Leading trail and mountain athlete, Meg Mackenzie, scorched a 30 km route on Saturday (July 4) in a run planned to open the ‘Strava Segment’ for a much anticipated Golden Ticket challenge on Cape Town’s Table Mountain – before disaster struck, leaving the segment well and truly “padlocked”.
Two fully-paid tickets to the Golden Trail Championship – a 126 km, four-day, multi-stage race on the Azores Island Group from 29 October to 1 November – await the male and female athletes posting the fastest times for the segment before 1 October.
A technical ‘glitch’ meant that MacKenzie’s watch failed to record the run, leaving her with little more than the personal satisfaction of a strong run and good form – mixed with the frustration at missing out on the primary purpose of doing so.
Although there were witnesses, without the official saved and recorded Strava time, MacKenzie’s estimated 3 hr 20 min run – an outstanding, world-class effort – may just as well never have happened, as far as the opening of the segment is concerned.
“I had a technical blunder,” Mackenzie admitted. “I ran the route, fast I think, but my watch did not pick up my activity so I’ve got nothing to show for it.
“So I’m going to rest up for a couple of days and then run it again – on Tuesday or Wednesday. I likely won’t be in the mix on the leaderboard as it will be too soon after this run and I don’t want to risk injury.”
“So I will just play it by ear. Perhaps I’ll go medium-fast! I don’t feel I have anything to prove. I just want to get the route done so that others can take part.
“I’m pretty disappointed I didn’t get it right today, as I ran a good time, but these things happen in life and it’s okay. I felt strong and that’s what matters. It would be good training (for the event in the Azores) to do a couple of hard consecutive days, but it’s a bit too far off right now.
“But it’s good to be back on Table Mountain – that’s for sure!”
Salomon SA representative, Kane Reilly, will be taking no chances next time around. One of the few male athletes in the country capable of staying the pace with Mackenzie, he’ll be running with her to ensure a guaranteed opening of the Golden Ticket South Africa segment.
