10 Lessons From Winning a 220km Race
First off, let me introduce myself.
You may know me as a photographer, a photo guide, or perhaps as a trail runner.
But if you’ve known me long enough, you’ll know I wasn’t always outdoorsy.
I am not a lifelong athlete.
As a teen, I was podgy and lazy, and actively avoided school sports.
I took this undisciplined inertia into adult life, sliding busily into the hustle of building a career, and over-estimating the importance of socialising. All at the expense of any personal, or physical goals.
I never thought of myself as unfit, or unhealthy. But in truth that was because I never thought much about my health or wellness at all.
2017 vs 2022: Late nights socialising, to racing in the Drakensberg.
In 2018, at the age of 27, I stopped drinking alcohol entirely. Something had clicked, and I’d had enough.
This meant a lot less socialising. Suddenly, I had an abundance of time.
So, I started running.
At first, the distances were short, the goal was to get fit. How fit, and for what? Who knows, but it was a start.
Though the training was unstructured, I saw improvement quickly.
5km, 10km, 21km, a stage race: the simple act of running had my attention.
As I set and reached goals, I become more committed and more determined. I haven’t stopped since.
Fast-forward to 3 November 2022. At just after 23h30, Colin van den Bergh and I crossed the Bushman’s Nek Border Post, the end of the Drakensberg Grand Traverse. We’d won, finishing in 63h50min, over 12 hours ahead of the next team.
The Drakensberg Grand Traverse, or DGT, is a 220km single-stage, self-navigated and self-sufficient foot race, set along the wild tops of the Drakensberg mountain range. There are six compulsory peaks that participants must tag, accumulating over 10,000m ascent in the process.
You can read more about the race here.
For someone who’s never thought of themselves as an athlete, it was a profound moment for me; a culmination of many smaller milestones and a stepping stone to even bigger adventures.
This article reflects the personal lessons I’ve learned along the way. Lessons I believe are as applicable to sports as they are to work and life in general.
Dawn breaks near Giants Castle in the Central Drakensberg. Image Credit: Nicolette Griffioen, Mountain Abandon.
Lesson 1: Be afraid but do it anyway.
Too many people spend their lives playing it safe. Only daring to do things for which there is a guaranteed outcome.
That doesn’t work for me.
There was no guarantee that we would finish the Grand Traverse.
There was no training that could fully prepare us.
I was scared from the moment I signed up, right up until the moment we crossed the finish line.
I was well outside of my comfort zone. Growth is uncomfortable.
If you are setting goals that don’t scare you, they are not big enough. In my experience, if you can learn to hold your nerve, fear can be a great motivator.
Don’t let fears cripple you. Face them and let them push you forward.
Lesson 2: Define your goals.
A goal gives you something to aim at; an intention you can plan toward, and a mark you will know once reached.
This lesson is deceptively simple, but without a defined goal, you’re banking on luck.
Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. For example, I want to complete and win, the 2022 Drakensberg Grand Traverse.
This is the difference between ‘getting fit’ - a vague, immeasurable term - and ‘training to win a 220km mountain race in November 2022’ - a specific intent around which a plan can be built.
Write your goals down, let them excite and terrify you, and build a plan to get them.
Big mountains demands clear focus. Define our objectives, and go get them
Lesson 3: Be ambitiously realistic.
You will never flap your arms and fly. But you could become a pilot. Both are ambitious, only one is realistic.
Being realistic means considering your current situation, your abilities, limitations, and available resources (time and money.) You need to be honest about how much you are able and willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals. Decide how much you will risk reaching your goals. There is no right or wrong answer, only what’s true to you.
If you are overly ambitious with your goals you will stretch yourself too thin. You’ll burn out, lose motivation, and fall short.
If you’re honest and realistic, you’ll see progress. You’ll build confidence and gain momentum.
And you will have the best chance of success.
Lesson 4: Make your goals public.
Making your goals public, that is, sharing them with others keeps you accountable.
There’s no backing out when ‘everyone’ is watching.
It’s a hack in which peer pressure can be used to your advantage.
Start with those closest to you and make your intentions known.
Be prepared to answer questions and wear a thick skin for the inevitable scepticism.
Those that care will support you. Those who don’t care, don’t matter.
Lesson 5: Learn that consistency compounds results.
Every action you take lays the foundation for the next act to follow.
By consistently acting - in my case completing runs and workouts - you continually improve.
And each day doing so from a slightly better standing than the day before.
Consistency takes discipline, but the good news is discipline breeds motivation.
Trust in the process, keep showing up and the results will start to show.
Early mornings get easier, and watching the sunrise is almost always worth the effort.
Lesson 6: Build Yourself a Team.
Achieving a big goal is a demanding process, and the support you get from a trusted team is invaluable.
Whether this is a group, a partner, a coach, or a mentor, you need someone to share your hopes, dreams and fears with.
This not only supports you, but their knowledge will offer you a unique perspective.
Your team will be there to share your victories and help you bring you through the challenges.
When things get dark - and they will - in life or sports, knowing you’re not alone goes a very long way.
Thank you to everyone who has played a role in pushing me toward my goals.
My coach, Erin van Eyssen, is has provided invaluable guidance.
I’m yet to meet someone tougher…Colin is the ultimate team member.
Steph is always my biggest supporter, and up for any adventure.
Our WhatsApp supporters group. Knowing people were watching made all the difference.
Lesson 7: Embrace the Ugly Work.
Cresting a mountain summit as the sun rises is glorious. Posting big weeks on Strava gets you all the kudos. Sharing images of your achievements on Instagram makes you the envy of your friends.
That’s the sexy stuff. But it makes up very little of the actual process.
The 3 am wake-up alarms, solo gym sessions on Friday evenings, sunburn and fatigue, healthy eating, skipping social events, foam rolling and physio bills: these things are the backbone of making big goals happen.
This is the admin, without which progression grinds to a halt. Embrace it.
The better you get at doing ‘the ugly work’, the better your results will be.
The Ugly Work: Gym, cross training, and detailed planning are all part of the process.
Lesson 8: Train hard. Recover harder.
There’s no place for grind culture in ultra-running - nor life for that matter.
Listen to your body. And I mean body in a holistic sense: physical and mental. Learning to listen to the subtle signals and cues your body gives you is essential. And it’s a tough skill to master.
Balance is the ultimate badge of honour. Often, especially for Type-A personalities, it takes more discipline to rest than to work.
You should train and work hard. But you must rest and recover even harder. It is about smart, focussed efforts, rather than bloody-minded grit.
Unless burnout and injury are your goals, you should always strive to be kind to yourself.
Lesson 9: Remember, two headlamps are better than one.
No plan is perfect.
Metaphorically speaking, the first headlamp is Plan A, and the second is Plan B. You need them both.
You should enter into any endeavour with options.
It’s far better to have a Plan B and not need it than to need it and not have it.
In complex or risky situations, you may even need a Plan C, D, and E.
Planning is the process of objectively thinking through each step of your endeavour, identifying gaps, or weaknesses, and providing yourself with alternative options, and points at which to pivot.
As the carpenter’s adage goes “measure twice, cut once”.
One step at a time. Image Credit: Nicolette Griffioen, Mountain Abandon.
Lesson 10: Keep moving forward.
Running an ultra-marathon is a simple process of forward motion.
One foot at a time. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but always forward.
Every step you take is one step closer to your goal.
This process of relentless forward movement can be applied to almost anything in life.
Aim to keep making progress in the direction you want to go.
‘Keep moving’ was my mantra in the DGT. And we did, even sleepwalking our way down Thabana Ntyelana.
Momentum matters. No matter how small each step is, always keep moving forward.
A finish line has never looked so good.
Enjoying a home cooked meals after over 63 hours of running.
All of the 2022 DGT finishers. Beyond proud to be part of this group.
