The Battle of Bloukrans
9&10 and 11&12 October 2019
The Otter African Trail Run is known as the Grail of Trail. It gives up to 500 runners, split over two events, the privilege to experience the renowned 42km Otter Trail in a day.
The 2019 edition ran in the classic direction, from Storms River (east) to Nature’s Valley (west).
The Challenge event was preceded by heavy and persistent rain, resulting in muddy trails and a deep, pumping Bloukrans crossing.
The excitement of the Run came from the strong South African field, after international domination in 2018. Domestic records fell, the prologue curse was lifted, and school fees were paid for dearly. Buckle up for hard lessons from Bianca Tarboton, Bloukrans survival with Heloise Hunter, and another year of running in a onesie for the greater good with Cordi van Niekerk.
With 6km to go, I felt dizzy and weak. By the time I started down the last cliff, I struggled to see what was in front of me.
My Otter 2019 experience is one that I will hold on to for the rest of my trail running career.
I’m 22-years-old, juggling my newly-found professional trail running career with studying chemical engineering. I am coached by The Run Project, and they helped me achieve a strong lead-up. Although I am inexperienced in marathon distance running (my longest race was 25km and my longest training distance 30km), I was feeling fit, and had been training hard. Otter was my biggest race of 2019 and I was determined
