Tatum Prins wins women's race at Salomon Skyrun 2010

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Monday, 15 November 2010 08:01

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Prins wins toughest Skyrun in history

Merrell Adventure Addicts' Tatum Prins, one of the country’s top women ultra runners, won the women's section of the Salomon Skyrun presented by Thule in the early hours of Sunday morning. Teammate Dononvan Sims finished a tie fifth overall with Tatum after the pair raced for over 20 hours together to complete the 100km course. 

A record field of 178 intrepid souls set off from the quaint Victorian town of Lady Grey to tackle the 100km self-supported, unmarked mountain run along the meandering ridgelines of the Southern Drakensberg. The Skyrun sees racers “competing against a mountain, the great outdoors and oneself… to restore basic survival instincts and ultimately rediscover the heart of true living”. It is the “spiritual pursuit” that separates the Skyrun from other similar events. Trail runners rave about the vastness of this run. Indeed there are few races in the world that follow an unmarked wilderness route for almost three quarters of its length. It has to be mountain running in its purest.

Tatum had this to say after the race: “There is a reason people call the Salomon Skyrun "the big daddy of trail runs". It has to be one of South Africa’s toughest and most real trail runs and if that's not enough, one of the most beautiful. For the first time In a long time I went into a race having no expectations and no pressure. I was just going to stand at the start line and see what happened.

"The race went much better than expected and once we got started my mind set changed and I wanted to give it my all. There is no question that this was one of the hardest trail runs I have ever done, and one that was so breathtakingly scenic."

But...the harder and tougher a race is the more you get out of it………This race was a great way to end my 2010 racing season!”