and it was at least a further 1km on than they said. The finish today was at Franschhoek, another stunning location. To finish today in one piece was fantastic – I was very frustrated with myself for not being able to go faster on the technical sections, but I suppose in the events I’ve done I haven’t had a huge amount of practice. I was asked by Linda Doke if I had enjoyed today to which I said loved it but hated the rocks – unfortunately there were more to come!
Day 5 Today’s stage was 31km – easy!!!! Two of the guys today dressed up as Elvis – very funny seeing them running! The day started on tar and gravel roads leading up towards the climb for the day (well, they have to put one in somewhere I suppose!) We climbed 6km up Matoppie then 3km down towards the Berg Dam. Another long downhill section with rocks, rocks and more rocks – I just lost the plot (only for a couple of minutes) as my ankles were extremely sore, but the views on the way down were stunning. We reached the CP at the bottom which was marvellous, then set off over the dam with only about 14km to the finish. One section was a disused railway, running this section was very funny as I had a cameraman following me from behind – I only hope that my backside didn’t look too big or that I fell over! We then crossed yet another river and finally reached the last CP at 20km to be told that the route had been changed as the river levels were too high – 6km on road to the end – Ray not a happy man! Apparently the 6km turned out to be 7.5km. The finish was in sight – pace picked up and we crossed the finish line together feeling relieved that we had done it and the joy that tomorrow we could relax. Ray and I finished in an overall time of 25hrs 6 minutes coming in 53rd overall, 14th in our category (although we should have been in the Masters as mixed were all pairs of under 40 years old!!!) 164 teams started the race. The Cape-Odyssey is a fantastic event; it’s a stunning location, well organised and great fun having to run with a partner. I would like to say a big thank you to Ray Cranston for stepping in at the last minute as my partner, he was great to run with and by the end of the race I could understand his Irish Accent!!!To find out more about the race go to www.cape-odyssey.com give it a go!
