Article from September 1991 issue of SA Runner /Tri-cycling
by John Oatley
Fitful sleep beneath layers of bed-clothes is broken by the family awakening. A car tours with hooter sounding, then a distant siren. But organisation par excellence ensures that all would-be entrants don't sleep late.
The third Norwich Life Drakensberg Rhodes Ultra Marathon will start, fair weather or foul. Perhaps it was only the "coasties" who were naive enough to brave the minus 6 degrees dawn sans ski pants or track suits. Nevertheless, they ignored the uplanders' scorn and huddled around the log fire, sipping coffee. Then a minature cannon, with a massive report sent us cheerfully walking up the street, toes still tingling. Tales about arriving last night, who's staying where, who ate too much farm fare: Rhodes hospitality. Time to walk, time to talk. Lots of uphill. Surprise, surprise, watertables every 3km!
Despite the cold start it's going to be a warm one - twenty one degrees yesterday. Eight kays or so and it's down into the river valley; first sign of iced-up river banks but the river still flows. We're still warm, but an icy berg wind warns us to retain all we own at the 16km checkpoint, reached in 100 minutes. Unaccustomed to such a procedure, we fumblingly hand over a race label. The check sticker work like this : if you hand in only one you're lost or dead; two mean you've on the top with nowhere to go! Fell runners' paradise! Rocky streams, gorse, varying gradient and uncertain footing; so we begin the kloof section in various states of preparedness.
The "permanents" are taking it slow: they're full of tales of snow, waist-deep, and the rocks which visible today, were covered in ice last year. The "back agains" are only slightly slower than us and we have to do some mountain-goating to come alongside for a chat. A false summit had some weeping in despair but PBs (till next year) at 22km of 3:05 brought us to the end of our torture. It was here we heard news of leaders Jannie le Roux and Dot O'Leary setting times of 1:57:15 and 2:46:35. Warm greetings and photo sessions did little to hide our disappointment at the lack of hot soup or something stronger, but we set off across the top with renewed enthusiasm.
From here it's a lonely run. We're on the mountain at 2500m plus, and the climb to the 24km mark proves too much for our frail undertrained bodies to bear. Good snows to the north ensure sport for the skiers but severe problems for us, as an icy gale whips up dust storms and challenges our resolve. From here the ground drops away to an easy finish. Pam Holton who challenged so bravely for the lead last year has fallen twice: walking then running, she's cheerfully on her way to the finish but passes up the challenge of a sub-six.
On the pretext that a sub-six is still on, I dive downwards hoping to witness the drama at the finish of the woman's race. Battered, bruised, incredibly dirty and exhausted, the final 11km past the standard mark was, as in any ultra, a strong challenge to anyone's staying power. This one however, had not demanded so much that walking or not, we were all very proud to cross that finish line.
Results: 46 permanent numbers! It shows that the mountain's call is strong despite the hardship. The race record was smashed by surprise winner Jannie le Roux. More than half an hour inside the record, Jannie took the mountain by storm and his sub-four hour time is going to take some beating.
Exciting racing marked the woman's race. Marietta Sassenberg failed by a whisker to secure a historic third win. Dot O'Leary was named Queen of the Kloof. Audrey Introna, a strong Buffs bus behind her, took command in the closing stages for a well deserved victory in 5:35:59.
The Rhodes Ultra experience is relived beside the hotel pub's roaring fire in the pub! One thing you can bet on: I'll be back again to advise, to empathise and to climb that climb.
