Brave runners show pedigree
The ELB Washie 100 celebrated its first women's winner at the third running of the event in 1979 when double Peninsula Marathon champion, MarieJeanne Duyvejonck stepped up to the 100-mile challenge.
She had won Peninsula in 3:37:22 at her second attempt and two years later won Washie in 21:36:35 as the only woman in the field.
She would go on to claim a hattrick of wins, before being toppled by Yvonne Sumner, but bounced back to win a fourth in 1983.
Cheryl Torr from Durban later took the reins with six wins, the first two in 1985 and 86 followed by four on a trot from 1991-94.
Torr also set a race record of 16:53:21 at her first attempt and broke it a year later when running 16:36:25.
The record only fell when Rae Bisschoff of Rockies entered in 1998.
Bisschoff had a great pedigree having finished ninth at the World 100km Championships in 1995 and then winning Comrades in 1998. She is in fact the only Comrades winner, ever to run and win Washie.
The only other Comrades gold medallist to win Washie was Tammy Bilibana in the men’s field back in 1980.
Bisschoff, a wonderful character, blitzed the field to win in 14:53:06 and set a new record by a massive 1:43:19. No one has come close since and no one has seen Bisschoff back in action since either.
Martha Pretorius from the Western Cape has remarkably run Washie five times and won on each occasion.
The years she did so were spread out through 2004, 05, 06, 2013 and 2015.
There will be much interest on Friday and Saturday as Border's Gail Langley, twice a winner in 2010 and 2011 when in Buffs colours, and also prominent in a number of other contests, is looking to finish her 10th Washie.
This weekend the effervescent Langley, will line up in the colours of her new club, Easy Equities Born 2 Run.
Megan Davey is another double winner having scored victories in 2014 and 2016.
Last year Johan van der Merwe called it correctly when he said he thought Cornel Metcalfe from Carlton Harriers would win it and she did, in a time of 18:51:57.
Metcalfe and Davey have both entered again this year and will tackle a very different route to the one they know.
Starting at Cathcart, rather than Port Alfred, the route still finishes at the Buffalo Club in East London.
While the women's field is the largest ever it still seems farfetched to believe any of the entries, at the time of writing, will beat Davey or Metcalfe.