Saldanha Sea Harvest Foundation Health Run

21km start time 08h00

Paula and Sonz drove up to mine and collected Zita, Naomi and I.   Not too complicated, straight up the West Coast Road to Saldanha.  Not that I recall much, as I got into Paula’s car put my head back and woke up at the Weskus School in Saldanha Road.  I have absolutely no idea where that time went to?  But it was glorious!

On arrival, parking was easy and of course ablutions were first on the list.  Being a nippy start to the morning, we decided to run wearing our long sleeved tops which we often tie around our waists when the day warms up somewhat.  A pleasant walk to the start and after taking a quick snap of Graham and Willie I found myself a relatively close space to the starting line.  Stroke of luck!  Countdown began and with the gun going off it was time to tackle the 21km.

A straightforward route for the first 5km’s.  The at the lighthouse on the right hand side of the road, one runs down a sandy slope then onto a stoney road.  Not my favourite by any means.  Stones are not my friends.  They seem to jut out of nowhere, in this case the road and surprise my feet with very little warming.  So it honestly took every ounce of concentration that I had to lift my feet.  These are the words from Paula that echoed in my ears for the 5km rocky road – lift your feet Gill!!  Well it seemed to pay off because I actually managed to complete the distance unscathed.  When stopping for a drink I was reminded of the beauty which lies in Saldanha.  And just how fortunate are we to run along a dog leg between the oceans.  As tricky as it is.

I must confess to breathing a sigh of relief when I reached the lighthouse again and found myself on tar.  Wonderful tar thank goodness.  But here the hills were in abundance.  It seemed to be one after the other with a few straights and down slopes along the way.  I knew for sure that Sonz was way out in front as were Leoni and Johannes who make such a handsome couple running in unison.  Running behind Leoni is like viewing a young gazelle out for the morning.  Such ease and grace, never straining or puffing!  I had Paula behind me then Zita who chose to run with Naomi.  There were quite a few Westies present and sometimes it really was a case of hi and bye!

Not everyone’s favourite, but I really enjoyed the last section where we ran alongside the beach front and in between the houses.   Then it was back on to the main road which meant one thing and one thing only – yup – homeward bound.  What a pleasure it was to see the school up ahead.  And although I was desperate for a walk, I couldn’t quite bring myself to do so when entering the grass section of just 500 meters to go.

Glad to cross the finish line and absolutely chuffed that I hadn’t fallen or tripped during the 5km rocky road.  That’s a biggie for me.

Thank you so much to all the marshals, especially the one that kept my jacket for me when the sun came out and I needed to cool down.  Thank you for waiting on the side of the road and returning it to me.  The refreshment tables were second to none offering ice cold coke and sachets of cold water.  Friendly and helpful marshals right from the get go.  The main roads were managed by the local traffic police who made sure we got to cross safely.

There were plenty of refreshments vans on the school grounds at the finish.  From pancakes to coffee to ice cream, tea’s and coffees.  And besides an abundance of porta loo’s there where the genuine concrete ones available too.

So thank you very much to everyone involved in organizing this fabulous race.  Stay safe out there with both feet on the ground – Gill x