Some races are worth the travel out to the Klein Karoo - this is most definitely on of them!!
We started in the small town of De Rus, about 30km outside of Oudtshoorn along the N12, and caught an assortment of busses, taxis and cattle trucks to the start in the Meiringspoort Pass (it was a point-to-point race). We were dropped off at our various starting points (10km from town and 21km from town), and told to 'run on back now'.
The morning dawned clear and very cold, but very quickly warmed up to be a typical Klein Karoo day - I was regretting my long running kit by half-way point already, when the shade started running out.
The route was winding and fairly flat, with a gradual 200m descent between start and finish. There were a few 'speed bumps' along the way, with a nasy climb right at the very end as we re-entered De Rust and headed up to the finish line. Thankfully the final 100m was a lovely descent - I'd been gunning for sub-2h00 since around 15km mark, when I realised that my splits were a little quicker than I'd been planning for. The climb near the end nearly foiled those plans, but I managed to make up the few seconds I need on the final sprint and finished in 2h00 on the nose!
Definitely a race I would recommend to everyone to run at least once. The route is very easy, amazingly scenic, the organising club very thorough and well-prepared, involving the whole community with the race prep, and afterwards loads of braais, stalls, biltong, pancakes and beer for all. A very good excuse to get out of town for the weekend, kick back and relax. I can also recommend taking a drive back along Meiringspoort after the race (and a long shower to cool off) and stopping off at the waterfall - its an easy 2min walk from the road and absolutely worth the trip!-------------------------
Dean Street Hillbillies
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