A half day on Friday, before the chance to
shoot off and escape city life. Food shopping and then our journey sets off –
Me, El, Polly and Motselisi. As soon as you get out of Maseru on the expansive
roads the scenery opens up. The small villages and towns by the roadside bring
all manner of sights as we head northwards.
We are soon passing quarries, small
industries and lots of children randomly dancing by the roadside, not sure why,
but I guess why not – if you have to dance, then you just have to!
The main danger to us en route, apart from
the speeding taxi’s, are the speedbumps, sometimes with no apparent warning and
barely visible (as the paint has worn off), the appear in strange places and
are of considerable size – Motselisi is driving, so luckily we are in good
hands. We all chuckle as we pass through ‘London’ – it could be further apart
from the big city of the same name – and neither could the city compete with its
views.
The road to Katse Dam is possibly one of
the most beautiful car journeys I’ve ever been on – a 3-4 hour journey into the
heart of the Lesotho Highlands, the Maluti Mountains. After a few hours we
start to climb (keep in mind Maseru is already at around 1600m altitude) we
continue to climb and climb, the mountains ever closer and the views breath
taking.
The anthem of our journey is set by the Erykah
Badu CD, the captivating mountains perfect soundtrack – this is what I wanted
to see.
A sharp increase in the roads gradient as
we pass by the side of the ‘tearful mountains’ – so called because of the
continuous flow of water that always runs down them. The sheer feat of
engineering to build this magnificent road leaves you is awe. The signs of beware of the snow are a reminder
that this place in winter must be near impossible to climb. We reach the summit
and pull over for a break – we are at 3090m altitude and as we look back down
the valley it’s clear to see this is the Mountain Kingdom – the chill in the
air refreshes my mind as I begin to relax, mountains make me feel at home.
The landscape on route is not too dissimilar
to the Brecon Beacons – just on a scale that is incomparable. The green lush
grass means there are plenty of young shepherds roaming about, wrapped in the
hats and blankets wearing wellies, they are easily distinguishable even when
you can’t see the sheep, goats or cows.
As the day nears its ending, we finally
approach our base for the weekend, a government owned holiday park - that was
built for and formerly used by workers building the infrastructure around the
dams – the tunnels and various other projects. The place is simple, yet clean and
comfortable. We settle in and relax before making a delicious dinner, which
included one of my favourites, shrimps – huge ones, marinated in beer, chilli
and garlic, cooked to perfection.
However the realisation that I’m here to
run the Half marathon kicks in, as we all discuss start times we realise an
early start will be needed in fact we need to leave the accommodation before
5am to make it in time for the run.Needless to say the morning start was bleary eyed to say the least, the long winding 50km road to Katse twists and turns continuously, progress is slow, but the sunrise is amazing, and we arrive just in time, I can’t help but think “I really should have trained properly for this” as I look at the runners, lean and muscular light body frames – this run is taken quite seriously by many, thankfully most of them are doing the full Marathon.
After registration, I have time to drink
and then we’re off, the 6:30am start means the weather is cool and perfect
conditions for a run. About 2 miles in we pass through the first village – the run
has been gradually up hill and flat thus far, the women shout and people wave
as we pass through – then there is the biggest downhill I have ever ran, continuous
for as far down as I can see – I put down the handbrake and let my legs roll –
flying past 6 runners ahead of me on my way to the bottom…however what goes
down, must come up. I am soon struggling for breath, the lack of oxygen at this
height (approx. 2600m) and 3km ascent are a killer, progress is slow and
steady, it has to be as the lactic burn and first stitch kick in, the view of
Katse Dam to my left temporarily focuses the mind on something else as I try
and find a rhythm….as I turn the corner the road steepens again – I’m now
walking as it is more efficient than running – there is some way further to go!
Finally I am running alongside someone else - a
good way to keep my pace steady as I climb – Michael is a Basotho, but has lived
his entire life in South Africa and come across specifically to run. He’s a good
guy and sets a decent pace. We chat in between heavy breaths as we reach the
plateau and turn off on to a trail as we head for the midway point – 1hour and
7 mins have passed and I’m thinking were is half way and why aren’t we there
yet??
Soon enough we approach another village,
where people line the sides of the route cheering us on and waving and smiling,
we reach half way, pause, take a drink and pick up our yellow elastic bands
(proof we made it to that point). We turn back and start to find our rhythm,
spurring each other on. The sharp pain in my left knee doesn’t help, as I mask
the pain trying to absorb the beauty of the view. We soon turn off again and
run towards the dam. We cross it and look down – it reminds me of the James
Bond scene when he jumps off – the scale of the dam is unreal (where’s my
camera when I need it!).
As we pass the 17km (out of 21km) the first
of the marathon runners flies past – at a pace that is insane (they started at
6am). And soon enough another is gaining ever closer. Michael is suffering with
his achillies and I am with my knee, we’re too close to quit now. The memories
of a Pyrenees trip last summer keep me positive and the kind words of friends
run through my mind.
We turn the final bend, but the road to the
finish feels never ending, the knee ever painful. One last push as we motivate
each other we make it – cross the line and receive our medals. YEEESSS!!!
Next thought is….. get me ice for the knee and shade from the hot
sun – Finish time is approx 2hrs 17mins (still awaiting confirmed time, but happy eith that given the circumstances). This made the Cardiff Half seem like a walk in the park....
We then relax, and soon Polly has arrived,
great effort! The others follow. Before long it’s 9:30am and El sets off on her
5km run – the heat is soaring, and she is soon back for a well-earned rest. We
all retreat to the lodge for a stunning view of the dam and a nice cool drink.
Following this we head back on the 50km
route to our accommodation, the views in daylight are amazing, but the
tiredness begins to hit and we arrive back in time to have some lunch – a nice
t-bone steak for me, followed by a siesta and chill out.
As I awaken it’s time to prepare the ‘Brai’
BBQ - what a feast!, my attempt at lighting it doesn’t exactly impress, but I finally get it
going – the marinated lamb chops and borwurst ‘sausages’ (I think that’s what
they’re called)are soon cooking away nicely, and are consumed gratefully – we chat and share stories and
experiences under the moonlight, this is what quality of life is about. That
knee is still giving me grief though! Time for some more Ibuprofen gel....
I finally have a good night of sleep – a whole
9 hours! I stumble out of bed and enjoy a delicious cooked breakfast, just the
tonic I needed – we pack the car, pay up and set off on our way, climbing the
hills once more. We stop of at Bokong
Nature Reserve – the scenery once again just totally takes my breath away, one
of the best views I’ve ever seen. We enjoy a Maluti beer overlooking the Maluti
Mountains – it would be rude not to, and relax for an hour or so taking photos
before setting off once more.
The journey back is interesting we pass
many outdoor church congregations stamping their feet – apparently stamping
down on the Devil I’m told, we also see the uniforms, purple (Catholic), blue (Anglican)
and others worn by people as we pass – the soundtrack playing away this time is
a nice up beat melodic South African band called ‘Freshly Ground’ – check them
out!
We are soon in Maseru, the scenery seems to
help you forget you’ve travelled for hours on end. We drop off Polly at the bus
stop and head home to drop off our things, then straight out and up to the
Lesotho Sun Hotel (one of only two 4 star hotels in Lesotho apparently) on the
hill above the city for sundown with really good people who work for the German
Development Agency (GIZ), we have some good discussions about the things that
motivate, inspire and drive us - the sunset you see from here certainly is awe inspiring. The night is finished with a nice Chinese meal at the
hotel and collapsing to sleep – let’s see what this week brings.
At work, I hope to have the website edited
and up and running this week with a bit of luck.
Brilliant post, Bran! The description of the run is so good - I could almost have been running with you!
ReplyDeleteDiolch.
Diolch Dyfed, that's very kind - I'm glad you enjoyed it :-)
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