Well, this run was a bit different! I had entered the Mr Price Winelands 8km trail run - a new event that runs into the Stellenbosch mountains. There was an 8km and a 16km event - I chose the 8km as I have never done this type of running before. We were already staying in Cape Town as Sam and Co had arrived from the UK and I had intended running something that weekend anyway. Sam's friend, Richeldis, asked if she could run as well, so we set off with Steve at 5.30 in the morning from Cape Town to Stellenbosch! I'm glad it's light at that time of day now!
We sorted ourselves out when we got there and saw that it was only a small event, not like the marathon and half marathon held the day before. First time ever I have been to a running event and there hasn't been a queue for the loos!
Just before 7am, we all gathered at the start line and were informed of the route we would be taking. We didn't have a number but had a chip so had to ensure we ran over the mats. Off we set around the track and straight up into the woods. Hard start! Most of the run seemed to have uphill sections, in fact it wasn't until we got to nearly 5.5kms that the track was downhill for the rest of the way!
Water station was half-way, very welcome. It had been raining earlier, but didn't rain whilst we were in Stellenbosch, and it was very humid. We climbed quite high into the hills where the views were absolutely fantastic. There was just about every surface you could think of to run over and I did slow down considerably when we had to run down a very stony gulley. I did not intend tripping or ending up on my bum not being able to run for the next few weeks.
Great run, thoroughly enjoyed it, and would do it again. I do, however, now have a serious case of DOMS! Not used to that sort of running!
Edit: Official results are out now: 1hr 06min 57 sec. AND, after thinking I was just about last - I was 1st lady over 50! OK, so there were only 5 of us ladies over 50, I was still 1st lady over 50!
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