Rhodes Trail Run 2007 by Dave Coetzee
When I heard about this race I imagined a race along a twin trail though the surrounding mountains of Rhodes...was I ever wrong.
Here is my story:-
28 May 2007 was a normal day for me, went to work and at lunch time I logged on to the internet, checked my mail and saw an email which was titled Rhodes Trail Run: Waiting List. It said:
Hi Dave Could you please urgently confirm that this is still your valid email address.
Evie Raubenheimer Race Director
Oh hell I went onto this waiting list back in 2002 I think, why are they confirming my address, probably doing an admin clean up, I responded that it was me.
That evening I logged in and got the next mail titled The 2007 Rhodes Trail Run (Waiting List Invitation)
It said:
Dear Dave I'm very pleased to let you know that you have come off the Waiting List. Attached are the following: Race Invite Letter, Entry Form, General Rules, and Substitution Form
Oh hell it has happened and I have only been running for a little more than three weeks. I went to work the next morning debating this issue of 52 km run in snow and ice, yes snow and ice as in penguins and polar bears.
I got a call from Darrell Raubenheimer who spoke to me for about 20 mins about the race and I decided I would just have to do it. Well now easy to say lets do it but just exactly how am I going to do this, I have only ever run a 21.1 km, this is a friggin ultra run, 52 km what am I doing. So the shopping starts, thermal running gear, trail shoes, gloves, beanies and more and more stuff.
A thought - just exactly where are we going to stay when we get to Antarctica (Rhodes). Speaking to Darrell he informs me that there is no accommodation available and the only I can do is stay in a tent amongst the polar bears and penguins... ...OMG he said tent in Antarctica, no ways.
Well I was lucky enough to get a room in Rhodes so no bloody tent. As the days went on I gave this a lot of thought and checked on the race via the internet, I found that it went up to 3000 ft, I have never being that high before, panic is creeping in so onto the Runners World Forum and I get hold of the only person I know who has done it, Yvette Van Der Westhuizen. Yvette assures me that I can not only make the first check point but I will be able to finish the race. She gave me lots of advice which I stored in my memory banks. My Brother in law Andre also gave me advice as he has run this race many many times.
Naturally my nerves are finished, I worry about this run, I have only ever run a 21.1 km how the heck do I run a 52 km climbing up to 3000 feet? Yvette says I can do it, she has faith in me unfortunately I lack that faith about myself.
17 June 2007 Sharon just finished the Comrades, I should be thinking about my Comrades run next year but Rhodes haunts me and Comrades is in the back of the mind, Comrades 2008 and Sean Falconer must just wait.
18 June 2007 I have done quite few training runs now and feeling that there is a chance I can maybe do this, my latest addition is a camel pack to carry water in. I get a surprise phone call from Yvette who again tries very hard to reassure me that I will be able to do this ultra. She offers to run Rhodes with me which is just fantastic as long as I don’t slow her down. A little less worried now, Yvette running with me will help, big time.
22 June 2007 I get a phone call from Evie Raubenheimer, she tells me that due to unforeseen problems they have had to extend the route by four kilometers. PANIC TIME, nah never going to be able to finish this one, a deep belly laugh comes over the phone, Evie is just messing with me. Shoooooooo.
24 June 2007 Test drive the thermal kit on a 10 km run, I think I am going to freeze at Rhodes, it was about 10 degrees here in Queensburgh and my legs are getting cold through the thermal wear. WTH
03 July 2007 Purchase a long ski pants to cover the thermal long johns and try them out on Tuesday, work like a bomb, Darrell posts new pics and again I ask what the hell am I doing.
04 July 2007 Run the Queensburgh Time Trials 4 km route, almost sprinting up the hills and a familiar feeling coming from my calf, dammit not now, go home and ice the calf and rest.
05 July 2007 Only 8 days to go, nerves no longer exist. After advice from my Rhodes running partner and her sister I go and buy Transeet for the leg as well as a cold bandage, freaky thing, it is in a packet but it is cold, very strange. Sharon uses them a lot, but she won’t admit that. Yvette does a stunning job convincing me that I can do this, we spoke quite a while about the race and I feel a little more relaxed expect for this slight pain in my calf.
08 July 2007 Ran a 10 km with a friend, on the first hill I felt pain in the calf, not a good sign at all.
09 July 2007 Off to my Physio Alison McConnell, she works her magic and a return appointment for the next day.
10 July 2007 Alison works the calf more and it seems I am going to this race with a sore calf, return appointment for the next day for strapping.
11 July 2007 Had the calf strapped by Alison, can hardly move the leg but she says it will stretch allowing a bit of movement.
12 July 2007 Leave for Rhodes, car packed, dog in the kennels, oh why, oh why, nerves are finished. Arrive in Rhodes late pm and go to Darrell and Evie’s house, they are the organizers of this race.
Evie is a wonderful person and she fits the profile of the runner’s mom, she knows all her runners and does not take any nonsense from them. Darrell offers a “Beroemde Honder” and there is suddenly warmth flowing in my body, a futher one adds to the internal heat. What is a beroemde honder? It is the Famous Grouse.
13 July 2007 Registration Day OMG (Oh my God) it was - 13 that morning, it went right to - 17 that night, I was soooooooooo cold, nah past cold even more then freezing. My poor Tazz was covered in ice and SNOWFLAKES, yes you read correctly. Well went for a three km run and yes the calf spoke to me in a way I didn’t want to hear. We pottered around for most of the day, of course I took the Tazz and went up to Tiffindal, well almost got to a part where nothing but 4x4 will go up so I turned around and came back down. A little later Yvette arrived followed by two other Runners World Forumites Laura and Greg. At 16h00 we went to the registration and got our numbers and our Buff® It really started to get cold so we left for our homes.
14 July 2007 Race Day - Clear skies - Temp -13 degrees We assemble in the farmers hall, no other reason but to keep warm.
To explain my clothing:- Trail Shoes, Thermal Hiking socks, Long Ski pants, Thermal First Ascent Longs, Thermal First Ascent Top long sleeves, Sani Stagger long sleeve moisture control shirt, Throw away gloves, Cycle winter gloves, Rhodes Trail run Buff®, Runners World Buff®, Rhodes knitted Beanie, PS Sports chill cheater AND I AM STILL FREEZING.
Other things Vaseline on the face to prevent frost bite, Camel Pack, Hiking pole, Gels and bars.
Well the whistle sounds and we are away Yvette, Greg and myself at running along the road towards the mountains. Greg pulls away at about 3 km. We cross a small stream and there is ice, immediately I am taught a lesson in trail running shoes, they can’t walk on ice. The terrain is exactly as I thought it would be a dirt road, this I can do.
At about 7 km Yvette pulls away I am starting to develop breathing problems and my agreement with Yvette was if I started to fall back she was to go. So on I go and finally get to a water table, now these are about 8 km apart, this is not a ASA race, hence the camel pack. We leave this road and enter a track that fits my picture of this run.
Well what a surprise was waiting for me, I don’t know what kilometer mark it was but the fun stopped together with the trail, we entered a totally different picture than what I had imagined, we had to follow red and yellow flags through the brush and rocks, well not too bad but than we are confronted by the flags going up the side of a rock face, no path to be seen, well now make your own path it is.
We pop up to the top of a ridge and there are people there “Well done you are doing well”. Yeah right, forging on and a sudden loss of footing results in a bone crunching introduction with the ground. No body saw, dust yourself off and carry on, I am really having a bad time breathing, headache started but I will do this.
Crossing an area of snow I took my eyes of the ground for a second and suddenly I lost my footing onto ice and sliding backwards towards an edge, I grabbed out for bushes to secure myself, had a few words with Jesus, got up shook of the snow and carried on.
Came over a ridge and found the “Klippies' in the Kloof” a bunch of school kids who hike up there the day before and set up for us this extreme water table with schnapps shooter and all. We are somewhere about 17 km or so, still not feeling great, we climb again up and up and up thorn bushes ripping at you, tripping over hidden rocks, just general fun. Blow me down if we don’t get over the top to climb down again, we finally get to a river which we cross over, freezing water, and of course start climbing again.
I lost sight of the flags for while which was very scary, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a yellow flag about 300 meters away and I made my way to it, yes it was a flag and ahead was a fence the strands of barbed wire tied up and down to allow you passage through, well a skinny person not me of course, little did I know that I was on the foot of Mavis Banks (die slegte vrou). I had slowed down so much and reached this point at 4 hours 35 minutes, I have missed the cut off at the check point at Mavis but more worrying was the fact that I was suffering from a headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath.
Now I am no medical genius but I have some knowledge on AMS (acute mountain sickness) which can occur at 8000 ft. So now I have a problem do I go back down of do I go up, down is what you are supposed to do but there is no one down there, so if I go down how long will it be till search and rescue gets there, no cell phone reception, what the hell do I do.
Mavis is about 1 km up but there are people up there that can help, I am just to light headed to go on and I give over and sit down. Don’t gasp air I say to myself, remembering a movie I saw where these guys got HAPE (High altitude pulmonary edema) and I sure as hell don’t want that so breath in and out slowly keeping my Buff® over my nose and mouth.
I suddenly got cell reception and I phoned my wife at the finish, voice mail...from behind me I heard the sweetest female voice “Are you okay?” Her name was Tanya, I mistook her for a medic but she was a helper from the Mavis Bank table and I was so glad to see her, She gave me Powerade and pain tabs and than very slowly she got me up Mavis step by step, it took over 45 mins but she stayed with me to the top, another guy joined us but for the life of me I can not remember his name. A large cup of steaming coffee followed by a cup of OBS had me relaxing, still battling to breath but a lot calmer, I am in good hands and so ended my Rhodes Trail Run - ran out of time.
I was feeling strong physically and I knew I could of finished this thing but alas the lungs would not allow me to do this, no regrets at all, it was an experience and something I tell others you need to try this race.
Just a point about the safety of the entrants is very important to Darrell and Evie, on this race there are checkpoints to make sure you have arrived and gone through, if you miss the check point, search and rescue are dispatched to find you. Two items given to you at registration are a space blanket and a whistle just in case you do go missing or get injured.
As in my case, my number was missing from the checkpoint so Tanya came to look for me; she found me and helped me. One thing I can say about the trail run is if you do not respect it watch out, don’t lose focus on what you are doing.
I am indeed humbled by this race; I am overcome by its beauty, for the first time in my life I actually “played” in snow all I can say is thank you Evie Raubenheimer for giving me this chance to take part in this wonderful race.
NB: When I started this thing I made the mistake of confusing ft and meters, the official measurement of this race is
Start 1800m (5905 ft)
Highest point 2677m (8782 ft)
Average “on top” 2560m (8399 ft) Mavis Bank is about 2500 m
