Cara Witte – My First Ultra
Cara Witte ran her first ultra on Saturday 3 April 2021 when we had our own True Oceans event for the club. Running an
ultra is a big deal for anyone and an achievement that should be celebrated and acknowledged. Cara, thank you
for being willing to share your story with us and, congratulations on achieving this amazing milestone in your
running journey.
Tell us when did you decide to run the full True Oceans 50km route and why did you choose this one?
Cara: I have wanted to run an ultra for a few years now but have never managed to qualify. I entered False Bay 50km
last year but it was cancelled. When I saw the option for 50km for True Oceans, even though I was not nearly fit
enough for an ultra, I wanted to run it. Then Heather mentioned that her and Nikki were going to run it and I knew
that I had to at least try. With no pressure of cut off times, I felt like I could pull it off.
Tell me about your run?
Cara: I only decided 3 weeks prior that I would run it, so I had no time to train properly for the ultra, so I just did my
best with each run I did for those 3 weeks and tapered smartly. The day before I did wonder if I had bitten off more
than I could chew, as the furthest I had run in 2021 was 21km and I hadn’t run a full marathon in 2 years. But I also
reminded myself that there was no pressure and if something went wrong during the run, I could just stop. But I
definitely wanted to run an ultra, and this could possibly be my only opportunity to do so in 2021.
What was your plan?
Cara: I knew I could do 30km and I knew I could keep up with Nikki and Heather for around 30km and then I
thought I could pull the other 20km from somewhere deep down and walk if I had to.
Who did you run with and what was it like sharing this experience with them? Did you have a support crew?
Cara: Starting off we had Adrian, Elmarie, Forgi, Nikki and Heather ‐ and Gavin driving with us seconding. We started slow and managed ourselves well. We didn’t push on hills, and walked when we needed to. Adrian took off around 10km, Elmarie stopped at 25km and at 28km Forgi stopped. Claire joined us after that, which was so nice to have someone fresh join us, I felt like we fed off her energy. By 38km, it was just Heather, Nikki and myself. I was surprised I had managed to stick with them for longer than I planned which was great motivation. By 40km in, I felt I couldn’t stop now, and at 43km in, I was running the furthest I had ever run, and still smiling! I managed myself well for 45km, ate and hydrated properly, but after 45km I was tired and my legs were sore. I hit a bit of a wall, and Gavin started
running with us at that point, but I just wanted to walk back. But Nikki and Heather did the “Campbell point”, told
me to “Shut up and run and I knew I had to catch up to them and stick with them. We got to the club and my watch
said 49.3km, so naturally we had to drag ourselves around the parking lot a few times so it clicked over to 50km but
once it did, it was awesome! Running for 7 hours with Nikki and Heather was so incredible. I am really grateful to
them for getting me through it all.
Gavin had supported us with seconding for quite a bit of the run and my mom had a table in Kommetjie. Shannon
and Tina’s table at Smits came as a God send, and Serena and Alan’s table was awesome too ‐ I wish I had used the
sunblock Serena was offering though.
What were some of the highs and lows?
Cara: The next day the worst part was my sunburn. I hadn’t gotten everywhere with it before the run and because it was so hot, my shoulders and neck burnt where I hadn’t put sunblock. Lessons learnt for next time! I went for a swim at Longbeach the next morning and ate a lot of Easter eggs and felt relatively good, besides being stiff. No aches or
pains or injuries which I am VERY grateful for. Beginners luck?
What is next?
Cara: Next up is qualifying for an ultra! I have already started upping my mileage and pace as I struggle with speed the
most. I really want to qualify at Cape Town Marathon so I’m going to spend the next 6 months working on getting
quicker and fitter.
Thank you to everyone for being so encouraging and kind after this run. I really didn’t think I was doing anything
spectacular because it wasn’t an official race, but everyones messages really meant a lot to me. Something so much
better than any medal, and I will treasure the kind words forever. ‘
