On the night of 24 November, while you were all otherwise occupied, I participated in the Petzl Adventure Night's Salomon Night Run at Oak Lane Cottages just beyond Grabouw.

There was a 10km and 7km trail running event and a 14km and 20km mountain bike event, and some teams did a dual event consisting of the short run followed immediately by the short bike ride. Eveyone has to compete in teams of two with a cell phone and basic equipment for safety reasons (in case you get lost - which is quite possible!).
We arrived about 16h30 and had a picnic plus a couple of glasses of wine (essential preparation) prior to the briefing at 19h30. All the teams set off in staggered starts when it got dark from about 20h15, and arrived home in very staggered formation from 50min to more than 3hrs later.

The route is marked at significant points with little reflective markers, but essentially you have to navigate from a rally-style route book wich gives leg lenghts in metres and diagramatic descriptions of the next intersection and route choice.
It is relatively simple if you keep concentrating step by step and make sure you always know where the last and next point is (if that makes sense). If you lose the correct order of instructions it suddenly does not make sense at all, and you can consider yourself lost! (cellphones have their uses here).

The track is mostly farm road or smaller tracks but there are some small paths in places. With the full moon and head lights it is possible to keep a good road pace in places. We averaged just under 8min per km for the 7km run but the top pro teams were around 5m 15sec per km for the 10km route. This is impressive as the route includes some steep climbs and descents through some rough valleys and a water crossing on a paddle ski.
The boats are attached to a continuous rope and you cross by sitting or kneeling in the boat and pulling yourself across with the rope. There is another (empty) boat on the opposite bit of roap so the boats cross halfway. We managed to keep dry but some people did capsize and had to swim a short distance.

After most people were back, the prize giving happened at about 11pm, and there were fantastic category and spot prizes including salomon trail shoes, camping gear, rain jackets and a mountain bike.
Although it was a late night back, it was a very different experience in lovely surroundings. The challenge is as tough as you wish to make it, but can be done by anyone who can manage a 5km time trial and can tackle basic route instructions (there were quite young children there with parents).

It was a fantastic experience which might interest some of our club members next year.

Roland Croxford