When one thinks of the West Coast of South Africa, usually wind swept, bright beach sand and remoteness comes to mind. Yet, the need to protect the coast is the furthest thing from most minds: of the consequences of prospecting and mining. Trailblazer stands for justice, and we had to do our part and support the Protect the West Coast organisation ...
The oldest mission station in South Africa, Genadendal (meaning Valley of Grace) in the Overberg District in the Western Cape dates back to 1738. That is where this inaugural leg of the 2023 South African SkyRace® Series started and finished – either end of traversing the Genadendal Hiking Trail. Remote in its location and somewhat unexpl...
The privilege growing up near the foot of one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature of Table Mountain and spending many a year there playing on the massif kind of prevented us from traversing the Cape Flats and exploring the mountain range east of Cape Town in the Hottentots-Holland Mountain Catchment Area. Knowing full well that Cape Nature’s Jonkershoek...
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" - John 10:27 This verse came to mind as I was traversing the high-altitude expanse of Lesotho on my first 100-mile trail run. The sheep and goats immediately respond to the calls of their shepherds of this land who are only dressed in white plastic gumboots, short pants and a Basotho bla...
Just over 100 Tales have been posted on trailblazer.run since 2011 when Trailblazer was incepted. Known as the ultimate distance in trail running, 100 miles always seemed elusive, until now. Join Joseph on this adventure by clicking on the image below:
Connection. Besides the evocative adventure trail running provides over terrain that is anything but smooth, this sport provides a connection with Creation that is uniquely experienced with dust, mud, sweat and tears of exploration. Add the Ultra-trail Cape Town® 21 km, the rain and mists of Table Mountain, and the best of each other in Life partne...
Enjoy this Tale of Lisa running what is known as 'The Grail of Trail', on South Africa’s famous 5 day Otter Hiking Trail. Trail running has a way of luring one back for more. It’s just part and parcel of the sport and what it evokes and enables. After running my first marathon on this trail with Joseph in an easterly direction back in 2012, I said ...
What we like about Trailblazing is the discovery of something we never knew existed until we made a new trail on our Life journey. And some trails do not exist. Such is the case with Zebrakop in the Western Cape of South Africa, one of South Africa’s twenty-four 1000 metre prominent peaks, at 1458 masl. We had no idea this peak was anything of prom...
Trailblazer begs the answer to the question: “What race are you running?” In so doing it can bring about an introspection of what one can either stand for or make one uncomfortable about the deeper realities and truths or lies in one’s life that we all have to inevitably answer to anyway, one day. Or do we? Leading to somewhere, are we living for s...
Trail running involves responses every moment as one navigates where to put one’s feet, allowing one’s legs to seamlessly dance over the technical terrain while one’s body follows suit - arms moving in step keeping the flow as balance beams, eyes focussed on the vision of the two to three metres ahead, predicting and timing one’s next step to align...
A personal journal entry of the journey with Jethro written by Lisa: “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” - Proverbs 16:9 This verse characterises my second pregnancy through and through. We fell pregnant in Uganda in February 2020. We thought we would be living there long term, taking up a work opportunity and makin...
Formosa: beautiful. Aptly so named and described respectively by renown explorer of antiquity, Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, when he first viewed this high point from Plettenberg Bay on the southern coast of the African continent. And so it is. Special for more reasons than this Tale goes into, at 1675 metres above sea level and straddling the provincia...