Desert dreams
Orange River, red boulder, soft sand fantasies became a reality for over 100 rock-hoppers at the inaugural Augrabies Falls Klipspringer Challenge in May. South African Ultra Trail champ Nicolette Griffioen ran the 40km desert race with Pedro Calderon, finishing in a quick 4h10min. This is her story.
The desert air was noticeably chilled in the dark as we gathered on race morning. Most runners wore a shell or jacket to stave off the shivers. The atmosphere was very relaxed: everyone milled about casually, chatting and laughing. And when race founder Warren King counted us down to start, there was no mad dash like at most races I’ve run. We headed off at
