Record Race - Starting 8 Nov 2008

[Stijn Laenen]

Hey guys

I've sent some emails out to the AR mailing list and pasted them below. The response as been pretty good and we could see at least 10 teams lining up to give this thing a go! This site gets blocked during work hours for me so it's quite difficult to post emails here - please send me your email addresses (SLaenen AT fnb DOT co DOT za) and I'll copy you in the group emails.

Drakensberg Record Race

As some of you may know there is an established record of the
Drakensberg Grand Traverse: along the top of the berg from the Chain
Ladders to Bushman's Nek via the following 6 peaks: Mont-aux-Sources,
Cleft Peak, Champagne Castle, Mafadi, Giant's Castle & Thabana Ntlenyana
(total distance approx. 210km). The current record is 4 days, 9 hours
and 39 minutes (set by Gavin Raubenheimer and his brother in 1999). The
record has seen a few unsuccessful attempts over the years and I think
it's about time the AR community sorted this thing out - I reckon a time
of 40-50 hours is possible.

On a Drakensberg blog (www.drakensberg.ning.com
), a few of us have been discussing
the possibility of holding a race along the record route on the weekend
of 11/12 October (full moon). As far as I know a similar race used to
happen on an annual basis some years ago, which did not have the
requirement of summiting the 6 peaks. This race would be very unofficial
- in other words it is simply a means of getting all interested runners
attempting to break the record at the same time. Don't expect marshals,
checkpoints, maps, safety-teams, prizes, etc. YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN
(there's no entry fee either)! It will be a fully self-sufficient,
unsupported race from start to finish (no, you cannot get a beer at the
Sani Top Lodge on the way ;-). You can compete in any team format from
solo through to mixed whatever and all teams will compete in the same
category. Photos will have to be taken at each of the 6 summits to prove
your passage. GPS is allowed for nav but some previous experience with
hiking in the berg is highly recommended!

To gauge the level of interest, please drop me a line at
slaenen@... if you would be keen to take part in this challenge -
so far there are about 3 groups that are raring to go. It would be great
if some of the top adventure racers can sort this thing out, once and for all!


OK the original date clashes with the Cape Odyssey which is obviously
not ideal for some. The weekend of 15/16 November is also near a full
moon and doesn't seem to clash with any other major events. The race
would start early on Saturday morning (4am) so if you plan to take
longer than 48 hours (i.e. most of us) some leave would be required.
Taking a day before to acclimatise is also not a bad idea...



Keep those enthusiastic emails pouring in! :-)

[Stijn Laenen]

A medical team has volunteered there services to sweep the entire event so that's pretty promising on the safety side of things!

[Gary Mortimer]

Well I'd like to be around so can i vote for a date in November!!

I will have the beer at Sani top for everyone.

G

[Stijn Laenen]

Hehe - some of the banter on the mailing list so far:

Athol Davies wrote:

I sent Gavin your thoughts re the record attempt. Here are his
comments.

Hi Athol

It does not worry me. Andrew Porter (SkyRun record holder) shot his
mouth
off big time before he tried. He failed hopelessly. Craig Norris (100miler
champ2007) also failed on the first day.

To do it in 40 to 50 hours means running at 5.5 mins a km for 240km
without
rest, seconding etc. They truly have little idea.
In the mean time I will sit back a watch people gain experience! Its
been a
laugh.

By the way I would not mind if you put this on the Blogg.
Gavin Raubenheimer
082 9905876

Athol Davies

Andre wrote:

Just a comment...

5:30 / km will give you 240km's in 22 hours.
12:00 / km will give you 240km's in 48 hours.

If you just want to break the record, sub 4 days.
You can break it up as: 16 hours trekking / running per day. Total 64 hours
in 4 days. @ 16 minutes per km.

Cheers,
Andre

PS - I'm keeping a keen eye on this...

Laura Forster wrote:

Another comment: From what I gather, recent failures have been largely
weather-related rather than a reflection of the aspirant traverser's
potential to succeed. If they had been fortunate to get a good weather
window and avoid big rain, thick fog, and snow, the outcome of their well
planned and equipped attempts might have been different.

And from what I know of Andrew, "shooting his mouth off big time" would
still not equate to the noise some people seem able to make when they're
just sitting back and watching.

L

[Stijn Laenen]

So far, about 15 people keen - people are leaning to the 8/9 Nov date - it's on the good side of the full moon in terms of rise/set times and is 3 weeks before skyrun rather than just 2... Still waiting for those email addresses - Gary? Nick? Alternatively just join the AR mailing list (ADVRACESA): http://www.ar.co.za/email.html

We also potentially have a checkpoint marshall at Champagne Castle..

[Gary Mortimer]

Well maybe the teams could join as members here and we could have blog pages of their training efforts as well??

Would be interesting if it was all in one place.

[Nic Shaw]

Hi all

It's great that this is grabbing attention; it's what we hoped for when we started making the noice in the 1st place. I have a couple of things to add...

First, I like November as I would then have a better chance of entering. I have to convince my wife & also my torn ankle from my attempt at the traverse is giving me grief.

Secondly, this blog site is recieving a lot of hits since our attempt and rather dramatic rescue. Let's try to keep the bulk of the activity here so that fairly large group can keep track. I second Gary's suggection that challengers register as members of this group as a pre-requisite? That way, we won't lose the momentum we have generated. I see the opportunity for some great awareness-raising and maybe some fundraising.

I think that checkpoint marshalls are a good idea - not that I doubt the integrity of any of the entrants but it would ease non-runners' minds, especially if teams/runners have sponsorship.

I think we should maybe tighten up in terms of some rules/conduct etc. Individuals competing against teams really is apples and oranges, especially in terms of navigating advantages, weight-carrying capacity. What about 4 categories? Individuals (men & women), men only teams and mixed gender teams? My main reason for this is that I suspect this will become a regular event & it's great for more people to have targets and goals.

Our target was 3 days. Therefore, 5km/hour overall average speed for 16 hours per day. Very tough but can be done. There is a reason that all 5 attempts at this since 1999 have bailed. It's a difficult route.

Cheers

Nic

[Stijn Laenen]

Cool - I'll send everybody this way - will make communication a whole lot easier too.

The reason I've gone with the single category race concept is that the record can be broken by a team of any composition. So a solo athlete can break it as can an army. I'm not sure whether there will be enough teams to warrant 4 different categories anyway and as we have seen over the last 9 years, attrition will be high... But lets see how we go closer to the time.

[Gary Mortimer]

Well to start with two teams are all thats required!!!

Joking aside, I think that the adage, if we are not having fun we should not be doing it should apply at all times with this event.

Also as it can be such a perilous arena, helping others must certainly be in the rules. Is that a bit too boy scout?? I hope you understand what I'm getting at. There would be no glory in one group cracking the record whilst another is in trouble.

Perhaps there ought to be a minimum equipment and experience requirement??? Difficult to judge what that should be I guess.

Solo entrants, do worry me a little as regards the unsupported aspect.

We certainly have the technology to keep tabs on them but knowing when and why to pluck them out of peril is another thing.

If there are going to be marshalls on top then thats great.

I will work on making a bullet proof communication system, well as best you can in that terrain!!!

Not wanting to harp on about it but we have er um ahem, recently tested out search and rescue plans and that is something that cannot have any shortcut taken with.

Crikey I'm sounding too grownup. Also not stringing this together very well.

Which team is going to be first to join this group and pin their flag to the mast then?? Simply join as whatever the team name is and then tell us about the team.

I will see if I can't start separate groups or some such for each team as well.

There certainly should be a prize for the most creative team name as well.

This is all very exciting I like it

[Andrew Porter]

When I tried it by myself, I found that I could make a few phone calls/sms's along the route. I used points just before Pin's Cave, just before the Ntonjelane Pass, Cleft Peak. I hoped to get something around Champagne Castle, but struggled in the dark+mist to see where I was. I also planned to take the ridge route between Mafadi / Giants as that would offer more chance of cell phone reception than the more obvious valleys. Of course, from Giant's , it is along way until you get back into cell phone reception. So, maybe we could all leave some marker of sorts at the summit of Thaba Ntlenyana.

All of this at least narrows down the search area, especially if you stick to a previously announced route.

That said, things can still get nasty very easily so I think it best to do our best before hand to have something in place for emergencies.

For the experience: Truth be told is that anyone who has enough experience will also know why they should NOT enter. This is going to be tough, and unless I am mistaken, the toughest single stage running event in the country. Knowing that the list of possible contenders is going to be small, I suggest we work on the basis of 'if they are good enough to complete it, someone else will know them and can vouch for them'

And, to put a stake in the ground, I plan to enter as an individual.

[Gary Mortimer]

Fair play Andrew