Photo by David Montgomery
The first 3 days were similar distances, between 40-44km, day 4 was 56km and the final day a shorter 28km, with manned checkpoints every 10-15km where you could get water and some food. All of the recent rains had also brought humidity and I found myself sweating heavily from the beginning each morning. This would be the norm over the next week, humid and overcast in the morning, then by mid morning the sun would burn off the clouds with the sun out the temperature would rise in excess 40 degrees. The trails were mainly jeep tracks, sand dunes (including the longest in the world at 27km), some highway verge, and some unmarked open crossings across the desert guided by natural landmarks. These were my favorite sections, choosing your own route across the grasslands. The course was generally well marked but there were some nervous moments when I took wrong turns. Wildlife encounters were frequent, with herds of springboks, oryx, numerous ostriches, and jackals, and I even managed to surprise a hyena and chased it for a while. By the end of day 3, I was in first place with about an hour to the second placed Graham Booty from England. This was a similar position to when I raced in the Atacama Crossing in Chile in 2009, where I had a 1 hour lead after day 2, only to blow it and end up finishing fourth so I wasn’t about to ease up just yet. That race was complicated for me by vomiting and severe nausea brought on by kidney failure. I was pretty nervous pre-NDC that something similar was going to happen this time, but I was still feeling great and looking after myself, drinking heaps, peeing heaps (with no blood) and taking loads of my favorite Shotz Electrolyte tabs so I was confident I could hang on.
Photo by David Montgomery
Day 4 started with a neat canyon section which involved some swimming which cooled things down and the wet clothing provided some relief from the heat for the next hour until we dried out, and then it was a stinker. This was the longest day at 56 km, and meant I had to suffer the full heat of the day for an extended period. The final 10km was alongside the highway, into a dirty headwind which dried you out and my water was running low. Finally I could make out the finish several km’s away, but it seemed to take forever to make it to the final CP. Unfortunately it wasn’t over yet, we had to climb up Dune 45, touch the summit flag and then run back down again. The mood in camp afterwards was one of relieved excitement as competitors came in knowing the race was almost over and they had survived – all that remained to conquer was Big Daddy, at 325m high, one of the biggest sand dunes in the world.
Photo by David Montgomery
After winning all 4 days so far, I was keen to make it a clean sweep so at the start of the last day I took off ahead of the others and arrived at the base of Big Daddy after about 20km’s. Gary Burrows, race Director, showed me the route to take and pointed out Karl, a volunteer, who was halfway up carrying a flag to the summit from which we were supposed to take our name tag off to prove we made it. I passed Karl with about a third remaining and really started to struggle. Having to break the trail through the soft sand myself, my pace slowed and I looked back to see Booty and Wayde catching me. Cresting the summit, I made sure I walked all over the top to prove I was there as Karl was out of sight. Our map then had us descending the dune to a salt pan and the next CP, which we should have been able to see. Unfortunately I could not see anyone or a CP and was hesitant to run down in case I dropped off the wrong side as it would take me an hour to climb back up. Double checking the map (which consisted of aerial photographs with CP’s marked and a route line) to be sure, I set off for the most fun of the race, a 325m descent down the steepest sand dune I have run, with fingers crossed that I was going in the right direction. The sand was the perfect consistency to bound down, sinking and sliding with each step. I made it to the bottom before the next guys started the descent and constantly looked over my shoulder as I ran across the salt pan, until I saw the others had followed my path. Eventually I found the support crew, hidden at the other end of the salt pan, where I was given my final water and told there was 2kms to go. That was it, I was going to make it and I enjoyed the final run in to the finish line where I was greeted with a cold beer.
Photo by David Montgomery
I finished in first place, in 19hrs. Graham Booty from England was second and Wayde Kennedy from South Africa in third. Linda Doke from South Africa, was the first lady and finished 4th overall. It was a sensational race, where we raced hard and suffered during the day, but had comfy tents and pools to recover in afterwards. The wildlife, African scenery, bush camps and sunsets should ensure this race grows from the 42 competitors this year. Big thanks to Gary Burrows and Terence Southam from Kinetic Events for organizing the event and all the other volunteers and competitors for making it so enjoyable, especially those who suffered blisters and gave us so much entertainment as we watched them being treated each night. Thanks again to Shotz Sports Nutrition for supplying me with Electrolyte Tabs and gels which kept me going every day, Blackheart and Salomon for the best trail running gear, and Aussie Butt cream for keeping me chaff free. I luckily did not get any blisters and the only inconvenience I suffered was some chaffing from wearing wet shorts around the pool all afternoon!
1 comment:
nice! what an inspiring effort, man. thanks for the citations!
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