SA record-holder may kick mud in the eyes of older Otter trail experts
UCT Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering graduate Robbie Rorich have spent most of 2019 cycling slowly through Africa on the trip of a lifetime.
A talented sculptor with an international calling card, he is also one of SA’s stand-out trail athletes, distinctive not only for his flowing long hair, baggy shorts and leather sandals but also for his many podium successes.
Rorich burst onto the trail-running scene with a remarkable victory in 2017’s The Beast 50km trail run on Table Mountain and has enjoyed a number of other successes, in both solo and team events.
Having completed the gruelling Cape Epic on no fewer than four occasions, he has also run the Otter faster than any other South African and will line up at Storm’s River rest camp in just over a week as one of the pre-race favourites
Aged 24, Rorich will be running his third successive Otter – a 40km traverse along the coast of the majestic Tsitsikamma National Park – and is one of the exciting younger generation of trail athletes, threatening to triumph over their older and more experienced rivals at this year’s Otter.
After following Christiaan Greyling and Kane Reilly across the line in his 2017 Otter debut, Rorich was first South African home last year in the reverse-direction ‘Retto’ – an event that doubled as the Golden Trail Series Grand Finale.
He placed an outstanding eighth in a field stacked with the world’s best trail athletes, defeating Rory Schefler and Greyling in a sprint finish.
His 2018 time of 4:10:54 now stands as the fastest by a South African in either direction, and Rorich will have every hope of further success, based on an unusual training regime.
“Cycling a heavy bike through Africa is pretty good training,” he reflected. “And there has been time for some good runs as well. So it will be interesting to see how this new regime works out in practice!”
Otter race director Mark Collins has every confidence that it will indeed work out well. “I think this is a year for the young guns – for the next generation to consolidate their claims. And for two of them, there is a rare chance to get their names on the trophy ” said Collins.
“The runner that has most excited me in the last three years is Robbie Rorich. He lias the fastest time for any South African either way. He is just a bundle of talent and personality and a fantastic all-round human being.”
An indication of Rorich’s confidence is that he has challenged Collins to put up R100,000 for the first South African to run the Otter in under four hours, vowing to donate all of it to the Global White Lion Projection Trust.
Just three years ago, Collins lost the R100,000 incentive he offered the first athlete to break four hours: Swiss athlete Marc Lauenstein gratefully took the loot and repeated this feat in successive years in both directions.
Rorich, his sister Michie and friends initiated ‘Our Africa Pole Pole’ journey, the name is taken from the well-known Swahili mountain-summit mantra, meaning “slowly slowly”.
The team set out in January, embarking on a dream journey cycling from Cairo to Keurbooms in Plett, on a mission to engage with fellow Africans to explore the question: ‘What do we want our Africa’s future to look like?’
The team reached Blan-tyre in Malawi recently, but Rorich is now taking a short break to attend a friend’s wedding and to run the Otter, before returning to complete the journey.
Chances are that when he starts out on the iconic hiking track alongside South Africa’s leading trail athletes next week, he won’t be going pole pole…
• The Otter African Trail Run takes place from October 9-12, starting in Storms River National Park and finishing at Nature’s Valley. Follow them on Facebook for updates.