Sensational Toni McCann delivers world-beating performance at the Otter

Toni McCann took trail running in South Africa to a new level with a remarkable record-breaking performance at the Otter African Trail ‘Retto’ Run, powered by Easy Equities, over the weekend (Saturday 8 October), while Johardt van Heerden became the first triple winner at the Otter since its inception in 2009, following a race-long duel with ten-time Otter finisher, Kane Reilly.

‘If anyone can, Toni McCann’ rang the words of loquacious race announcer, Mbulelo Thinta, as she ran her final metres to the finish gantry. She could and she did and came away with R150 000 – the biggest trail prize ever won in South Africa – in addition to lifting (with some assistance!) the Robbie Rorich-otter-sculpted trophy.

McCann, who became the second athlete to bag three Otter titles 28 minutes after Van Heerden had achieved the feat, crossed the line at the finish-gantry at Storm’s River in 4^th overall,  4 hrs 33 min 26 sec after starting out from the beach at Nature’s Valley. Her time was over four minutes inside top British athlete Holly Page’s 2018 ‘Retto’ record, established ahead of New Zealand’s Ruth Croft and a number of other world-class athletes competing in the final of the Golden Trail World Series.

R100 000 was on offer to the first South African athlete to reach the finish in under four hours (men) or four hours and forty minutes (women), neither target time ever having been achieved by a South African at the Otter. But McCann never looked like missing, as she set a lightning pace from the start, holding steady over the challenging final 10km of testing hills and ankle-wrenching rocky shorelines to romp home to wild applause.

The 28-year-old Cape Town-based adidas TERREX athlete won R25 000 first prize, doubled by the sponsor, in addition to the time incentive and was initially lost for words as she took the tape at the finish, overcome by the moment. “Holly (Page) and Ruth (Croft) are my idols,” McCann reflected. “I spent a lot of time training with them this year – I’m just amazed that I’ve beaten their times.

“It’s so special to run here with people that I know, family and friends who really care about you. I’ve run overseas but nothing beats running into the finish here and nothing can beat the beauty of the Otter Trail.”

McCann’s European experience stood her in good stead. Before the race, she rated her win at the Zugspitz 49km in Germany in July and her 5^th place at the UTMB OCC 56km in France in August as the top races in her career, although she may well refine that judgement after her great run today. She agrees she ‘ran like a European athlete’, who typically pushes the pace from the start without fear of what might lie ahead.

“I went out really hard with the goal of going sub-4:40 and I really can’t believe it just happened!” McCann continued. “I felt pretty strained the whole way, but I wasn’t sure if I was feeling bad because I was pushing the pace going for the record or if I was off my game. I think it must have been the former and I’m really happy with the way I ran.

“I went out at my own pace, aiming for a 4:35 finish and I was about on track at Bloukrans (where she was four minutes ahead of her adidas TERREX teammate, Tarboton, in second). But I was two minutes ahead of my schedule through halfway (nine minutes ahead of Tarboton). The hills on the final section were tough but I managed to get through it okay.”

Marzelle van der Merwe ran strongly to finish third in 5:18:33 to relegate last year’s third-placed finisher, Nadia Jooste, to fourth ahead of Rebecca Pretorius and last year’s Cape Town Trail Marathon champion, Lijan van Niekerk, who struggled throughout the race with an ankle injury, sustained in yesterday’s prologue.

Van Heerden and Reilly were both hopeful on breaking through the four-hour barrier, but it was not to be as the weather conditions proved a stumbling block.  Van Heerden came home in 4:05:19, 7 minutes clear of Reilly, who lost significant time in the final kilometres. “It was a hard race and I felt very hot and humid,” Van Heerden confessed.

“I really battled in the third sector of the race after halfway and thought Kane would get away and win. We were more or less on the pace which (his coach) Christiaan Greyling gave me going through Bloukrans but were about two minutes too slow at the halfway mark at Oakhurst.”

“I thought that the 4-hour mark could still be beaten, but then came the tough third quarter and I was really just hanging in. Kane ran a great race and helped me get through the tough section.  I suggested to him that we should work together but said he should go for it if he could. Kane broke away a few times on the climbs, where he is the stronger, and opened a lead of around 50 metres before I was able to catch him again on the descents.

“I was finally able to get away on the downhill towards Ngcubu Hut (where Thabang Madiba was overhauled by Iain Don-Wauchope in 2014) and then got a new burst of energy in the final kilometres past the distinctive Waterfall.”

Van Heerden echoed McCann’s sentiments about running in his home country. “It was wonderful to have most of my family down to watch and to compete. Three of my siblings were running and it was great to have my mom and dad there to welcome me at the finish. I haven’t seen the family for over six months, so this was special.”

Robbie Rorich stayed in contact with the leaders for the first 25km before being forced to slow over the final quarter, clearly affected by the after-effects of a COVID infection just three weeks before the race. But he beat the 4 hrs 30 min barrier to come home eight minutes clear of another Cape Town athlete, Kyle Bucklow, who impressed in his Otter debut, finishing four minutes behind McCann in 4:37:26.

Consistent top five finisher, Mvuyisi Gcogco was fifth male athlete home, in 6^th overall in 4:43:25.  Tarboton placed 9^th with the top ten overall rounded out by Zimbabwean Petros Chigomarawa in 4:55:11.

Van Heerden and Reilly were first to the Bloukrans crossing after 13km, followed 45 seconds later by Rorich, one of the few athletes competing with poles. Bucklow followed three minutes later with Thabang Madiba and Simon Tshabalala together in fifth.

McCann was moving through the field and raced through in 7^th place, ahead of Rodney Prins, Bradley Claase and Liv2Run athlete Sinovuyo Ncgobo in 10^th.

Reilly and Van Heerden remained inseparable through halfway with Rorich still in contention, two minutes in arrears. Bucklow was still running strongly in fourth, just ahead of McCann with Madiba and Tshabalala still together in 6^th overall. Tarboton was running comfortably, but with a nine minute deficit on McCann, looked likely to have to settle for second.

Van Heerden finally broke Reilly 6km from the finish, descending to Ngcubu Hut and was just over two minutes up on his rival at the Waterfall. Van Heerden was gaining in strength as Reilly faded as the outcome of the 14^th edition of the Grail of Trails was decided.

Results

Men

1 Johardt van Heerden 4:05:19

2 Kane Reilly 4:12:31

3 Robbie Rorich 4:29:08

4 Kyle Bucklow 4:37:26

5 Mvuyisi Gcogco 4:43:25

6 Mark Macsymon 4:50:46

7 Bradley Claase 4:54:04

8 Petros Chigomararwa 4:55:11

9 Mike van der Merwe 4:57:54

10 Kevin Evans 5:01:02

Women

1 Toni McCann 4:33:36.

2 Bianca Tarboton 4:54:15

3 Marzelle van der Merwe 5:18:33

4 Nadia Jooste 5:30:14

5 Rebecca Pretorius 5:41:29

6 Lijan van Niekerk 5:54:48

7 Kerry-Anne Walton 6:08:16

8 Sume van Heerden 6:21:28

9 Georgie Kelly 6:34:07

10 Jacqui Ras 6:40:38