Local runner returns from Kalahari Desert marathon
Averill Turnbull competing in an earlier event. Photo: Supplied.
Averill Turnbull surely looks like a long-distance runner. Lean, long-limbed and strong, Averill has just returned from the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon held in early October.
Running 237km across the African desert in seven days, in temperatures of 40° Celsius, was a challenging yet deeply satisfying adventure, said Averill.
“It was my first multi-day event and I want to go back next year. It was very dry and hot during the race, although we had a thunderstorm the day before. Last year it was 10 degrees hotter, and 30 per cent of the runners did not make it, so this year it was quite a ‘cold event’. I wanted to see how I go in the heat and I trained really well for it by running in three thermal layers and a goosedown jacket and sitting in the sauna afterwards. The training was actually worse than the event.”
Averill was the only New Zealander among 73 participants from 12 different countries who started the 10th desert marathon this year. It is a self-sufficiency race, where runners have to carry everything needed for the entire trip, including food. The race is run over six legs in seven days with set distances for each day, ranging from 28 to 82km and through varied terrain. The 250km route was suddenly shortened to 237km as an area under a land claim had to be avoided, and the runners had to be evacuated from the vicinity during the night.
“The terrain was surprisingly hilly and covered in quite a lot of rock and sandy riverbeds, which were really gorgeous, but you couldn’t really run through the sand. You had to trudge through it. Sometimes the sand was so fine it was like flour. I came 37th out of 73 and I was really pleased. There were a lot of younger men, and it’s really hard to compete against them. I came 7th out of the 16 women who competed, and except for one they were all much younger than me. The best day was day six when I got rid of an extra kilo from my pack. It was a very technical day and I’m a good technical runner, so I kept up with the faster men and had the long day [82km] behind me.”
During the race, overnight shelter was provided in camps, and though water was supplied, its distribution was strictly controlled during the race. Runners were given five litres of water after a day’s running, and this had to last until the next morning. Then another 1.5 litres was provided at the first checkpoint the next day and at each following checkpoint.
Washing was therefore pretty much out of the question, and Averill’s whole focus was on getting the weight of her pack down and avoiding blisters on her feet. Foodwise, she took dried backcountry meals and small muesli bars, sports energy and protein drinks and milk powder to sustain herself. She said her best piece of equipment had been a small piece of insect netting she had thrown into her pack and which she wore in front of her face whilst other runners tried the Aussie wave, stuck shrubbery under their hats or tried tying scarves around their faces to protect themselves from biting flies.
Averill ran even as a child, and said she could not imagine a life without it. She is already training for the next event.
“There is a bit of a void when you finish a race for which you trained, and then it’s over. It’s important to have another goal to work towards and I always have a few races stacked up with two to three weeks of recovery time between them. Running clears your mind; when I run I think about problems and often find solutions.”
Between running and racing, Averill looks after a herd of 50 milking goats at Patons Rock and produces award-winning goat cheese and milk.
Ina Holst
