Actually, I wanted to do it on November 20th. start a trail marathon. But my flight was postponed and so I missed the event in South Africa by a day. 2 weeks later there was then on December 4th. another trail run that I signed up for right away. My friend Mikaela Jonsson at the 10km event, me at the 25km trail marathon. On the Thursday before the competition we drove from Durban towards the Drakensberg, stayed there for 2 nights until the race and started the race on Saturday at 6:30 in the morning. I didn't know what to expect as it rained all night and even on the day of the competition there were thunderstorms in the mountains. The competition was tough, but I had nothing to lose. Due to the weather, they shortened the 25km to 19, so I knew that I had to run at a high pace right from the start in order to be among the "trail running guys". I brought the perfect shoes, the Salming OT Comp, which stands for "off-trail competition" and that is exactly what it was all about. The trails were extremely slushy and slippery, and at the same time there were rocky passages. I got off to a strong start, led the first 7km and felt really good. The thunderstorms got stronger and stronger, but nobody turned back - it was a real adventure. I and the eventual winner were able to run a good gap, but after km 7 I had to reduce my speed a little and let him run away from the front. After about 9km we reached the highest point and I was looking forward to a fast downhill. I think I made up time After a short intermediate descent, I went back down towards the start, I didn't push again properly to possibly catch up with him, but in vain. With a clear 3 minutes gap I crossed the finish line in 2nd place - really awesome. My girlfriend was able to win the 10km run and was waiting for me. We both ended our trail running weekend in Bergville, near the Drakensberg, very satisfied.
