A Golden Otter
presented by Salomon South Africa 17/18 & 19/20 Oct
RETTO 2018 goes down as the ultimate Otter African Trail Run so far in its 10-year history. Named by reversing the word 'Otter', the fourth edition of RETTO was just remarkable. These lucky souls got to experience the reverse Otter in perfect weather. But make no mistake, it was no picnic!
November 2017. A mate of mine hears that I have received a new pair of trail running shoes. He knows I’ve never run trail before, let alone run around the block.
He thinks it amusing to lay down a challenge. “Kev, if you do Otter, I will do it in a mankini and veldskoene*.”
As are many bets, this was made over a few cold beverages. He had done Otter a few times before (and done quite well, I might add). Knowing that Otter was a 42km trail run (but not fully understanding the technical side of it and all the climbing involved, and under the influence of a few cold ones), I shook his hand and the bet was made.
In December, when the priority tickets became available, we were at a bachelors and another mate who had got wind of the bet signed me up. Not thinking that I would get the entry, I simply laughed it off. Back at work in January, I received an email saying that I needed to secure my slot. Shit had just got very real! I went through the process… and I was in. Otter 2018 was locked in. I was going to do the Otter African Trail Run Challenge.
Needless to say, training had to start at a rate of knots. I had to consult aall I could do was try. Two or three months before Otter, my ITBs were simply not getting any stronger. I consulted a chiropractor and he said if I wanted to do the race I needed to stop running immediately, which threw me out completely. I took his advice, and worked on more stretching and simply hiking/strength training. A month and a half before race day, I got the go-ahead to start running again. I did what I could in that short period of time.
