K2C 2012 – the year that broke our hearts!

The eventing world was still reeling from the pandemic and as July 2021 approached, the country was yet again placed into “Covid Alert Level 3” (still gives us the shivers) and we were forced to postpone the event. A suitable alternative date was announced in September, and the team and participants alike refocused.

We then made the decision to return to Laerskool Mariepskop as the event venue, after hosting for two years at the wild Franklin Park. The lure of the excellent facilities at the school drew us back, as well as the knowledge that the route up the mountain from Franklin Park was not environmentally sound in the long term. As remote and beautiful as Franklin Park was, we were excited to return to the origins of the race at this unique little school!

While cautiously welcoming participants in line with Covid requirements, we were brimming with excitement to be back in the saddle, doing what we loved.

A mere 10min after starting the 42km runners on Day 1, we received word of a dangerous fire in the region of Reitz Grave and Aid Station 1. K2C Biosphere ecologist and long-time race volunteer, Jen Newnham past on the dire warning that the fire was into the plantations in the area, burning fast and hot. There was no two ways about it – Day 1 could not proceed. Our marshals had the desperate job of stopping the runners at the top of the saddle, some of whom phoned us from there, in utter disbelief.

Ten minutes before their scheduled start, the 25km runners were informed of the situation. Runners could not proceed beyond the saddle.

However when given the option to still proceed onto the 5km climb and return, every single runner took the option to get a taste of what they came for. Some even did it twice. Their support for the decision made and determination to still get out into the forests spoke volumes for the heart of trail community, and was some consolation for the heartbreak after working so hard to ensure the event could take place at all.

I can clearly remember the shock as Andrew told me about the situation. I started to shake from head to toe: fear for the runners already on course turned to relief that they were safely stopped, then shear heartbreak at the faces of the 25km runners when they heard the news that their much-anticipated experience would not be what they or we expected.

Understandably, in the 10 years of K2C, that is the first time runners haven’t shuffled off the start line on Day 2, groaning and wondering how their legs would carry them through the day. They soaked it up, fully embracing a full day of running and being in such a wild space.

But after all we had been through as a company to survive the pandemic, then poured into making this event amazing, it felt hollow to me after the kick to the guts the day before and I was going through the motions.

Looking back, I took a long time to get over this one mentally and as usual, I turned to writing…

Kruger2Canyon, you broke my heart.

Friends, family and strangers consoled me.

I can’t take this stress and heartache anymore.

And then you started sweet-talking me.

I swore never again.

Showed me how good we can be together. That we have both learned a lot and without the drama, we are unstoppable.

And you know I never could say no to a sunset in the bushveld….

#secondchances

But the intangible “something” that K2C has – that magical combination of awe-inspiring sense of place, spectacular routes and unique community of runners and crew, drew me inevitably back in and K2C 2021 became contextualised as another learning experience.

By the time 2022 came around, I couldn’t leave fast enough to get to Kampersrus!