Mud and blood on the Dodo trail in career-best win for Emily Djock

Cape Town based athlete, Emily Djock, raced to a career-defining closely-fought victory in the Dodo Trail ‘Xtreme’ Race in Mauritius over the weekend (Saturday 13 July), while Eastern Cape’s Mvuyisi Gcogco came through strongly to grab a podium position in the men’s race.

The North Face pair were part of a significant international lineup in this year’s edition, with many of the leading contenders flying in from neighbouring Indian Ocean islands, including Reunion and Madagascar.

The race traversed 50km of coastal plains, rocky mountains, inland forests and river valleys with a testing 3500m of vertical climbing. The usually muddy conditions were especially challenging this year, and with significant climbs and slippery descents, the trail race is one of Africa’s toughest.

Djock raced into the traditional finish at Riverland Mauritius in the village of Tamarin to cross the line bloodied and muddied in 7 hrs 57 min 20sec, just six minutes clear of Reunion athlete, Angelique Lesport.

“For sure one of the hardest races I’ve done over that distance,” said Djock from Tamassa Bel Ombre, the race resort. “It was really technical and muddy – up to shin-deep mud in parts. I love this sort of thing and had a blast. The more adventurous the better!

“We were in forest for large sections, breaking out every now and then and saw clouds hanging over the tree canopy – I’ve never seen anything like it.  I ran into so many trees on the way and was bleeding from forehead and caked in mud when I crossed the finish line!”

Gcogco won the Ultra-trail Drakensberg 65km in April this year and continues to make strides in the sport with a notable third-placed finish in Mauritius, 40 minutes behind talented local athlete, Simon Desvaux de Marigny, and Loic Boyer of China, who dead-heated for first place.

Djock went to the front from the start at the World Heritage Site at Le Morne Brabant, which took the athletes on an early 200m climb up the iconic rock formation but Lesport drew level in the final quarter to set up a tense battle for line honours.

“I ran alone for most of it and I think I was getting quite comfortable,” Djock explained. “Then Angelique came zooming past me about 12km from home. She moved past quickly, but I was feeling strong, so I hung on.

“There was a lot of climbing in last section and I managed to open a gap on the final climb, which was a monster of 500m (La Tourelle Black Rock) and felt three times as tough as the notorious Ultra-trail Cape Town’s Block House Climb!

“I was just trying to hold on and not cramp but managed to keep ahead to the finish.”

Remarkably, Djock suffered a bad injury just weeks before the race which impacted on her training schedule and made her a doubtful starter. “I rolled my ankle three to four weeks ago. It was quite bad but thankfully I didn’t tear any ligaments.

“I worked out on an indoor bike for two weeks then wore ankle brace, which saved me a couple of times on the technical course.”

Djock will be spending time with family in the Netherlands over the next two months, forced to prepare on flat trails for her title defence of the mountainous Puffer 62km along the spine of the Cape Peninsula in late August. One of her main races of the year will be the Ultra-trail Cape Town 100km in November, when she will again face the challenge of Reunion athlete, Angelique Lesport.

50km Dodo Trail, Mauritius

Results

Men: 1 Loic Boyer (China) and Simon Desvaux de Marigny (Mauritius) 6:21:46; 3 Mvuyisi Gcogco (RSA) 7:02:26; 4 Noa Ohms (Germany) 7:10:16; 5 Andriamifidy Tojonirina (Madagascar) 7:14:19

Women: 1 Emily Djock (RSA) 7:57:20; 2 Angelique Lesport (Reunion) 8:03:33; 3 Anne Marie John (Mauritius) 8:30:20; 4 Elodie Thivel (Reunion) 0:20:39; 5 Sidonie Randrianarivelo (Madagascar) 10:04:48