Dean Street Hillbillies: Stats: Tuesday, 2 February 2010, 05:30

Well done to the Hillbillies for tackling this challenging route this moring.

And a very warm welcome to Linelle who joined us this morning! We hope you enjoyed your run with us, and will join us regularly from now on!

As proposed yesterday, we ran the 15km route in and Kirstenbosch. As you can tell by the profile below, this route is no walk in the park. It's a RUN in the Garden!!

Good for hill work and strength training, it does help if you have a couple of others by your side to pull you up the hills. They don't seem quite so bad when you're in good company.

The route:

We started at Great Westerford as usual. Up Dean and along Newlands. Boshoff was our first hill - the 'warm-up'! From there another climb to Stone Church a well-deserved water break. Up some more, along good ol' Glastonbury, with the most stunning views out over Bishops Court to inspire us! Up and up to the highest point along Monterey. A welcome break was a bit of downhill on the way to Kirstenbosch Top Gate (as remarked by one of the Hillbillies, you've got to be crazy to be running down to Kirstenbosch Top Gate!!)

Kirstenbosch was another brief rest, and some cold, fresh water, the highlight of this route (for me at least - there is nothing better than icy, clear, fresh mountain water!) We cruised down through a quiet Kirstenbosch, catching delightful whiffs of the various plants as we ran past. Off down Riverside, across the M3, and up Ravensburg for one last hill (we took a vote and pretty much all the Hillbillies were up for the challenge - well done!). The last 1 1/2 km flew by, with me and Allen pulling ahead of the pack and putting on a final burst of speed for a strong finish. Rob was hot on our heels, with Josh and Linelle opting for a slightly more civilised pace!

Everyone finished in good spirits, big smiles on all faces. Major endorphin rush from the sprint finish! Probably the best feeling in the world! Thanks to all the Hillbillies for making this yet another awesome experience!

A drink of cold water, followed by a hot shower and some coffee, and I was ready to face the day! And I'm still feeling great!

Route Profile: