How far could 24 k's be?
If the expected finishing times for the different batches wasn't a warning, then the cut-off of around 9 hours should have been a warning. Clearly the brain was too full of MBA for logic ... and the MBA-legs would pay for it.
Finishing Stone last is better than DNF.
And DNF is better than Did not Start.
So from the beginning the plan was to aim to make the cut-off at the halfway mark. And even better would be to finish ahead of the sweeper :)
We (Zu, Adri, B and myself) decided to keep the sweeper and his dog Roxy company when everyone else started the race running. We soon caught up with the tail at the first bottleneck.
We soon settled in at a nice fast walk(ish) pace and conquered the first checkpoint. Here's Zu at the ladder just before the cutoff at CP2.
We made the cut-off at CP2 with about an hour to spare. Wee ate up the marshalls' nougat and drank up their orange juice, then we fed the sweeper-dog our droewors. Finally we ran out of excuses to picnic any longer, so we had to continue.
Next morning we got on the bikes and cycled the bottom of the mountain-ranges that we hikes the previous day.
Couldn't walk for a week.
But I'll go back to do it again.
But next time I'll train a bit for the hike-part of the weekend :D
If the expected finishing times for the different batches wasn't a warning, then the cut-off of around 9 hours should have been a warning. Clearly the brain was too full of MBA for logic ... and the MBA-legs would pay for it.
Finishing Stone last is better than DNF.
And DNF is better than Did not Start.
So from the beginning the plan was to aim to make the cut-off at the halfway mark. And even better would be to finish ahead of the sweeper :)
We soon settled in at a nice fast walk(ish) pace and conquered the first checkpoint. Here's Zu at the ladder just before the cutoff at CP2.
We made the cut-off at CP2 with about an hour to spare. Wee ate up the marshalls' nougat and drank up their orange juice, then we fed the sweeper-dog our droewors. Finally we ran out of excuses to picnic any longer, so we had to continue.
There was not much of a trail around the mountain and to Sekonyala's Hat. It was cold and windy and the low clouds kept spitting at us. The last few kays down the mountain was hard ... The MBA-legs wasn't used to this type of exercise.
Finally we reached the bottom and some level ground. Beautiful in the Donga.
Then a last rivercrossing, and we were home :)
Next morning we got on the bikes and cycled the bottom of the mountain-ranges that we hikes the previous day.
The mountainbike ride started with a rude steep climb up to a Red Bull stop, but from there it was lovely undulating singletrack and slickrock. Clear skies with beautiful views on the peaks that we conquered the previous day.
Couldn't walk for a week.
But I'll go back to do it again.
But next time I'll train a bit for the hike-part of the weekend :D
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