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Otter Trail Record Shattered

Maureen Woolridge / 21.09.2009

Not everyone is afforded the privilege of doing 'The Otter' in one day, and it is also most definitely not in everyone's ability to do so. At dawn this morning, 200 athletes assembled at Storms River Mouth to do just this: they were the first athletes to take part in a trail run along the Otter Hiking Trail after a historic agreement was reached between the event organisers Magnetic South and the management of SANPARKS.

Although some runners were purely aiming to finish, others had a loftier goal; they wanted to see whether it was possible to run the five-day hiking trail, stretching over a distance of 42km, in less than five hours. Although the majority of athletes and crew thought this to be utterly impossible, there were a few competitors who believed in the dream.

Fortunately for all concerned, this impossible 'dream' was also supported by a range of sponsors, not least of all Hi-Tec, who came on board as primary supporters for the Otter African Trail Run. "We are already intrinsically involved with SANPARKS", said Marketing Manager Shayne Vervoort, "and sponsor hiking boots for the majority of national parks guides, so the symbioses was natural".

Stunning weather and superb organisation by the Magnetic South crew saw the launch of the Hi-Tec Otter African Trail run unfold flawlessly under blue skies and with hardly a breath of wind. The pace was gruelling from the word go, with local Knysna boy, John Collins, going head-to-head with Ian Don Wauchope.

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