KnysnaX Summer Trail Run 19km

The KnysnaX Trail Run is held seasonally - spring, summer, autumn and winter, organised by Peter Szeili. The route is the same each time but he does alternate the direction with each event. The summer running took place on 29 December 2024.

I met Peter two years ago when I did his Oyster Festival Amazing Race with my friend Rob, who knows Peter. We did the Amazing Race again this year. I've also been at the same event as Peter with product stands - him with his KnysnaX run shorts and tees, and me with AR Gaiters. 

I've missed a bunch of Peter's events. I've either had something else on or the muscle-related (lower back, tight quad and glute) knee niggle that I've had on and off this year.

While I'm not completely clear of current left-knee flare, I've been running well, feeling good, doing well at crossfit and working my biokineticist exercises. After a solid 10km run on our local December FKT route in the days before the summer sun, I confirmed my entry for the 18km event.

The weather forecast was for hot and humid - and it was. Rob recommended that I wear my AR Adventure Gaiters against the overgrown grasses and plants along the railway line, and he had also sent me the altitude profile (flat, up, up, up and then down, down, down).

My mom Liz came through with me, dropping me at the start in Knysna. This is an A-to-B route and while there is a shuttle at the finish to get you back to your car at the start, the finish was at Blackwater Lodge which is on my way home. Liz headed through to the finish for breakfast and to wait for me in the shade of their beautiful big trees on the Goukamma River.

The route started off on the old railway line crossing the Knysna lagoon. That was pretty cool to run along there. 

We stuck on the railway track through the Belvidere area to where the railway line meets the Brenton road - approx 6km. While flat terrain, it was actually hard going because of the baking heat, even early in the morning before 8am. 

This is actually overgrown railway - you can make out some sleepers. Very sandy. I was glad for my gaiters.

I was really feeling the heat when I got to the first waterpoint. I drank some water and put some ice down the back of my tee.

Walking into the waterpoint.

The route then went up the road and across to the other side to hook up on forestry roads. I was looking forward to the uphill ahead to walk a bit.

First, a hello to Peter around a bend.

The wide forestry roads were mostly contouring with a few steep climbs. I used the ups to walk, stretch my legs, drink and snack, and to cool down. I was feeling good on these middle kilometres and enjoyed the running.

The last few kilometres were hot again and on the railway line, which takes focus and concentration. It was fun overtaking a few people.

A really lovely section with smatterings of shade. It was hot though. I had a few little walkies.

Lots of festivities coming into the finish at Blackwater Lodge. Such a beautiful venue.

I logged 19.2km and a run time of 2h24. Fair. It was great to be out there. I had a bit of left upper calf stiffness that worked itself out after a few days. Left knee mostly fine.

I don't feel quite that I'm 'back' - not the return of the invincibility feeling of old that I felt in July, but I'm feeling mostly good and strong. Aside from being hot, the run was smooth.

Lots of December activities

 After two weeks of hill climbing and a lot of activity in the Seychelles in November, I hit a wall in early December with a sinus / allergy / cough kind of thing. Initially I wasn't sure whether it was viral or an allergic reaction to something around at the moment. It seems like it is the latter and after two weeks of doing not much more than dog walking, I jumped into activities and making up for lost time.

During late November / December, we have a bunch of local activities on the go. The weather is summery, the evenings are long and there is so much to get out to do. 

November ended with a Social Paddle, one of the monthly activities that I organise for the Kingfisher Social Paddle Group. The Social Paddle group has been going for almost two years now and it really is something quite special. There are a number of regulars and some that come through occasionally plus newcomers. Once we hit winter this year, I lost the plot with the group and didn't organise paddle outings for a while. Then we had some weird weather patterns with lovely week days and awful weekends. I'm back in the saddle errr... kayak seat now.

End of November Social Paddle at the Garden Route Dam

On 9 December I enjoyed a lovely garden party with friends. Although the weather was cool and drizzly, the afternoon was warm and festive with friends, good picnic-style foods and also fun games.

With my mom Liz

Girls in florals with Talita, Tanja, Zelda, Jolene, me and Liz.

Johann, Otto and Jacques rocking the florals.

A bunch of us headed out on bicycles, on a Wednesday night, to see the xmas lights. Oewer Road in George has a xmas lights thing going with houses in that road and a number in surrounding roads putting on a wonderful display.

Next up was an introduction by friends Otto and Talita to Laser Run, which I wrote about. I'll definitely give a try in the new year.

The laser gun. You have to shoot single handed.

In George we have an awesome trail running community that centres around the George Trail Running (GTR) group, the MountCo trail running store and Trail Kiosk at GroundZero . The efforts of Mountco's Jacques and Clare Mouton with GTR really pull the community together. This year they have coordinated a fabulous holiday programme with a variety of local activities and events. 

I'd missed a few activities with my sinus / cough thing but I wasn't going to miss out on the Sox Xmas Lights Pyjama Night Run - a social run from the Botanical Gardens to see the Xmas lights on Oewer Street on the 20th. It was a treat to do this with my friend Tania who visiting George for the holidays as well as Talita and her daughter Nicky. My Rosy-dog joined the fun.

With Tania and Rosy dog.

Rosy really enjoyed the lights and festivities.

Then, an 'Xmas around the World' concert at the small Market Theatre, a community theatre venue in George on the 21st. It is in an old building, built in 1855, that was previously a church. The guy singing was fantastic, the guy on keyboard was fantastic and the lady on violin was fantastic. The programme was diverse and charming and efficient. A lovely evening of music. I took mom and the dogs to see the xmas lights after the concert.

As luck would have it, the timing on the 22nd was perfect for me to do a kloofing/canyoning trip with

Marthinus Esmeyer from Paradise Adventures on Friday, 23 December. Marthinus knows pretty much every waterway from source to sea in the region. While many rivers around here are no good for paddling, they are superb for canyoning. Marthinus offers a number of canyoning tours within 15 mins of George / Wilderness.

The trip this afternoon was spectacular. I knew the canyon would be pretty, but it was so much more. Swimming through pools, stepping from rock to rock, a few jumps into pools and two belay descents. From my interactions with Marthinus over the last three years, I had no doubt that he was a competent and experienced guide. He is even better than this. He knows these canyons like the back of his hand at all kinds of water levels. His setting up of the belays was smooth and efficient, moving us safely down the bigger drops without fuss or delays. His knowledge of the area and nature is extensive. This trip stands out as a highlight experience of my time living here.

Bombs away!

The water started off mild but got cooler deeper into the canyon. The 4mm wetsuit provided by Marthinus makes the experience all the more enjoyable because you do not get cold.

Friends Tanja and Jacque were on this trip plus two South Africans who live in the UK and are back to visit family for Xmas.

This canyon is spectacular!

The two belay sections were spectacularly run by Marthinus.

I joined the Wimberleys for parkrun in Mossel Bay on the 23rd and we also walked a section of the hiking trail from the lighthouse.

At the new Mossel Bay parkrun with Sarah, Tania and Paul.

It was really hot out on the hiking trail. With Tania, Sarah and Paul.

I love my AR Gaiters

Striking scenery from the hiking trail.

The 23rd was a wonderful triple-whammy as I had been sufficiently organised to coordinate a year-end Kingfisher Social Paddle Group outing on Sat, 23 Dec and made this one in the afternoon. We paddled on the Goukamma River from Blackwaters River Lodge and it was fantastic! A highlight for me, aside from sharing the paddle with my friend Tania, was seeing numerous Giant Kingfishers and having a close-up experience with a Malachite Kingfisher.

Paddling with Tania. She had photo duty.

All types of kayaks - and canoes, SUPs and surfskis - are welcome.

A Malachite kingfisher. 

On the afternoon of the 24th, I ran the December GTR FKT Challenge route. The route this month combines a bunch of trails that I really enjoy. I run some regularly and others less often and I had been wanting to get out there. But coughing and spluttering, I had stuck to dog walks and light jogs. This was actually my greatest cause of feeling that I was missing out. I had also wanted to do something special with Rosy. Off we went. I had such an enjoyable run and cruised in a better time than I expected. Strava says 1h10 moving time but real time was around 1h15 to 1h20. I did stop a few times as Miss Rosy had to swim in every swimmable body of water. It was fabulous. I followed this with two rounds of short dog walks with the others before going out to friends for Xmas Eve celebrations.

After a lovely Xmas Eve dinner with friends, Xmas Day brought its own adventure with an outing to an old forestry area behind Hoekwil with our friend Nics and her dogs. Liz and I took our hoard and we all had a blast with the dogs running all over the place and all of us taking a dip in the stream.

Dogs dogs dogs - Snow and Canada at the back, Nics' Nunzi front centre and Rosy front right.

My sweet Rusty girl.

Riding a dragon... and my mom Liz with her Bella dog.

Dec 26th was another GTR outing with a run at Glentana. I've actually never been down to the Glentana beach so I didn't want to miss this even though it meant being out the door just after 6am on Family Day... The weather was overcast with soft drizzle, but not too cold or windy and well worth doing. The route headed east but as the tide was still up, it meant a lot of scrambling over rocks. We gave up on this, turned around and ran the other way down the beach, which was lovely.

Running east toward the rocks.

With my friend Cliff. He has done exceptionally well this past year with his running. Steady progress.

With Zelda, Udo, Johan, Cliffy, Etienne and two guys in the back (don't know who they are but they were part of the greater group).

Rocks, rocks, rocks.

And this brings us to the present and the Big 5 O Week of orienteering. Where I felt like I was missing out in the early part of December not being in top-top health, I've certainly made up for lost time. 

I am thankful to be living where I am and that there are so many opportunities to get out to do activities and most do not cost a cent.

I am thankful that I have friends who like to do activities.

I am thankful that I have dogs that love activities and ensure I am always out and about.

I am thankful that when I do activities without dogs that I have my mom Liz who gives the dogs love and care.

I am thankful that I am in good health and fitness so that I can do any activity I choose.

Aid station volunteer at the marvellous MUT event

George Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) is a big trail running event in my hometown of George. Started in 2018, the event has quickly become a calendar highlight. This year it became part of the UTMB Series where runners can qualify for Ultra Trail Mont Blanc. Course distances on offer include 10km, 25km, 42km, 60km, 100km and the new 100-miler course.

I volunteered at this event last year on gear check and at The Cross aid station. I went for a repeat this year with gear check on the Thursday and Friday and then being at The Cross from Saturday morning to Sunday noon.

I was on a team with the same core crew from last year with Koot, Chanelle and Kuyler. We had extra hands on Saturday during the bulk of the day when the shorter distances came through our spot We were on the mountain for 30hrs, enjoying crystal-clear views of George in the beautiful day and at night, even watching sections of the town come back on after loadshedding. Best view location.

This year we had a big tent, which was a blessing. The Cross typically is always windy. As luck would have it, there was little to no wind this year - or rain. The tent provided good protection regardless and was a big asset this year. Last year, we huddled behind the wheels of the vehicle to get some shelter from the wind and drizzle.

Me, Kuyler, Chanelle and Koot

At our aid station, we see the runners on the 10km, 42km, 60km,100km and 100-mile courses (we don't see the 25km runners). With 4.5km to the finish, we have the task of bolstering spirits to get the runners on the last stretch to the end. Saturday night and Sunday was all about the courageous 100km and 100-mile participants. The last miler runner, who came past us around 12h30 today, made it to the finish before his course's 48hr cut-off.

I got in a decent sleep from about 01h00 to 05h00, which I needed after long weeks in the lead up to the event.

The weather this weekend was perfect but the course was muddy and incredibly challenging. The ground was saturated from recent regular rains in plus rain on the Thursday afternoon before the race. MUT is not a walk-in-the-park; the gradient and terrain is challenging in good conditions. Race day was tough. 

At our aid station, we saw runners after Tonnelbos and Sungazer. Some were head-to-toe covered in mud and absolutely shattered but generally in good spirits knowing that they were almost done. 

It is always amazing to see the front runners but extra special to interact with those at the back. Lots of great interactions and laughs, and another rewarding experience of being an event volunteer.

Well done to all the dozens of people that make this event happen. MUT is a feather in the cap not only of George and our trail community but also of South Africa. Well done to Zane, Carmen, Jacques and their team - from trail cutters to the trail markers, planners, organisers, sponsors and race day volunteers. A huge effort goes into this event. 

Friends from Jo'burg came to do the 25km. It was a treat to have them come stay with us. Other friends who did the 60km joined us for lunch on Monday. Good time spent with good people to catch up.

Put this event in your diary for next year. Rain or shine, you will love your experience out here.

Altra Lone Peak 6 trail shoes

Almost two weeks ago I took the plunge and bought a new pair of trail shoes. Now that I'm on the mend, with thanks to three chiropractor sessions, I'm getting back into the regular running game - and not just trotting and hiking.

Needing more toebox room, I decided to try Altra.

I've never gone for them before purely because of their puffy sole. I was in very tactile, almost racing-flat trail shoes for many years. As my big-toe joint needs some TLC and the Altra has a wide toe box, these ticked the boxes.

I've gone for the Altra Lone Peak 6, in the ladies, which is almost the first - if not the first for me to be in a women's trail shoe. They fit perfectly from the start and are feeling really good.

I ran the Port Alfred parkrun in them last weekend and I've enjoyed three short runs in them this past week.

As much as I was delighted to get the shoes, as I told my chiro, I felt like I needed to go home and have a little cry about the money spent. New shoes are exceedingly and, dare I say, prohibitively expensive. Running is not a cheap sport.

I hope that this is going to be my best purchase this year and that me and these Lone Stars will enjoy many hundreds of kilometres together.

Erica Terblanche's love of life and running (book)

There are running-themed books that are good. Some very good. And then there are running-themed books that awaken, revitalise, ignite, and go on to be legendary. Erica Terblanche's book 'Run - For the Love of Life' is one of these.

"This book is going to stand as one of the greats in running-themed literature."

 

I first met Erica almost 20 years when she jumped in to the sport of adventure racing full of grit and passion, and always with a smile so big her eyes squeeze almost shut - even in the coldest and darkest hours before dawn.

During Erica's years in London, news would come through via a common friend and snippets on social media told of Erica's adventures and successes. What I didn't realise, until I read her book, was just how many. 

Drakensberg overnight hike, Feb 2016. At the back is Faye, then Tracey and then Erica and me in the front.

'Run - For the Love of Life' is a story of life and love, and running. Erica opens her heart to bravely share her life in this honest memoir. She elegantly weaves a colourful cloth of her experiences, travels, races, relationships, career changes, successes, and sorrows, which are related simply, but yet so beautifully, and without fanfare. 

Erica's writing is as exceptional as her athletic accomplishments. Every word used counts. Like each step that makes up a kilometre, and each kilometre covered makes an ultramarathon completed, Erica's words, paragraphs and chapters take you on a journey through the dozen years and major events that are the focus of this book.

It is significant that Erica did not just win the women's category at almost all of the gruelling ultramarathons in which she competed; she blew away most of the field to stand or knock on the podium. Overall. Again and again, and again. Her hard-won achievements will uplift and inspire, motivate and encourage - especially women - whether or not you are a runner. 

Erica's courage stands out in the telling of her life story. She exposes her soft underbelly and leaves you in awe of her resilience, determination, focus, and bravery as well as her kindness, compassion and wisdom.

You do not need to be interested in running or to be a runner to be enthralled by this book. The ultramarathon events in which Erica competed are portals to her experiences. This book is about so much more than running. Erica's narration of her extraordinary journey of her life - through racing and traveling, and the people she loves - will enrich yours. 

GET A COPY AND MORE

'Run -For the Love of Life' can be ordered from Publisher.co.za and also from Amazon.com (Kindle and paperback). In South Africa, RUN will also be available from Exclusive Books.

Listen to this 35-minute podcast of an interview with Erica - HERE.

This is an interview with Erica by Pippa Hudson on CapeTalk.

Almost time for Find It Checkpoint Challenge

Four weeks ago, my cousin visited the area and asked whether I was organising any events yet. This kickstarted a bunch of ideas that I'd been sitting on for months and has evolved into the Find It Checkpoint Challenge, which I have planned in celebration of World Orienteering Day (8-14 September 2021). 

My first course planning outing.

I've had a blast creating the map, planning checkpoints and learning new things. One of the new things is the MapRun app, which is incredible. I did a lot of ground work initially, learning how to create KMZ maps, the codes used to define type of event, scoring and duration, geo-positioning of the map, uploading to the app system, the app settings, GPS variation and checking control sites. I now have an admin login to post public events and I am proud to be the first event-creator user in South Africa.

Rusty and Rosy have been super scouting companions. The distances putting out checkpoints and testingthe app have been a bit long for Rusts, so I've just had Rosy with me this past week.

I have also learned new way to capture aerial imagery, and I've discovered a means (QGIS) to get contour lines, although I didn't grab them this time - thank you Mark for educating me and doing this for me.

Another aspect of my learning curve included the creation of two videos! The first explains how the event works and the second how the app works.

My video editing skills are capable - I don't get enough practice. I do have many videos that I want to do for YOLO and Vagabond, but I just don't get around to it and I am definitely held up in making these because of confidence, 'getting it right' and putting-yourself-out-there issues. Making these videos for this event has really been good for me because I feel comfortable in this event and navigation space.

 The boost that making these has given me spurred me to finally create a video for Vagabond using my kayak and why I chose this model as the base to educate the viewer about things to consider when choosing a kayak.

With the MapRun app, having physical flags at the checkpoint sites is really not necessary. I have put markers out for those using the paper map but I also find that there is a real kick, especially for beginners, in actually finding something at the location. So, for this specific event, I have put out flags.

I chose this checkpoint position for the stand-alone tree at this location. Well, it was a tree until at least two weeks ago.

I put out almost half of the flags on Sunday afternoon and the rest this evening. This evening I was under pressure to get the flags out before dark. I ran the hardest since July/Aug last year - and I felt great too. 

I'm really curious as to what strong runners will be able to do on the course. It is definitely possible for reasonable runners to get about 23 of the 28 checkpoints in two hours. To get the others... that will take a bit more effort and a tidy route choice.

What was also fun this evening was meeting a chap early on who saw me with a map in my hand and asked, "Is this orienteering?". Oh my heart - someone who actually knows what orienteering is! I extended an invitation to him to give this a whirl. 

And then I saw two running women. I told them that they may see some flags on the route ahead.

 "We've seen two of them already" they declared with big smiles.

They're going to give this a try and will tell their friends. 

Tonight I uploaded the maps and courses to the MapRun server and I've scheduled posts for Facebook for Tuesday evening giving links to download the maps.

I do hope that people will give this a go.

As luck would have it, I'm not going to be here. I head up to Jo'burg and Parys for a few days for some visiting around a feature event, my dear friend Allison's wedding. 

I'll let you know how it all turns out. Cross everything.

Rosy, speak! Little dog (almost) lost in the forest

The dogs and I enjoyed a bit of an adventure on Friday evening. 

I was heading off to dinner so we didn't have too much time but I headed to a section of indigenous forest that I really enjoy (pretty plus lots of fungi). My plan was to hit a nice loop and make it home in time for a quick shower before going out.

We found some fungi, took photos and were a bit behind schedule but all was pretty normal. And then... Rosy had been ahead of me. I must have heard her bark and as I looked up I saw her little black dog body in full-out running posture and ahead of her the white flash of the tail of an antelope. Not again!

Within seconds they were around the bend and at least 150m ahead of me. Rusty had charged ahead, stopped to look for me and then trotted on. By the time I got to the bend, there was no sign of Rosy except that I could hear her barking some distance inside the bush.

The area where we were used to be a forest plantation. I don't know whether the trees were felled or whether the forest was burned, but either way the forest blocks are now thick with bracken, black wattle, thorny brambles and lots of branches and logs. You can't see more than three to five metres inside.

I walked along the forest track for a bit, calling "Rosy come!", a command to which she usually responds. I stood around for a bit too. Calling and listening. Rosy was quiet - something that this little dog is not.

I figured that initially she was barking at the antelope but her bark had been different. When she got quiet, I began thinking that she was injured. Unless the antelope was lying in a tangled heap, it would be long gone. There had to be another reason that she was not coming to me. An injured paw? A broken limb? Impaled on a sharp stick? 

Rusty and I made for the corner of the forest block, coming up the other track to look for a better spot to head in to look for Rosy. We made good progress initially but unable to hear Rosy, I really was going in blind and didn't know where to head.

And then I had an idea.

A few weeks ago I taught the dogs 'Speak' and 'Quiet'. My objective was actually to teach talkative Rosy to be quiet on command. In order to teach 'quiet', she needed to know which command her talking falls under - in this case 'Speak'.

I shouted into the bush "Rosy, speak!" and got a squeak in return. Again, and then an answer. Rusty and I got held up at a dense section so we backtracked and headed back to the original track, trying again to get through at a spot that didn't look too bad.

I called to Rosy, letting her know that we were still there and that we were coming. Rusty and I crawled beneath bracken and over logs, taking care not to get too ripped by the thorny barbs of a bramble-like plant. Rusty did amazingly, finding us animal-sized spaces to crawl through. 

We got to a point where I could hear Rosy's soft responses but could not yet see this all-shadow black dog. I stood up, turned and looked into a small 'clearing' and there she sat, looking very, very sorry for herself. She didn't even come to me when I called. So I went to her and as I stretched out my hand she came to my side. She thankfully was not injured at all.

My theory is that Rosy completely lost her mind when she chased the antelope. She has a high-prey drive which makes her crazy for balls and chasing antelope, bunnies, seagulls and ducks. She isn't a hunter and she won't hurt them. They run, she runs. She followed and ran into the bush and then found herself trapped on all sides in the vegetation. She did not know what to do or where she was. It is curious that she didn't try to come to me as she could clearly hear me out on the track. The location of her barks and answers didn't change so I think she sat in the same place the whole time.

It had taken me 30 minutes to get to her and we only had about 20 minutes of daylight left. 

My Rusty girl then showed her uncanny trail sense. I'd been planning to get out the way we'd come in. Not far from where we found Rosy, I lost both dogs - I didn't know through which crawl space they'd gone. I called and Rusty came back to find me, leading me off to the side and not straight ahead.

My clever girl linked our new track with the initial one coming from the other track into the bush! Once past the dense stuff it was a shorter and easier exit. So proud of my dog!

We ran all the way back to my car - all of us safe and sound. The dogs, with their furry coats, were no worse for wear. Me, with my human skin, picked up some bramble scratches.

Rosy's behaviour has been exemplary these past few days. I think her adventure on Friday evening was a bit of a surprise and shock. We haven't seen another antelope since and I'm not entirely convinced that this crazy little dog can keep her head - but she does try.

I took the dogs paddling on Sunday morning. Rosy was a gem and is finally taking to her place on the front of my kayak. Rusty's spot is behind me - she is such a chilled passenger.

Calm water. Calm dog.

That face!

My special girl.

When we got Rosy from the SPCA she was listed as a border collie cross. She looks like a small version of a border collie but she is all black, without any of those distinctive border collie white flashes, which are strong genetic traits. She certainly has the temperament of a border collie.

Last week, our dog school teacher was researching dog breeds and came across the Markiesje, an old dog breed. 

She sent me a whatsapp saying, "Google 'Dutch Tulip Dog/Hound'".

"OMG! That's Rosy!" I replied.

This description from Wagwalking totally suits our Rosy.

These are generally very friendly little animals who love everyone, and thrive on attention but don’t tend to be particularly demanding about it. The Markiseje is gentle and playful with other dogs as well as with children of all ages, and although all interactions between small children and canines should be monitored, this breed is generally very trustworthy with the younger set. They are not prone to separation anxiety when left home alone, and they are generally well behaved when taken out in public as well. While this dog’s smaller size and cuteness make it popular as a family pet, they are also willing to do the work of a gun dog, easily taking to retrieving small game or game birds. These small dogs are typically too friendly to make an appropriate guard dog, but due to their alert natures, they often excel in the role of watchdog, alerting their family to any perceived threats and dangers. 

The Markiseje is a moderately active breed that needs to get around an hour of vigorous activity each day in order to keep them happy and healthy. These dogs can keep up on most walks and jogs, but they may also enjoy or possibly excel at several other canine activities as well, such as swimming, agility training, or canine freestyle dance. While these dogs are on the smaller side, they are often inappropriate as pets in smaller living environments such as apartments due to their higher activity and noise levels than some other dogs and are more likely to thrive in a larger home with a fenced yard.

We're going to go with this instead of 'border collie cross'.

Rosy is very, very smart. We're really settling in nicely now at dog school and she impresses each week. Where Rusty is a total natural, Rosy has to work harder to focus as she can be easily distracted by other dogs and people. She really tries to please. Sweet dogs.