PHOTOGRAPH BY EDUARDO HERNNDEZ

From the tip of Africa to the tip of South America:

Ryan Scott travels to Patagonia to experience
the Ultra Trail Torres del Paine.

NO AMOUNT OF
RESEARCH CAN
PREPARE YOU FOR
THIS SORT OF
GRANDEUR.

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//

THE MOMENT
I STEPPED OFF
THE BUS, I FELT
LIKE I WAS ON A
MOVIE SET OF
AN OUTLANDISHLY
IMAGINATIVE
LOCATION.

P H OTO G R A P H S B Y C H R I S T I A N M I R A N DA ( YAS S I N E D I B O U N ), RYA N S COT T ( PAC K S H OT A N D L A M A BA R )

A COSMOPOLITAN
FIELD, WITH OVER
30 COUNTRIES
REPRESENTED.

I slept through the prize-giving, and woke the next

morning with no regrets at not being at the ceremony
to receive my fourth-place medal. In my book, Id
rather be 24th than fourth the most inglorious of all
positions.
But there was another reason I wasnt interested
in the dishing-out of medals. The reality was that the
post-race euphoria (mixed with utter exhaustion) was
fizzing through me more than it has in any other race
Ive ever run.
No standing on a podium could match the feeling
of simply being in this wondrous place so far away
from home, but so surreal and beautiful.

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ENDS OF THE EARTH

Living as I do at the tip of Africa, travelling to the tip of our neighbouring
South American continent was always going to be an adventurous affair.
Its a long way from Cape Town to Patagonia 45 hours, to be exact.
Thats a lot of flights, passport controls, public-toilet teeth-brushing, and
giant Toblerone-bar-dodging.
That amount of travel can shunt you pretty far out of your comfort
zone; but the love of running sometimes takes us to the extremes, and
Patagonia is certainly one of them.
The Patagonian International Marathon is now in its third year, and
attracts over 1 000 competitors. Entrants have the choice of a 10km,
21km or 42km, or a 63km ultra; and for the first time, this year the event
also hosted three trail-run options one of which, the Ultra Trail Torres

PHOTOGRAPH BY EDUARDO HERNNDEZ

del Paine, was my reason for being there.

The race takes place the day before the ultra, and this was the first
opportunity that a limited field of 100 had been given to race on the
dusty trails in the Torres del Paine National Park. I had signed up for the
42km trail the shortest of the trail events, which also included 67km
and 109km routes.
While the flights from South Africa to Patagonia are not long, it
takes a lot of them to reach your final destination a small city near the
national park, called Puerto Natales.
This is the perfect town for you to break your journey in by spending
a night in one of the many innovative hotels. I was amazed by the
variety of fantastic accommodation choices, and the unique charm and
character of each one. In the end I settled for the Hotel Remota, with its

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//

THE COLOUR
OF THE WATER
WAS SUCH A
DEEP, EMERALD
GREEN, IT
LOOKED
UNNATURAL;
AND I STOOD
THERE,
MESMERISED.

LOOKING DOWN
ON A GLACIER AN
EXOTIC BACKDROP
TO ANY RACE.
P H OTO G R A P H B Y C H R I S T I A N M I R A N DA ( TO P R I G H T )

beautiful views across the water.

After so much plane and four-wheeled travel
I was champing at the bit to stretch my legs, so
I hopped on one of the hotels complimentary
mountain bikes, and did some exploring. There
was a buzz in the city around the event; many of the
runners stop off here to grab some extra warm gear
for race day.
I began to wonder whether Id packed enough coldweather running gear myself; and next thing I knew, I
was propping my bike up outside a shop selling llamawool beanies, socks, and traditional Chilean winterwarmer clothing.
I left the city of Puerto Natales armed with woolly
socks thicker than Father Christmass beard, and
refreshed limbs after a great nights sleep ready
for a race.

HEAVY WATER

As we drove towards the Torres del Paine under crisp

blue skies, large open spaces with tall wavy grass and
fenced fields dotted with cattle reminded me of home.
But once we entered the park, things changed rapidly:
the moment I stepped off the bus, I felt like I was on
a movie set of an outlandishly imaginative location.
A massive lake lay before my feet, flanked on
both sides by stark white banks created by the
calcification of tiny fossilised organisms from a
prehistoric age. The colour of the water was such a
deep, emerald green, it looked unnatural; and I stood
there, mesmerised.
With the images of our surroundings still playing
through my minds eye I fell asleep in one of the
parks three upmarket hotels.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The next morning I woke early, ready to run. Fellow

competitors were bussed off to the starts of the various
distances, and by 8am, those of us running the 42km
trail were on our way.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY EDUARDO HERNNDEZ

JANUARY 2015 RUNNERS WORLD 87

Its a relaxed vibe in Patagonia, and not

being able to understand Spanish, I didnt take
too much notice of the pre-race instructions. I
was happy just to line up with the right gear
on, and remind myself not to let national pride
overrule a sensible pace.
I got the first part right: leaving the
mammoth socks in my suitcase, I went for fulllength tights, a long-sleeve base layer, gloves,
beanie and a Buff over the face, to help keep
out the strong, icy wind that was predicted to
blow directly into us for the first 18km.
As for the sensible pace that didnt
work out as well. A 3km detour, a blunder in
nutrition management, and running too fast
over the first 20km saw me in trouble quite
early on, with my energy levels running low.
But I slowed down, ate, recuperated and
started to fight back over the second half of
the course.

CONSERVATION

CHILE

GLACIAL EPIPHANY

At one stage I was lying in second place

with a group of seven runners, and the race
leader just ahead of us. But the terrain was
challenging and I battled to keep my shoes
on my feet, as they were sucked down by long,
unavoidable tracts of mud.
As I ran through the sticky terrain, towers
of granite rose thousands of metres to my left;
and to my right, the most exotic of colours
were presenting themselves, in the form of
exquisite lakes.
I lost all inclination to race, and soon found
myself alone on the course as the group split up.
The next 20km were filled with bonsai forests,
pebble beaches, drinking from the melted
glacial-water streams, and looking out for the
plentiful local animal life that watched us go by.
In reality, there wasnt much altitude gain
on this route; but all the 1 300m of climbing
there is seems to come in the last 15km. I
reached the finish in 5:30, still in awe of the
place I had just run through. This hadnt
been just a race it was an event that I will
remember for the rest of my life.

GETTING THERE:

SAA flies to Sao Paulo

regularly; then, make your
way by local airline to Punta
Arenas the largest city
south of the 46th parallel.
From there you can hire a
car, or book a seat on a bus
or shuttle to make your way
to the national park.

THE SURROUNDINGS
ARE VAST AND OPEN;
THE AIR, CRISP AND
REFRESHING.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTIAN MIRANDA

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P H OTO G R A P H B Y RYA N S COT T ( TO P L E F T ), A R I E L T R A I P E ( B OT TO M R I G H T )

Patagonia is the sparsely

populated region located
at the southern end of
South America, shared
by Argentina and Chile.
The race takes place in the
Torres del Paine National
Park, and contributes
to the conservation and
sustainable development
of Chilean Patagonia. The
region suffered devastating
fires recently, and the race
has created the 1 Runner = 1
Tree concept, in which a tree
is planted for each runner.
The event also has the goal
of promoting tourism in this
pristine area, to keep those
looking to exploit the raw
materials at bay.