Mnweni Marathon

15 May 2016 20:51 #68461 by Papa Dragon
Replied by Papa Dragon on topic Mnweni Marathon
Well done on the achievements all of you... :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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16 May 2016 07:52 #68465 by AndrewP
Replied by AndrewP on topic Mnweni Marathon
Well done to Tony, Riaan and supertramp.

Sadly I missed seeing any of you coming in:
- Tony was way ahead of schedule
- I was a woosie and got out of the rain

A tit bit that may or may not be of interest to anyone. Lately, I have been experimenting with a high fat, low carb diet. Some people may call it banting, but I will never call it that. Why? Because I intend to use fat and hence have a very different reason behind it all despite eating the same foods. Anyway, this was the first time I completely ditched the carbs and sugars: I had nothing before the race (not even some tea) and did not eat anything during the race itself, and drank only water collected from streams, with no added Game, powders or supplements. A bit of a gamble, but is shows what the body can do!

@ Ghaz: No, you do not smell an upcoming GT. Partially because I chose at the beginning of the year to wait a year and have fun instead, and partially because I need a bit of time to work out the limits of the new diet. In short, exactly how much food do I have to carry for a speed GT, and hence how light can I make my pack :-)
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16 May 2016 08:16 #68466 by Coeta
Replied by Coeta on topic Mnweni Marathon

AndrewP wrote: Well done to Tony, Riaan and supertramp.

Sadly I missed seeing any of you coming in:
- Tony was way ahead of schedule
- I was a woosie and got out of the rain

A tit bit that may or may not be of interest to anyone. Lately, I have been experimenting with a high fat, low carb diet. Some people may call it banting, but I will never call it that. Why? Because I intend to use fat and hence have a very different reason behind it all despite eating the same foods. Anyway, this was the first time I completely ditched the carbs and sugars: I had nothing before the race (not even some tea) and did not eat anything during the race itself, and drank only water collected from streams, with no added Game, powders or supplements. A bit of a gamble, but is shows what the body can do!

@ Ghaz: No, you do not smell an upcoming GT. Partially because I chose at the beginning of the year to wait a year and have fun instead, and partially because I need a bit of time to work out the limits of the new diet. In short, exactly how much food do I have to carry for a speed GT, and hence how light can I make my pack :-)


Congrats on another win Andrew!
Well done to the other VE contestants too.

I would like to know what level of fitness is deemed adequate as entry level for such an event?
What type of time-trial can be used as benchmark when you train in a non-berg environment?
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16 May 2016 10:18 #68468 by Viking
Replied by Viking on topic Mnweni Marathon
Well done to all of you!

“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!”
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16 May 2016 11:01 #68469 by Riaang
Replied by Riaang on topic Mnweni Marathon
@Tony, you got our time right
@Coeta, I've never been a runner (swimming I can do :lol: )but decided to give it a try this year. Started training slowly in mid Jan and then gradually increased the distances bit by bit. Managed to get in 6 21km runs (2 offroad at the end)in the 6 weeks leading up to the Mnweni Marathon.

Training basically consisted of running twice during the week when I jogged to my sons swimming classes and back (he cycled to class) which gave me 9km's on a Tuesday and 9km's on a Thursday, and then did the long runs early on Saturday mornings.

I walked the route about 2 months ago and based on our two day hike times I reckoned a reasonable time for us would be 10H05min. In the end we came in 30 minutes faster, so I'm not too unhappy with this time. Could have done it faster though but I struggled on the pass with cramps (a first for me) so I slowed us down a lot on the ascent. Supertramp was on fire, he could have come in much faster but waited for Herman and myself. It was also Hermans first Mnweni Marathon and he was doing fine till we started down Rockeries when his knees started hurting.

I would say if you are used to the Berg environment and used to longer distances then the only thing you would need to work on is your fitness levels. The more hills you can do the better. It's quite different running up a mountain than on flat terrain, I can confirm that bit of information for you ;)
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17 May 2016 09:50 #68483 by AndrewP
Replied by AndrewP on topic Mnweni Marathon
I feel that the most important thing is time on your feet. You will most likely be walking for about 10 hours in the day, so get in some good quality and long hikes over Easter and the long weekends at end of April.

The crux of the route is obviously the 2 passes, so try get in practise on big hills.

If you can run about 10 km without strain, that would be a bonus, but not not essential. I would only worry about running further than 10km if you are aiming for a time of sub 8 hours.

You really can do the Mnweni marathon as a power hike, and even the front runners walk a surprising amount. I walked that first hill as you leave the road, and then 300m later after the first stream, I walked that hill as well.

In fact, the race is normally won and lost on the power hike between Shepards Cave and the top of Mnweni Pass
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17 May 2016 20:27 #68488 by supertramp
Replied by supertramp on topic Mnweni Marathon
@AndrewP - Congrats on the awesome win and superhuman time!!! :thumbsup:
We were still slogging our way up the pass when you crossed the finish line. Crazy impressive!!!

@tonymarshall - it was a great pleasure meeting you Tony and well done again on a great race. Hope to have the privilege of doing a hike with you in the not too distant future :hike:

@riaang - thanks for an epic adventure, sticking together as a group made it all the more rewarding. The Berg won't know what'll hit it the day we both have an "on-day" :P

A friendly challenge to all VE members to join us next year. Whilst definitely not being able to challenge AndrewP we are still sure to have a ball of a time on the greatest loop in the Berg.

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17 May 2016 20:57 #68489 by ghaznavid
Replied by ghaznavid on topic Mnweni Marathon

supertramp wrote: A friendly challenge to all VE members to join us next year. Whilst definitely not being able to challenge AndrewP we are still sure to have a ball of a time on the greatest loop in the Berg.

I am hoping to do it in around 9 hours next year. Hoping to see lots of fellow VE people there.
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18 May 2016 11:21 - 18 May 2016 11:26 #68491 by Macc
Replied by Macc on topic Mnweni Marathon

supertramp wrote: A friendly challenge to all VE members to join us next year.

Might just take you up on that...

"The three rules of mountaineering: It’s always further, taller and harder than it looks."
Last edit: 18 May 2016 11:26 by Macc.
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18 May 2016 12:04 #68492 by Richard Hunt
Replied by Richard Hunt on topic Mnweni Marathon
Yes, will plan to run next year and will be a good challenge for my 60th year of existence! I am training now with the Mnweni trial run in mind. This must be the King of all SA trial runs.
ultrarunner.co.za/mnweni-race-report-by-melvyn-quan/
ultrarunner.co.za/mnweni-race-report-by-peter-koedyk/
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