Incentive rewards and weather conditions set to influence outcome of the ‘Retto’

The build-up to Saturday’s Otter African Trail Run, powered by Easy Equities, is winding to a crescendo with athletes gathering at Storms River for tomorrow’s non-elite ‘Challenge’ (Thursday 6 October) 42km race. And speculation is rife on the impact two significant elements will have on this year’s elite race, namely the lucrative time-based incentives on offer and the predicted warm weather for Saturday.

With a potential R100 000 on the table, split evenly between cash and equity-based funds, for the first male and female athlete past the finish post in under 4 hours and 4 hours 40 minutes respectively (in addition to first prize of R25 000), the pace is likely to be hot from the start, but with the weather threatening to be equally hot in the latter stages of the race, the outcome of the race might not be as clearcut as it might originally have appeared.

Whether or not these two factors will influence the outcome of the women’s race is uncertain, but the contest between South African international superstars and adidas TERREX teammates, Toni McCann and Bianca Tarboton, is shaping into a mouth-watering contest.  The two last competed against each other in at the Otter African Trail ‘Retto’ Run in 2020, where McCann won in 4 hrs 40 min 30 sec – the fastest time by a South African and less than three minutes outside British athlete Holly Page’s record. Tarboton also ran well but finished 12 minutes behind.

Tarboton won the ‘Classic’ race last year at the Otter in 4:45:34, with McCann opting instead to race the inaugural Cape Town Trail Marathon a week later.

Both athletes have grown in stature through racing internationally and although McCann must start favourite after her superb 5^th place at the UTMB OCC, both have the ability to win on their day and dip under the 4:40 mark.

But the race organisers have opted to put all the incentive eggs in one basket, and only the first athlete below the incentive time will be awarded the R50 000 in cash and conditional R50 000 in equity funds and an intriguing contest is anticipated.  A third top-flight athlete, Landie Greyling, is in the form of her life and will likely be waiting to pick up the pieces if any of the speedsters up front should stumble.

Like McCann, UCT chemical engineering graduate, Tarboton, has recently returned from racing the European summer season, where her results included a close second place at the Zugspitz 25km and a solid 11^th at the highly competitive World Sky Running Championships in Italy. She approaches Saturday’s race with equanimity, although very conscious of the large rewards on offer.

“I’m just going to run the best race that I can with the day that I’m given and if the pot of gold is a by-product of that, I’ll be super-happy. But if not, its just a race and a number.”

McCann arrived early at the Otter, both to encourage the runners in the Challenge run tomorrow and to get the feel of the Southern Cape trails once again.

“I really enjoyed my time in Europe and felt I was able to move to a higher level in my trail running.  I think the best two races of my career were Zugspitz (49km in Bavaria, Germany) in July and OCC (56km at the UTMB in Chamonix in the French Alps) in August,” McCann confided.

How did McCann feel her about her extraordinary run at the 2018 Retto, where she went to the start line never having run further than 30km and where she led a top international field (the race doubled as the Golden Trail World Series Grand Finale for that year) for the first 30km before pushing through the last 10km on exhausted legs to finish just behind mega-stars Holly Page and Ruth Croft in third? 

“I think I was just incredibly lucky on that day – I had no expectations, no idea of what was facing me and absolutely no pressure. I just ran as I felt on the day.

“Pressure is such an important element in international racing and it’s easy to lose it under pressure. I think I’ve learnt a little about how to handle it and was pleased that for both the Zugspitz and OCC I managed to keep incredibly calm before the race and found that made a huge difference.”

It will be interesting to see whether McCann chase the incentive time on Saturday or run more cautiously with an eye on the predicted heat. “I’m feeling fitter than I’ve ever been at Otter and confident that I can give it a full go. I’ve been running in heat in Europe, so hopefully I’ll not be too affected on Saturday. I’m aiming to go until I blow!”

McCann is not unused to taking on and beating most of her male rivals, having won the 2019 Ultra-trail Drakensberg 32km overall and finishing third at the Zugspitz 49km in Germany. She placed 5^th overall in winning the women’s competition at the 2019 Otter and will have half an eye on improving that placing, which Robyn Owen emulated in 2016 and the late Spanish ultra-distance specialist Emma Roca bettered in 2015, when she placed 4^th overall.

“I think I’m just going to pick up the 4 hrs 30 min timing wristband” she joked as she was leaving the marquee after the Otter Challenge race briefing. Or was she joking…?

Johardt van Heerden will start favourite in the men’s race and has made no secret that he will be chasing the four-hour barrier.  He has come closest of all South Africans to bettering the mark, having clocked 4:02:59 in the 2019 ‘Classic’ and 4:03:50 for the 2020 ‘Retto’ when he was narrowly beaten into second place by Spanish athlete Pere Aurell.

Van Heerden has also raced in Europe this year, although less successively, but he can take confidence from his second position at the gruelling 50km Dodo Trail in the tropical heat of Mauritius two months ago and will certainly be going all out for the 4-hour barrier on Saturday. “I’d be lying if I said I was not,” was Van Heerden’s admission.

Van Heerden’s close rival for many years, Kane Reilly, is looking forward to a strong race on Saturday, but is conscious the conditions could make the challenging race even more testing. “Yes, it looks like it will be super-hot on Saturday,” Reilly reflected. “I always expect Otter to be hot – even when forecast is not.  It always seems to feel hotter than it is.

“It’s going to be interesting. Managing the heat will be very important for most but it won’t necessarily make me holdback. Over that distance and given the way I’m feeling, I’m keen to go for it from the beginning and run the way I enjoy – just go for it.”