Old Fisherman's Trail Challenge 2012...

Event: Old Fisherman's Trail Challenge 2012

Venue: Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa

Date: 9 June 2012

Time: 8.00am (South Africa time) / 2.00pm (Malaysia time)

Distance: 20KM (20.78KM by Polar RCX5 G5 GPS)

Shoe: ASICS Gel-Fuji Racer

By Frank

Treated as a recovery run after being tempted by Chee Kong to participate in this race and just can't resist the beautiful scenery as shown on the website, I opt to enter myself in the Old Fisherman's Trail Challenge despite knowing my legs won't be in good shape after Comrades Marathon. And a race that is usually sold out in a matter of a day or two with only 300 total runners cap, I doubt the quality can go wrong especially when we are talking about a South Africa event. Like the Comrades Marathon, the direction is alternate each year and for this year, it's actually an "Up" run. However, it will begin to descend to Hoek Bay beginning at about 14KM till the finish.

And so a week after the Comrades Marathon 2012, it was a near no show for me at the Old Fisherman's Trail Challenge as I awoke 5 hours before the race start with a bad migraine. After 3 years since it last struck me, it decided to return at this time. Just dumb luck I guess. Trying to shake off the pain, I fell asleep again only to wake up 15 minutes before we are suppose to leave for the starting venue at Fish Hoek Beach Sailing Club. Did almost nothing except for my toilet rituals and off I proceeded to the starting venue with Chee Kong, with Mei-Ee driving us there.

With Chee Kong before the start...

Teeth was not brush, hair in a mess and still smelling of yesterday (hope it wasn't that bad), we arrived safely after about half an hour's drive. First thing first was to have our equipment check. And they were strict. Race passport, water proof ponchos, space blanket, first aid kit and hydration are essential equipments. Less one item, and we are not allowed to enter. I personally think that this should be the way to enforce race entry, as part of the welfare for the runners themselves.

The starting venue at Fish Hoek Beach Sailing Club...

And after all the necessary, it was loitering around the club while waiting for the official start time at 8.00am just at the beach. The race start was a simple one and soon after, I was the last runner trying to catch up with the others. The beach is not an easy place to run with the loose sand sinking in. And with my legs hurting almost immediately, I was moving really slow trying to hang on to the runner ahead of me. The run along the beach was nice actually and runners were laughing away when the waves came close. It was about slightly under a kilometre long before we hit the road and this made my legs condition even more painful. Easier to run on but more painful and I can't wait to enter the trails.

It's the start of the ascend slowly and I could see runners stopping by to readjust their gear. And finally, the entrance to the trails via some steps before the rocky muddy terrain welcomed us. The pain on my left legs started to ease and when I look back from where I started, I was just simply amazed by the scenery. But then, I spotted a beautiful rainbow shining upon Table Mountain and I know the rain is coming! And so did the photographer agreed on and I ran!

The first half of the race...

The rain eventually came and went, just a slight drizzle but I am glad I had Chee Kong's water resistant jacket on. Kept me warm and dry. Arriving at PC1, I met with the Visser family which is made up of Gerard, Louise and their daughter Nicole. It was great to run alongside them and having to chat together exchanging the cultures of our countries. And along the way, we also met some of the mountain rangers together with the Labrador Retrievers. One of the rangers named Clint was 87 years old!

We ran through lots and lots of different terrains such as rocky, muddy, wooden planks, rooted tree branches, crossing of free ways and streams while passing by the PC2 and PC3 checkpoints. As we arrived at the halfway point mark near the Silvermine National Park at about 12KM into the race, all 4 of us were informed by the marshall there that we did not make the cut off time of 2 hours missing it by slightly more than a minute. But the some what good news is that he wasn't the one to make the decisions as the final decision lies with Claire, the event organiser. Well, sad to know but it did not dampen our race. Yes, it did not, and we continued on! That's the spirit!

The halfway point...

Continued on into our next path call Elephant Eye which overlooks Silvermine Dam. Again beautiful scenery and we finally arrived at PC4, the final checkpoint at 14KM. This is the highest point located at Blackburn Ravine. And from here, we can see the finish venue of Hout Bay some 6KM away, DOWNWARDS! The terrain here is simply rocky and yet slippery and its a single lane trail going down. At the immediate start of the descend, being my clumsy self, I knock my left knee on the wall resulting in a blue black immediately. OUCH!

Professional shot of me descending from Blackburn Ravine...

I was really slow and clumsy going down and at times, I actually went down on my bum to actually climb down. And its here, we were joined by Stephan. I was leading the pack and I hope I am not slowing them down. And it was a run till a waterfall where I stop and thought that we ran into a dead end. But Gerard was convinced the path was correct and off he went down through the waterfall. We all followed and it was definitely slippery with loose rocks all over. Shoes was soaking wet here!

The mountain route towards Hout Bay...

Soon, the normal trails were back and the Visser family slowly broke away. Stephan started to slow down probably due to sore legs. I tag alongside him. And when were back to some rather flatter terrain, we began to run and soon into some bushes and finally the road. It was the end of the trails and we both knew that the finish line is near. We can see the Visser family making themselves on to the beach and I really wished at that time that all 5 of us were together.

When myself and Stephan finally got onto the beach, the first thing that I was glad that the sand here was of the "solid" kind and it did not move around loosely unlike those at the start. A Labrador Retriever who was retrieving his frisbee thrown by his owner quickly greeted me. There were a few other dogs at the beach and it was nice to see them play around. One final obstacle was a rather wide rapid stream that was flowing into the ocean. We both stop and while Stephan took off his shoes, I was like thinking, "Let's Do It!" and I dashed across into the icy cold water. Both my shoes was soaked to the max and my toes were numb form the coldness. But it was a fun and unique experience but I can't say the same for my shoe.

Running towards the finish...

Chee Kong who completed his race much earlier was across the stream to greet myself and Stephan. And he ran together with us before detouring off at the finish line. The finish line at Hout Bay was a low key one and upon arriving, we quickly have our passports scanned to ensure we make he cut-off time which we gladly did in 03:57:09 third and fourth from the bottom! We were greeted by the Visser family and all 5 of us took a photo together for a really sweet memento before I left with Chee Kong and Mei-Ee as we had a dim sum appointment with Phil for lunch!

Congratulating Stephan for a run ran well...

With Gerard, Nicole, Louise and Stephan whom I spent most of the time with during the run...

Chee Kong and myself with our fishy souvenir...

I'm glad I turned up for this run despite waking up wonky due to migraine. And despite coming in third from the bottom, I was glad to have made new friends along the way and enjoyed the scenery together with them. This is probably the "true" trail run I experience thus far. The terrain and the running surface truly made it stand out from the others I've participated. And the scenery was one to be enjoyed truly! Simply BEAUTIFUL!

The unique wooden fish finisher's souvenir...

Before closing off this entry, I would like to thank Ms. Kris Lee from Giga Sports Sdn Bhd and Asics Malaysia for sponsoring the pair of Asics Gel-Fuji Racer for this race as it work remarkably well on the very technical course of the Old Fisherman's Trail Challenge. It kept me away from rolling down Table Mountain. ;p

And also thanks to Mei-Ee for lending me her Nathan Endurance hydration backpack as it helped saved some of my luggage space.