Mnweni Marathon

I am doing my first Mnweni Marathon this weekend.  Super excited!  A bit nervous if the weather will have a surprise for us!

Short story of my race on Spring Mnweni 2018:

As usual, I took last place at the start. This time the sweepers figured out that I was competing before the end of the road section. Unlike last time, I held last place for almost 2h30 this time - even though I was faster than last time. I hit Chichi Bush Camp well ahead of the 10:30 cutoff (can't remember the exact time), got to the top of the pass around 11. top of Rockeries at 11:18, bottom of Rockeries (Nguza junction) at 12:24, hit the road around 1:45pm and finished in a time of 8h27m33

Very happy with my time, but I overcooked the start - which meant I ended up taking 4 breaks on Mnweni Pass. I also messed up on eating and ended up doing the entire race on a fraction of a packet of chips, just over half a bottle of liquid food and a bottle of energy drink. I was also so focused on my time that I barely got any photos, and for the most part barely even noticed that I was on a mountain. Long story short: happy with my time, but not sure that I will do the race again (but I have said that before).


The sweepers (they had 3 this time) decided to get a bit ahead of me so they could stop for a break
The point where I finally moved out of last place  

Mnweni Marathon was great! I ran 7:54!
Definitely doing it again. 
I even saw Tony in his blue shorts, and met @Ghaznavid at the start.

Great walking in 8:27.. I took my time compared to you but was really happy with my 9:33 also walked the whole route, had a few stops along the way. I always struggle on the actual pass but was pretty  happy with my effort this time. My wife took this picture near the top while waiting for me!

Hello all, first post on the forum. Congratulations for some awesome times! And thanks ghaznavid for your write-ups that gave me the confidence to give the Spring Mnweni a go, with very little running training over the last month. What a great day and experience as a whole (the community and event setup). Aiming for around a 10min/km pace until the ascent with frequent breaks on the way over the top gave me enough running legs to run the last road section, and get back to the centre in 10h30. The ascent with the valley enclosing around was breathtaking. Definitely one I'd like to try again in May!

Well done on finishing guys, nice to meet some of you at the start and finish.My race did not go according to plan, I was working hard in the leading bunch up to mnweni pass with legs feeling great....and then it all came crashing down, could not stomach any of my nutrition and had to pull out half way...with a nice 17km walkout. I found some nice black gunk in one of my hydration flask this morning....dodgy water fill somewhere I guess. Once again well done and see you guys at the next one.

Well done all.

I was sorry to see you turn around vivo, I also didn't realise that you were a VE member until your post and I put two and two together.

I have mixed feelings about my day out on Saturday, that route is tough and takes it out of you.

Thanks for taking time to catch up with me Tony and Ghaz, appreciate it.

Silly comment - Did you guys see the immigration officers at the top of Rockeries, I hope everyone got stamped in at out of Lesotho   That looked like a US passport he was holding.....

Quite incredible that my VE buff displayed on the back of my pack went by almost unnoticed, but my blue shorts were recognised!

It was great to meet and greet Scottie as she sped past me on the road near the finish.

I was sad to see vivo101 coming down Mnweni Pass as I was starting up it.

Good to catch up with Warren, Ruth and ghaz too, and a few others who use VE as an information source but otherwise keep a low profile.

WarrenM wrote: Silly comment - Did you guys see the immigration officers at the top of Rockeries, I hope everyone got stamped in at out of Lesotho   That looked like a US passport he was holding.....

I saw three guys at the top of Rockeries. They shouted that I must give them sweets and I just went past.

On a similar note, that final road section was by far the most sweets requests I have ever had. I didn't give anyone sweets, but I must have been asked by over 40 kids (and a few adults). A few kids tried to grab the packet of chips out of my pocket. A few of the kids were picking up stones before asking - none threw them at me, but it is a concerning sight if kids are going to start throwing stones at hikers who don't give them sweets.

Definitely great to meet some VE members out in the real world. Also awesome to catch up with WarrenM and Tony.