On The Road – 30 October 2015

The Golden Gate Challenge is a three-day trail run through some of the most magnificent and iconic mountains of Golden Gate Highlands National Park in the Free State. Nine brave Dolphins took on this amazing adventure. Woza (Warwick Taylor) started the weekend saying, “It is just three days of running, how hard can it really be?”. He soon found out why it is called a challenge.

The routes traverse through restricted parts of the reserve rarely seen by the public. Most are only accessible by foot. Runners get to see places like Little Serengeti, Cathedral Caves and many other hidden gems within the park. Participants cover just over 70km in 3 days. Do not be fooled by the distances that are covered each day – there are some big mountains and the altitude to deal with. Day one begins with a 6km climb behind the base camp and is 27kms long. The majority of the field arrives back to the Glen Reenen rest camp on wobbly legs in between 4-6.5 hours. Day two is 29kms and is the toughest with some serious climbing on tired legs. Day three starts at 4:30am and runners get to experience the sun rising over these majestic mountains.

This adventure is referred to as a challenge rather than a race and every participant that conquered those mountains takes something special away with them. We would however like to acknowledge some great running from Michelle Tall and Janine Goes who were respectively the 11th and 14th ladies home and Ben Kilian who placed 23rd overall.

The Sanparks Honory Rangers are the friendly faces at the water points along the way and help runners refill hydration packs, give out encouragement and even managed to find a hat for Woza.

The Old Mutual Wild series running events aim raise funds for conservation projects across South Africa. It was humbling to be reminded of what a beautiful country we live in and that conservation of our heritage is all of our responsibility. This race particularly supports the conservation efforts of the Bearded Vulture, which is on the verge of extinction. I hope everyone takes up the conservation challenge and some even consider entering this amazing run next year.