Race Village and Registration:
De Vasselot Campsite – Nature’s Valley
Day 1 – The Prologue
The prologue is a short run (approx. 5km) that has similar characteristics as the Otter Run. It includes a steep climb and technical terrain.
Registration:
33°58’15.09″S
23°33’42.59″E
Prologue Start/Finish:
33°59’6.03″S
23°32’51.91″E
The Salt River Prologue
No compulsory equipment aside from the Race Bib/Race Shirt and Timing Chip is required to run the Salt River Prologue. A reminder that participants may attempt The Prologue at any time after registration until 4pm however the tide is coming in after 10:42 and later in the day runner’s times could be affected by a large set of waves if big sea conditions are prevalent. Completion of the Salt River Prologue is very much a part of the Otter Events and its inclusion, and function in the seeding process for the main run has been well received by participants in previous Otter Runs. The one change to the seeding system from previous events is the introduction of “The Abangeni” (see below) which is intended to ensure that the runner who crosses the finish line first is the winner of The Otter.
The Abangeni
In order to be eligible for a place on the podium in the men’s open category and entitled to the relevant prize money, a participant will have to complete the Salt River Prologue in less than 19 minutes or within the top 16 men’s open times posted. This top group of contenders will be known as “The Abangeni” (The Challengers) and will start in one bunch. A 4 minute delay will follow the departure of “The Abangeni” after which the rest of the field will be started off in groups of 4 participants according to the ranking of their prologue results in thirty second intervals as per in past events. The Woman’s Abangeni will include the four female participants who post the fastest times on the Prologue and any other Women posting a prologue time within 2 minutes of the fastest woman. The Woman’s Abangeni will start together according to the overall ranking of the prologue time posted by the fastest Woman. The Abangeni and starting groups will be posted at final race briefing.
The prologue IS compulsory for all athletes.
Day 2 – The OTTER – African Trail Run
Participants will be transported to the Start of the Otter Run at Storms River Mouth from 05h30 on the morning of race day. The 1st start is at 06h20 and the last start at 07h00. The Cut off for an official finish of the Otter Run is 8 hours (15h00) and of the Otter Ramble is 11 hours (18h00) and there are 3 cut off points en route where participants failing to arrive on time will be removed from the course.
The Otter Run traverses 4 rivers all of which involve getting your feet wet and the third river, the infamous Bloukrans River crossing, involves a swim. We will have safety personnel and equipment set up at the Bloukrans crossing to assist your traverse of this section.
The Otter Run involves no fewer than 11 “significant” (steep climbs of more than 50 meters of elevation gain) with three climbs exceeding 100 meters and a total elevation gain of over 2600 meters. Some of these climbs are steep enough to force even the strongest runners to walk and in many places it is stepped.
Otter – Pace Chart
click on the chart to see a bigger version.
