20 APRIL, 2019 | OLD MUTUAL TWO OCEANS ULTRA

The Most Beautiful Marathon In The World... With A Twist

50th Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon

The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon is described as the most beautiful marathon in the world, and also one of the toughest silver medals you will every run. This year was a very special year, with being the 50th edition of this icon road race. The Two Oceans weekend, is a very busy weekend filled with numerous races, the biggest attractions being the half marathon, and the ultra marathon 56km. Personally, I make the trip each year for the trail, but we have already done our report on that race :-).

The race takes place over the Easter Weekend and has the Half Marathon start before the Ultra Marathon. The Half Marathon also has batched starts where as with the Ultra the entire field start at the same time. 2019 would be the first year I would for part of the starting lineup for the Ultra Marathon. In previous years I would be doing the Half Marathon.

Being the 50th Edition of the Old Mutual Two Oceans, I decided that this year I would enter the Ultra, despite always saying that it is not a race where I would want to do the Ultra. I guess ones goals change, and having completed this year's Ultra, I find myself tempted to enter it again, wether or not I will, only time will tell.

Start of the Ultra Marathon...

Having achieved a C Seeding earlier in the year at the Johnson's Crane Marathon, I was fortunate enough to have a really good start batch for the Ultra. As with the trail the day before, my race plan was to take it easy, and that is exactly how I approached it. The race starts in Newlands, on the M4 (Main Road) and heads out towards Fish Hoek. Choosing to take the race easy, it was important for me to settle into a comfortable pace early on, and fortunately this was not a problem as the first part of the race is mostly flat. Blessed with almost perfect weather conditions, a light drizzle, made the first 10km feel very comfortable. Don't get me wrong, my quads were hurting from the day before, but nothing to the extent of making running impossible. A pace of just under 6min/km was all I needed at this point.

22km into the race, and you hit your first little tester, a sharp right turn onto a hill. Now I can tell you my legs really didn't like me at this point, and the little voice tormented me telling me "This is it, you done". It was really as if someone had pulled up the handbrake. I fought my way up the little climb, and soon enough there was some relief back onto a few more kilometers of flat surface.

To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.

― Theodore Roosevelt

I was able to regain my stride, and as Ou Kaapse Weg started revealing her self to us, I could mentally prepare myself for the climb that waited. The Old Mutual Two Oceans organisers were forced to make a sudden route change on Friday due to protestor threats, meaning that we would find our way heading up Constantia Nek this year. Some argued the route was easiers, with the likes of Bruce Fordyce saying the route was in fact 20mins slower. Either way, right now I do not know the difference between the two routes and can really on go on what I have run, and my own experience.

At 27km into the race, you reach Ou Kaapse Weg, this is the "Monster Hill" that everyone was talking about. The road is filled with twists and turns as you climb up along the Silver Mines Nature Reserve. Ou Kaapse Weg is is what runners would describe as "Slow Poison", it is not excessively steep, but is a very long hill, and the slope is enough that you need to work that little harder... in fact, you will climb close on 285m over this 7km stretch with no down hill relief whatsoever. The views from up here are amazing, and you are just again reminded why Two Oceans is described as the Most Beautiful Marathon in The World.

At The Top Of Ou Kaapse Weg ...

Finally you reach the top of the grueling climb at Ou Kaapse Weg, and a welcome sight is the aid station. You will now also be running downhill, but one should be cautious to not put too much strain on your legs over this section. You are basically running over one huge speed bump, as the back of Ou Kaapse Weg is a 285m downhill, over 6km. If you practice caution through this section, you will have ample left for the remaining 17km of the race.

What makes Two Oceans difficult is that the first half of the race is relatively easy, with no really climbing to be considered. It really is so to speak flat. What this does mean however is that in the remaining half of the race you need to make up the 600m or so of elevation. This is done in two big climbs, the first and most duanting of the two having been Ou Kaapse Weg which we have now already passed, and then slowly making your way to Southern Cross Drive Drive, which you will reach some 6km later. Southern Cross is a shorter climb than that of Ou Kaapse Weg, but at this time in the race it seems a lot steeper than what it probably should be.

The Southern Cross stretch is only about 1km, but you then continue your climb onto Rhodes Drive after a short downhill relief. This entire stretch is about 5km with a verticle elevation gain of around 200m. THere is a lot of support along this section of the race, as with the rest of the race as well, but this is just that piece where you need that little bit of more motivation. I can even recall running past a supporter, asking me how I'm feeling, and at that point I actually stopped and had a nice 5minute conversation, before looking at my watch and realising that I had better get on with the race.

And then, the last 6km... So if you had been conservative, you now have a license to attack this downhill all the way through Kirstenbosch, right into the UTC Sports Grounds. This section has always been a favorite part of the Two Oceans for me, even though on my previous 4 visits is was while doing the Half Marathon. The gentle yet generous slop allows you to pick up some pace, and depite having covered 50km prior, I was able to run this last stretch in under 30minutes.

Crossing the finish on my first attempt at the Old Mutual Two Oceans, I took a moment to take a photo of the time on the clock, showing 05:21:12. The Old Mutual Two Oceans Ultra really lived up to its reputation from my experince, and I enjoyed every minute on the road.