Rockhoppin' Trail: Much Ad(d)o about Running

There’s nothing quite like tight competition to introduce a twist to a race, churn things up and add a whole lot of spice to the mix. This year’s Addo 76km did exactly that, and the results reflected it.

This was the ninth running of the Addo 50 Miler. Two factors made this year different from the other eight: firstly, it wasn’t 82km in distance, it was 76km (rather than starting on the far side of Kirkwood, the race started at the Kabouga Gate of the Addo National Park); and secondly, it was used as the event from which a team of three men and three women would be selected to represent South Africa at the World Ultra Trail Champs 2013 in Wales, 6/7 July.

So, the race was to be slightly shorter in distance but, inevitably, one helluva lot sharper in tone and tempo than previous years.

And, that was obvious from the starting line-up. In the men’s mix there was a host of speedsters, all fidgeting nervously but trying their damnedest to look cool, calm and utterly unfazed by the tension. Of the women, there were a couple of much publicised favourites, and a sprinkling of lesser known but equally potent whippets. The rest of the line-up comprised the majority – there not as selection hopefuls but simply for the challenge of achieving their first ultra, and others to take part in what they knew from previous experience to be a fantastically organised, challenging day on the trails.

This year’s Addo 76km dished up surprises thick and fast, and none more so than in the women’s race. As is always the case in trail races in SA, the women’s field was small, making up just 25% of the entrants, and the competitive end was thin.

Landie Greyling, who’d had a spectacular 2012 with 14 wins out of 17 trail races, was the favourite, tipped to win the women’s race. This would be her second ultra – her first being Sky Run 2012, which she not only won but smashed the record by just over two hours.

Chantel “Hotpants” Nienaber was also in the line-up. With an array of podium finishes for middle to long-distance races to her name, including the Wild Run and the Lesotho Wild Run, she was likely to be in the top handful of finishers, but as she said herself, the furthest she had ever raced was 42km, so an ultra was quite the unknown for her.

I was another race favourite – 2012 had been a huge year for me, with four ultras (including my 10^th Comrades, 16^th Two Oceans, a Puffer win, and a podium finish in the 174km Grand Raid de la Réunion, reputedly the toughest trail race in the world), wins at the Aussenkehr Desert Extreme and the Triple Trouble, and top two finishes (behind Landie) at the Hout Bay Trail Challenge and the Bastille Day Trail Run.

Then there was the new kid on the block, Tracy Zunckel. With a rather intimidating trail pedigree to her name, including five wins of the Mont-aux-Sources, two of the Mutter and two of the Rhodes Trail Run, she was clearly one to watch – she was only “new to the block” in so much as she’d never raced outside of KZN. No one, including Tracy herself, knew how she would measure up.

The men’s mix was, as always, a rich array of stellar speedsters including William Robinson, Nic de Beer, Dreyer van Huyssteen, Dirk Cloete, Ryno Griesel, Bennie Roux, Christiaan Greyling and a host of others. Certainly rated amongst the four top ultra-distance trail runners in SA, William and Nic had raced each other in a gripping Puffer last year, pipped by Andre Calitz, who was unfortunately not on the Addo start line.

Nic’s running pedigree is formidable – 14 Comrades (9 silvers and a 6:12 PB), 8 Two Oceans (5 silvers and a 3:35 PB), over 100 standard marathons and 75 ultras.

William’s pedigree radiates the same: six Two Oceans (5 silvers and a 3:44 PB), a silver Comrades, five Puffers (3 wins), an Addo 100 Miler, and wins at the Addo 50 Miler in 2010 and 2011 (setting the record).

The route was fast, the stakes were high, and with national selection as the goal, the ante was considerably upped. The race started and the speed was on!

Nic took charge of the men’s race immediately and dominated for the entire duration of the route, blasting a blistering pace to scoop top honours in an unbelievable finish time of 6:29. William came in just 8 min later, having narrowed what had become a 15 min gap by the 56km mark. Surprise 3^rd position was Charl Souma in 6:51 – an outstanding race, particularly for a relative newcomer to the sport, running his first ultra.

The women’s race was far more interesting (an unbiased perspective, of course). Landie and I ran the first 22km together, maintaining a comfortable pace but always aware of the presence of Tracy, who kept a constant 100m or so behind us. Landie pulled ahead at the multiple stream crossings around the 22km mark, and Tracy joined me for the next couple of km’s.

At the start of the notorious monster-climb at 25km, I realised my climbing legs weren’t with me – I felt like I was towing a 10-ton trailer. Tracy trotted on up the climb, leaving me to slog and swear my way up what she was making look like a mediocre meander up a slight slope. Within minutes she was out of sight.

My battles began there. With Landie and Tracy in front, I was now in 3^rd place and I knew I had to hold on to that position, no matter what. The kilometres ticked slowly by and the legs plodded on, still not feeling their usual spritely selves. It never occurred to me that my 3^rd position was steadily being gained upon – I’d looked behind at various vantage points and seen no one. I thought I just had to keep pushing on and my position would be secure.

And then, *bam*, everything changed! I was busy refuelling at checkpoint 6 when Chantel appeared out of nowhere, grabbed a quick drink and scampered on up the trail, looking fresh and spritely.

I was now in 4^th spot, chewing Chantel’s dust and wondering how to find the legs to chase her.

I dug and dug, pushed hard up the switchbacks into Zuurberg and checkpoint 7, learning I was 4 mins behind. I know I’d have to dig even deeper on the remaining 20km to make up time, close the gap and retrieve my 3^rd position.

But it was not to be. I grappled a monster stitch on the 5km downhill section before the long flat stretch, and by then, as deep as I dug, Chantel was way out of sight. I crossed the line a good few minutes behind, well and truly in 4^th position.

Meanwhile, the battle had been waging for the ladies 1^st place. Not very long after she’d passed me, Tracy had gained on Landie and overtaken her at around the 33km mark. She raced on, pushing a pace that no other could match, and crossed the finish line in an incredible 7:29.

Landie finished not long after, in 7:44 – these two women in 8^th and 9^th position overall.

Nic de Beer, William Robinson, Charl Souma, Tracy Zunckel, Landie Greyling and Chantel Nienaber all ran their socks off at Addo and had outstanding races. A HUGE hats-off to them all – South African trail runners can be proud that they’re well represented at the World Ultra Champs in July 2013!

Some interesting pace stats on the race (remembering this year’s race was 6km shorter than the Addo 50 Miler):

William Robinson set the record for the Addo 50 Miler in 2011, with a time of 7:41. To achieve that, he ran an average pace of 5:37/km.

Similarly, the ladies record for the Addo 50 Miler was set by me in 2012, with a time of 9:10. For this, my average pace was 6:42/km.

This year, being the competitive field it was, both of these average paces were smashed, good and proper. Nic de Beer ran a frightening average pace of 5:07/km to scoop his win, and Tracy Zunckel an amazing 5:54/km – making mine last year rather a joke J

And to show just how the ante was upped on previous years, William ran an incredible 24 secs per minute faster pace than he did when he set the Addo 50 Miler record in 2011.

*photos credited to Hermien Webb Photography