It’s Otter time as top trail athletes gather in the Tsitsikamma

Not for nothing is the Otter African Trail Run, powered by Easy Equities, known as the Grail of Trail and on Saturday (8 October) many of the country’s leading trail exponents will again be tackling the iconic 42km stretch of coastline through the Tsitsikamma Forest, this time likely at an unprecedented level of intensity.

What brings athletes back to the Otter time and again is uncertain – many parts make up the greater whole. For the past decade international trail elites have travelled to South Africa in search of the magic of the Otter and the likes of Ricky Lightfoot and Holly Page (UK), Ruby Muir and Ruth Croft (NZ), Krissy Moehl and Stevie Kremer (USA), Emma Roca and Pere Aurell (Spain), Marc Lauenstein (Switzerland) and Bartlomiej Przedwojewski (Poland) among others have all fallen under its spell.

No international stars will be in action on Saturday, but the stakes are higher than ever with the respective winners’ bank balances set for a major boost, apart from the biggest trail bragging rights in the country and the chance for breaking through previously impenetrable barriers.

This year athletes will run the ‘Retto’, west to east between Nature’s Valley and Storm’s River in the reverse of the classic direction taken by five-day hikers who tramp the popular trail. Arguments rage on which is the easier option. Although elite athlete times for the ‘Retto’ are typically faster than those for the ‘Classic’, most who have encountered the steepest climbs and most challenging technical sections in the closing kilometres of the Retto have little doubt that this year’s race is the tougher of the two.

Historically, athletes’ ability over these closing challenges after Scott Hut has decided the fate of the Retto Run. Iain Don-Wauchope’s closely-fought victory over Thabang Madiba in 2014, Robyn Owen’s shock victory over American ace Stevie Kremer in 2016 and Spanish athlete Pere Aurell’s last gasp win over Johardt van Heerden in 2020 immediately come to mind.

Saturday could well follow a similar pattern. Van Heerden will want to atone for his defeat to Aurell two years back and is determined to improve his best time by at least three minutes to break the four-hour barrier in doing so. But he will have to dispatch a rejuvenated Kane Reilly and an in-form Robbie Rorich to do so and Rorich’s skill over the rocks near the finish could prove the decisive.

And if any of the ‘big three’ should falter, and the predicted warm temperatures for race day will likely be a factor, a number of talented athletes will be waiting to take advantage and bag a podium position. Keep a watch out for Jarryd Dunn, Bruce Arnott, Mvuyisi Gcogco, Kyle Bucklow and a back to form Madiba to be among the early finishers.

In spite of one of the best-quality fields in the race’s history, expect the leading women to finish among the top ten overall. adidas TERREX teammates, Toni McCann and Bianca Tarboton, both excelled during the European summer and have been exposed to racing against the world’s best, often in hot conditions. Both athletes have won the Otter and will be doing their level best to do it again, faster than the 4 hr 40 min incentive target time.

Former winner, Landie Greyling, who would  certainly have challenged for a podium position, has withdrawn in order to focus exclusively on next week’s Cape Town Trail Marathon, leaving debutant Lijan van Niekerk, last year’s third-placed finisher Nadia Jooste, Marzelle van der Merwe, fast-improving Rebecca Pretorius and possibly Van Heerden’s wife, Sume, to fight for that honour should one of the ‘Big Two’ experience difficulties.

Saturday’s elites are unlikely to enjoy similar ideal weather conditions experienced by the non-elite participants in today’s (Thursday 6 October) ‘Challenge’ run, won by Stellenbosch athlete Christian van den Heever in 5:20:17 – the fastest time ever for the Challenge race.

Van den Heever, who only took up distance running last year, started conservatively, moving steadily through the field before finally overtaking Johan Louw, who had led from the start, on a steep climb less than 10km from the finish to take the win by 11 minutes.

Veterans (over 40 years) were to the fore in the women’s competition, with former Namibian junior high-jump champion, Ceres-based Orla du Toit, taking the honours in a close contest an impressive 6:40:54. Fellow veterans Riette van Rensburg and Lindy-Lee Folscher finished 7 and 10 minutes behind the leader in second and third place.

Race organisers and fellow-runners were today mourning the passing of a participant in the ‘Challenge’ race – the first in the 14-year-old history of the event. While a number of trail athletes have died in world events in recent years, South Africa enjoys a remarkably incident-free history in this regard and today’s tragedy has been keenly felt by the trail community at the Otter.