Trail runners make history

TWO groups of local trail runners recently made history when they successfully completed the Khomas Hochland Hiking Trail (KHHT) in less than 24 hours.

In the process each group established a new running route and set a verified Fastest Known Time (FKT).

Namibia’s elite trail and ultra runners – Wim Steenkamp, Jaco van den Berg, Laurie van Zyl and PC Visser – completed the whole 90km KHHT, which is normally hiked in six days, in just under 16 hours.

The second group comprising of first-time ultra runners, Marietjie du Plessis, Julie Mbaisa and Jacques van der Smit, finished a 55km loop made up of four of the six sections of the KHHT and their first ever ultra-run, which is any distance longer than the traditional marathon of 42.2km.

“The KHHT is highly accredited and an awesome initiative by the farmers in the Khomas Hochland to make this piece of the Namibian bush accessible to hikers,” said PC Visser, who planned and organised the logistics of the attempt.

“Many people have hiked it since it opened in June 2015, but no one had tried to tackle it in one day,” he added.

It was quite a challenge since KHHT is not what anyone would describe as ‘an easy run’. Obviously Namibia’s sun and the daytime heat play a huge role, while soft river sand, thorny bushes, boulders and the course’s significant elevation make parts of the route unrunnable. Water is scarce and only available at the Otjisewa, Onduno Godeis and Monte Christo sites where hikers normally camp overnight, but these were just used as rest and water refill stops by the runners. This means that the runners’ packs were consistently full and heavy along the whole route.  

The elite group started from Düsternbrook (where the KHHT begins and ends) just after 04h00 on a chilly Friday morning with a plan to finish by 18h00 for a goal total time of 14 hours.

The first half of the route went well and the four men made it to Godeis (the halfway point) shortly after 11h00 – only about 20 minutes behind schedule. However, the increasing heat started to slow the group down. “It felt at times like we were just trying to make it to the next tree to catch a brief moment in the shade,” Jaco van den Berg said.

“But we knew it would be tough going in the middle of the day, so we just tried to keep our morale high and kept going.”

A few minutes before 18h00, they made it to Monte Christo, the last stop before the final leg of the route. After a quick water refill everyone set off again. The sun set and the headlamps had to come out again for the last few kilometres in the dark as they completed the KHHT in 15 hours and 55 minutes.

The second group left Düsternbrook at 05h20, hoping to complete their route in under 12 hours. With the full moon setting and the sun rising, they made their way up the dry riverbeds and hills and had some close encounters with giraffes, kudus, oryx and warthogs.

“We intended to enjoy the scenery, so we probably took a few more breaks than the other guys did,” laughed Julie Mbaisa.

“But we wanted to appreciate the privilege of being able to run through such a remarkable landscape,” she added.

The group also started to feel the heat as the temperature reached 36 degrees while they tackled the longest leg of their route, from Onduno to Monte Christo. From there they headed to the finish, reaching Düsternbrook just as the sun was setting for a time of 13 hours and 37 minutes.

The times of both groups have been verified and recorded as the Fastest Known Times for the respective routes (visit https://fastestknowntime.com/ for more information)

Although both groups missed their intended goal times, they managed to make history and proved that completing the KHHT in under 24 hours, a feat previously thought not to be possible, can indeed be done.