Zuurberg Mountain Race Report

It was the the return to the scene of the crime for me.  The last time a ran through this part of the woods I didn't do so much running as suppose to walking.  Last time I walked through this part of the woods was after 65km of undulating terrain on my way complete the Addo 85km race earlier this year.  Then, I was rather disappointed to not be able to run the beautiful section of the Addo Reserve.  But! Today was a completely different story.

The Zuurberg Mountain Race is a no holds bar race limited to 100 runners and walkers.  There are no prizes, no big stars, no egos just a mountain to run in a very social environment.  Not a lot of people knows about this race, but its a firm favourite amongst the locals.

The day didn't start very good.  I woke up an hour and thirty minutes before my alarm after a late night and couldn't get to sleep again and was still able to leave the house later than planned.  We missed the turn off to Zuurberg from the highway, because I was looking for something to munch in my bag.  The 8:00am start time drew closer and the nerves started to build.  7:35am we hit the 16km gravel pass up to Zuurberg.  THE FAN drove us up the pass in record time with some nice rally tricks, not good for the nerves.  Got there 7:55, just enough time to pick up my race number, greet the crew and kiss THE FAN goodbye.

"OK, Go!"  And we're off.  The first 2k's are ran over some gentle hills to warm you up.  This was done at a blistering pace especially on cold legs.   We then hit a very technical rocky descent for about 15 minutes.  This gave my heart and lungs a bit of a breather.  I really enjoyed this section.  Definitely the most awesome insane downhill I've done.  I ran off the faint path at one point and almost connected with a tree, I was really enjoying myself! 

There are no directions and a handful of places where you can get lost.  After dropping out at the dry river bed and choosing the right path we were down in the valley and it was time to do some fence hopping and dodging cow dung.  Fourth and fifth was struggling to get over a fence.  Time to make up ground!  My long legs helped me a lot here and I was able to move into fourth position.  This section of the run was really beautiful with the rocky mountain sides reaching up the sides of the valley.  Looking back to our crazy descent I couldn't see a path or runners, awesome!

I followed third through the valley floor under a yellow wood tree canopy and criss crossing rivers.  This was really beautiful, but there was no time for sight seeing.  We lost a couple of minutes at two junctions deciding which way to go. Thinking back to the instructions at the start we decided on left, good choice.  Next junction take right, another good choice.  Note to self, "Bring hunting dog a long next year!".

From here it was a gentle climb out of the valley back to the start.  Halfway up there was three guys from Achilles AC (organizers) with some Coke and friendly smiles.  After a quick chat I was on my way assaulting the last ascent and a gentle run back to the finish line.

At the finish we were given a handmade clay medallion and treated to buffet style breakfast.

This is definitely in the top 3 of my favourite races.  It's got it all, good people, technical trail, value for money and a unique experience.  This event has been going for twenty years and there were 2 guys doing their twentieth, well done.

Unique gifts makes a race much more special