FROM THE BASOTHO PONY’S MOUTH

OSPREY - TALON 11

The Osprey Talon 11 hydration pack with 2.5L bladder (men’s) and Camelbak Rogue Light Hydration Pack (women’s) adventureinc.co.za

AIRFLO

Airflo Superflo Elite WF5F with Airflo Copolymer 9 ft 4X tapered leader. airflofishing.com

We asked South Africa’s most successful trail runner, Ryan “Hedgie” Sandes, for advice on tackling a race of this nature. Sandes’s track record is insane. He was the first competitor to win all of the sevenday 250km self-supported 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series (Atacama, Gobi, Sahara and Antarctica). He also won the Western States 100, set various FKTs (fastest known times) including a section of the Great Himalayan Trail and the Drakensberg Traverse. Oh ja... Last year he and Ryno Griesel circumnavigated Lesotho on foot. Here’s his advice.

1. Wear long socks to protect your lower legs when bundu bashing.

2. Running in a Lesotho river valley could mean rock-hopping so, if living near the coast, train on the beach and coastal environment, and do plyometric exercises to get your legs strong for uneven, rocky terrain.

3. Do some interval training by varying the intensity of training to get used to getting the heart rate up and down.

4. Get used to training in a steep environment and strap ankles that give you grief or take some tape along just “in case”.

5. I can imagine those Lesotho river valleys can get quite hot so do some “heat training”. Train midday or even in a sauna if you can.

6. Be careful of the river water. I wouldn’t drink it. Have a bit of a nutrition strategy by making sure you take electrolytes and stay hydrated.