This climb was the closest I have ever come to actually realising that dream. Legit.
I had also never been up devils peak (shock and horror), so had no idea that the mountain has a false front. This means when you finally summit what you think is the top, there’s still actually another 130m of climbing left to go… that last 130m was possibly the deepest I have ever had to dig.
Finally, just when I thought there was nothing left to give, amidst all the pain and suffering, the 13th beacon appeared!!
We tagged it, turned and started racing straight down. My shoe tread and lugs had all but disappeared by this stage, and the descent must have looked something like a newborn giraffe ice skating. We were also hoooooooking it down. The only thing going through my mind was “no mistakes. Can’t afford disaster this close to the end”. Concentration at this stage was made harder as we had the sun in our eyes throughout the sustained descent and some of the earlier leg and knee pains had started to resurface.
Never have I been happier to see a tar road during a run as when we hit Tafelberg road, greeted by Ryan Sandes. He mentionned something about us doing really good time up and down devils, but there was still 8kms to the finish so no time for celebrations. We pressed on, moving as quickly as our aching legs could towards signal hill. There was something quite special about watching the garmin tick over to 100kms, something I didn’t expect to see until much later on in life… it was also a good sign that we were still alright because it was our fastest kilometre at 4.07/km.
Once we had hit kloof nek at the base of the lions climb, we could finally relax knowing we had done enough to get our one day badge. We were greeted and cheered along this path by Calvin Amor, Tallon Robertson, Tayan Brittz and Sandy Hamel, for one last push to the finish. Calvin, Tayan, Wes and my parents had also been my ICE go to guys and were in contact and available to me the entire race in case of catastrophe.
The final hill came and the 3 of us ran the last climb to the Signal hill beacon, in a mixture of euphoria, ecstasy and sleep deprivation, having succeeded in being the first ever humans to complete the 13 peaks challenge in one day! Ryan was there to give us all a massive congratulatory sweaty hug.
A few minutes of laughter ensued, and I then proceeded to vomit up alot of liquid into some bushes, got driven home by Tayan, vomited some more, showered, fell asleep, woke up at 3am confused, ate 2 slices of pizza, went back to bed and woke up at 8am for lifesaving duty on Easter Friday, pondering how to get my aching body out of bed without cramping up every single muscle at once.
What a day!! Sometimes impulse decisions and playing outside of the daily comfort zones are all that is needed to reframe any limitations and push the boundaries of what is truly possible if you can just dig deep through the low points. My sincere gratitude goes out to everyone who sent messages of encouragement and support, to all those involved in whatever way and to anyone who loves the mountains and our fantastic trails and scenery!! Thanks for keeping it pure.
Some fun facts:
13 peaks
103.49km traversed
23h12m – current fkt record holders with Damien and Armand
6250m elevation gain (more than Kilimanjaro)
4.07/km – Fastest kilometre (100th km)
Armand Du Plessis and Damien Schuuman – biggest frikkin legends ever!! route knowledge insane, company unbeatable
Ryan Sandes and Kane Reilly – what a route, thanks for showcasing Cape Town in such an insane way
Litter collected and thrown away – as much as we could fit on every section: leave the mountains in better condition than you found them
Annual running – 1/6 of my average annual mileage covered in 1 day
Salomon S-lab 7 HG – unbelievable!! Best shoes I have ever ever run in. From racing to this challenge, no blisters or discomfort to report
Rennies – 1 per hour on the hour, 24 in total (no real notable cramps to report)
9800 – Calories burnt
Food: 12 chicken Viennas, 8 boiled potatoes, 1 avocado, 1 Madeira loaf, 3 sandwiches, 2 wraps, 4 coffees, 3 cokes, 6 chocolates, 10 jungle bars, 4 rush bars, 12 date balls, 3 GUs, 6 slices of banana bread, 6 milkshakes, tailwind nutrition, hammer perpetuem, 500g nuts, 300g biltong, close to 12 litres of water
5.7kgs – Weight lost (started the day at 73.5kg, ended at 67.8kg, mostly water weight that was back within 2 days)
Stoke levels – unreal and somewhat inexplicable. Haven’t gone 2 minutes since then without thinking back to this insane adventure.
Thank you to all involved, and most of all to Armand and Damien. What a journey!!
This is epic!
When can this be a race? Or an organized event?
Hey Sean, currently this is not a set event. It’s more of a personal challenge / adventure. ✌?