Living to run at this year’s Otter

By Stephen Granger

When Sinovuyo Ngcobo lines up at the start of this year’s Otter African Trail Run a day before his 26^th birthday, alongside top South African trail athlete and former Otter champion, Ryan Sandes, he will be living his passion and fulfilling a dream.

A product of the successful KZN-based LIV2Run programme, Ngcobo has had to overcome many obstacles along life’s path and he will likely pinch himself when he finds himself in the company of many of the country’s leading trail athletes at the start of the trail at Storms River in three weeks’ time (9 October 2021).

Through the involvement of Salomon SA, Sandes has mentored two of the Liv2Run athletes and will run with Ngcobo during his Otter debut.

“I’ve enjoyed mentoring two runners from Liv2Run this year,” explained Sandes. “Salomon SA are closely involved with Live2Run as sponsor and partner. Sinovuyo’s running goal for the year was to run the Otter African Trail Run and the organisers have kindly given him an entry. He is super-excited to run his dream race against some of South Africa’s top trail athletes.”

Liv2Run, founded by Lindi Meyer, is an offshoot of the wider LIV programme launched by former Protea cricketer, Tich Smith, to provide homes and support for the country’s vulnerable and orphaned children. The running programme looks to impact vulnerable children living at LIV Villages and also from the local community. It is currently active at LIV Villages in Lanseria, Gauteng, and in Durban, KZN.

Ncgobo was born in Ndwedwe, north of Durban and attended Ndwedwe Junior Primary School, where he was introduced to different sports, including football, netball and running.

“That is when I fell in love with running,” explained Ncgobo. “But my passion was hindered because my mother and I both had no formal ID. That stopped me from running because I could not take part with the other kids in the school.”

Ncgobo only obtained his birth certificate when he was 16, when he was again able to race competitively, although life’s ‘curved balls’ continued to haunt him. “But just when I thought of quitting running, my dreams started to come true for the first time in my life,” Ncgobo said.

“I heard about LIV2Run and joined the team, which took me back to my passion that I thought was gone. I would like to use this second chance to help others like me. I would like to coach young athletes and give them the opportunity to follow their dreams.”

Ngcobo is already ploughing back into the sport and through his club Liv2Run he has completed his Level 1 ASA Coaching Course and hopes to qualify as a fully-fledged coach to aid other athletes.

While Ncgobo was enjoying the opportunity of getting in some training for the Otter with Sandes in Durban last weekend, another group of passionate trail runners – Craig Turton and his Emperor Asset Management colleagues – were enjoying a training weekend at Hartebeespoort Dam in Gauteng, like Ncgobo also focused on a date with the Otter.

After last year’s Otter in October, Johannesburg-based Emperor Asset Management signed as the event’s presenting sponsor, affording South Africa’s ‘Grail of Trail’ much-needed resources to grow the event into a world-leading trail race of the highest standards.

Emperor’s support resulted in well-known South African adventurer and mountaineer, Sibusiso Vilane, coming to the 2021 Otter; the production of a series of Otter preparation training videos by top running duo, Christiaan and Landie Greyling; live tracking of athletes during the race and same-day television coverage of the race on SuperSport for the first time.

Craig Turton, the company’s VP Wealth, completed his first Otter last year and fell in love with its magic. He lost little time in convincing his colleagues not simply to sponsor the event, but to book their places on the 42km trail marathon.

Sponsoring the Otter brought together Turton’s two passions – wealth investment and trail running. “I was absolutely blown away,” said Turton after running his first-ever trail race at the Otter last year. “There were many memorable moments from my run and when I took it back to our Group Chief Marketing Officer, Carel Nolte, he suggested we take it on. Now I can’t hold him back and he will be leading a ‘VIP experience’ for a small group who will be staying over at the halfway point at Oakhurst and cheering on the athletes during the race.

“Our CFO Gary van Dyk has never run further than 21km and will be doubling that at the Otter this year, while our VP Partnerships, Bradley Leather, will be trying to maintain his fast shorter distance pace for the full marathon! We were lucky to have Sibusiso Vilane join us for our recent training camp at Hartebeespoort and we can’t wait to get down to the Southern Cape and start racing!”

While COVID restrictions have prevented international athletes from competing at this year’s Otter, many of the country’s top trail athletes will be lining up for an event that holds a special place in their hearts and keeps calling them back to the pristine forest trail through the Tsitsikamma National Park.

What makes the Otter special?

“It’s a combination of the people and the route,” emphasised Kane Reilly, the best athlete never to have won the Otter.  “The Otter community is a very special one, and it’s the biggest reason that Otter occupies such a big space in my heart. It’s also a great privilege to run on the route and experience such pristine and relatively untouched coastline.”

“The ocean has always had a very special place in my heart,” said Bianca Tarboton, who will start favourite to win the women’s race this year. “So being able to combine my new-found mountain love with a race alongside the ocean is something truly magical and special for me.”

Robbie Rorich was first South African athlete home in the 2018 Otter, won by Polish star, Bartlomiej Przedwojewksi, and will be back this year as one of the favourites. “What makes it special for me is the memory of hearing about the ‘fairy-tale’ beauty of the Otter Trail from my dad, who hiked it a few times when I was a kid, and then later discovering that it really is a magical place with the powerful ocean to run alongside,” said Rorich.

2014 winner, Landie Greyling, who had her second child this year, agrees. “The Otter is special. It was one of my first trail races in 2011 and I associate it with good racing and special family times,” she said. “(Husband) Christiaan and I have run it many times and have been fortunate to have both won it. We’ve been there with our parents and this year look forward to taking Christopher and Anzel (their children) and Christiaan’s parents with us as babysitters during the race!

“It’s been a mission to return to training after Anzel arrived in February – just planning to go out on a two-hour run leaves me exhausted! I don’t know why we accepted invitations to run this year, but it’s so beautiful there we just could not resist!

“I enjoyed getting out and running Hout Bay Trail Challenge last week (she placed second to Kristin Heath) as I needed to get in a long training run but I was well short of my racing fitness. I certainly won’t be able to give it my 110% at the Otter but I’ll be doing what I love and it will be good just being a part of the action.”

Defending champion, Cape Town lawyer Johardt van Heerden, enjoyed some strong race preparation last week with a convincing victory in the 40km Hout Bay Trail Challenge after a three-month struggle with injury.

“It’s a month to go to the Otter and I’m really looking forward to one of my favourite races.  My injuries are behind me, so the Otter is on the cards again. Conditions will play an important part and there will again be some strong competition this year!”

Sandes will have the double delight of running one of his favourite trails in the world and doing it with Ncgobo, whom he is supporting. “I love the combination of trail and the ocean – my two passions. To combine them into one is really unique! I’ll likely run with Sinovuyo in the beginning and we’ll see how it goes from there. He is a really consistent runner with the potential to place in the top ten.”

Story by Stephen Granger

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