The first team to come past us, just as daylight faded, was SandgropAR, an Australian team. They nailed the correct path first; teams just the other side of the stream took their cue. SandgropAR said that they were alright but that their feet were sore and blistered.
And then the teams came thick and fast – one after another. Namaqua and Rustproof, Pennypinchers and Castle Lite.
Oh goodness! You know how it is when people have such sore feet that they can only walk with a ‘this-way-and-that-way’ gait? Hobbling. Yes. Hobbling. Very few (if any!) were on an even keel and the one word that resounded in the headlamp-lit darkness was “Feet”.
I asked Castle Lite’s Adrian Saffy what the problem was, why feet were so bad.
“Sand on the beach, wetness from grass, river crossings and hard hiking,” he replied. Addy is an AR veteran and as such racer I so didn’t expect to see walking on broken glass so early.
We made it back to our vehicles and meters down the track spotted headlamps off to the side.
“Who are you,” I asked.
“Black Diamond,” came the reply.
They had their space blankets and sleeping bags out and looked comfortably snuggled in a sheltered soft, grassy spot protected from the wind by tea bushes on one side and a row of low trees on the other. A great location indeed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Feet. We’ve got bad blisters so we’re going to stay here instead of going into the canyon,” Leon Pieters tells me.
I express interest in his blister situation and he obliges. Ow! Big, fluid-filled blisters around both heels and various others. Both Ryan and Nici van Niekerk have trench foot with swollen, whitened, plastic skin that is creased and lined with fissures. James Lea-Cox has sore feet but fortunately no serious afflictions.
They’ve decided to bed down for the (long) night to let their feet dry out so that they can do better than hobble through the canyon in the morning. Going down tonight… the maceration could end their race by T3.
“We keep seeing headlamps of teams passing us. It is so disappointing.”
I reassure them that their decision is a good one. With feet like that…
Saying farewell and offering sympathies, we’re off again. And not too far along – headlamps! It’s Warriors.
Same story from them. Feet. They’re moving pretty well and were planning to work their way through the canyon tonight.
Last I heard a number of the teams that I saw at sunset have decided to sleep and tackle the canyon in the morning. I think this is a good move because once they’re in the canyon, they won’t sleep. It is cold, the water is noisy, the canyon sides are steep and further down where they’re no longer steep, the vegetation is so dense that even crawling on hands and knees is not very effective. It will be a miserable night and to sleep in the morning… burning daylight… not very efficient.
Although the night is long, this good, long rest and time spent tending to sore feet is time well spent at this stage in the race.
Words by Lisa de Speville | Photos by Bruce Viaene