Nikki Mocke wins Miller's Run of the Season Title in Cape Town

Nikki Mocke wins the inaugural Mocke Miller's Run of the Season Pursuit Race

"That was… the best fun I've had in years," said Dawid Mocke as he watched the rest of the paddlers riding the surf into the beach. "It doesn't matter who you are, you're all in with an equal chance."

Mocke Miller's Run of the Season Pursuit Race

It was the finale of the inaugural Mocke Miller's Run of the Season Competition - held over four months from November 2017 to February 2018.

The final event saw the paddlers take part in a pursuit race from Miller's Point to Fish Hoek, each paddler being sent off at an exact time to the second, slowest paddlers first, using a finely-tuned handicapping system designed to cause the entire field to arrive on the beach at Fish Hoek simultaneously.

The Pursuit Race Campaigners - all in with a chance...!

It didn't happen exactly of course - but it did make for an extremely exciting race, with the elite paddlers scrambling to catch up with the rest of the field. The 20kt southeaster provided classic Miller's Run conditions and it was Nikki Mocke who made the most of them, arriving first at the beach to take the title.

Celebration of the Miller's Run

The Mocke Miller's Run of the Season Competition was held for the first time this season, and saw paddlers competing all summer, from November through February to register their fastest times.

The competition had several side-effects, quite apart from boosting the Miller's Taxi coffers:

• More paddlers became more proficient at doing the run, often choosing to launch at the more challenging south ramp to paddle into the wind and waves to Bakoven Rock instead of going from the protected north ramp.
• During a (separate) Miller's Run race, half the fleet insisted on rounding Bakoven Rock as well as the official turning point (an NSRI rescue craft) so that they could register a "proper" run for the competition. This produced a strange phenomenon where the front half of the field headed to the rock, while the back half headed for the NSRI boat.
• Paddlers attempting to register the most runs started monitoring each other's Strava accounts, paddling at 05h30 in the morning and doing multiple runs per day…!

And on Wednesday, 21 Feb, we were rewarded with, quite literally, the Miller's Run of the Season: Near Gale force winds blowing at 30kt and gusting up to 40kt, with small, clean swell. More than half the group break their all-time records.

Miller's Run of the Season - Video

Here's the video of that special day…

(And yes, as has been pointed out to me, I didn't touch the sand with my feet before stopping my GPS… 9 My bad. I'm still claiming it as my best ever run, however!)

Special Category Prizes
Aside from cash prizes for the fastest times by gender and age group, there were enough special category prizes that everyone was in with a chance. They included:

• an Epic V10 Surfski for the best Miller's Run Video
• a smart watch and Vakaa cadence sensor for most recorded runs
• a Private Chef Date Night for four for the best mixed doubles time
• 2 x Orka paddles and 3 x Motionize systems in the lucky draws.

And Toshiba sponsored a limited-edition t-shirt for everyone who registered 20 or more Miller's Runs during the season (and as it turned out, an even-more-limited-edition shirt for the two paddlers who registered FORTY or more runs!)

The hard-earned, limited-edition, 20-run or more shirt!

Best Miller's Video - Peter Holloway

For his innovative camera viewpoint showing the barrels of spray flying from his wave deflector, Peter Holloway won an Epic V10 Surfski.

Miller's Run

The Miller's Run is a renowned downwind route in Cape Town, South Africa.

The start of the run is marked by Bakoven Rock, a jagged outcrop 800m offshore at Miller's Point; the finish is just under 12km away at Fish Hoek Beach.

A shout-out must go to Vinnie Cicatello's Miller's Taxi shuttle service which has made the Miller's Run so much easier to do…

Results

Men

• Overall fastest: Jasper Mocke - 36:43
• Under 23: Kenny Rice - 37:25
• Over 50: Oscar Chalupsky - 38:25
• Over 60: John Blacklaws - 45:12

Women

• Overall fastest: Nikki Mocke - 45:39
• Under 23: Kirsten Flanagan - 46:28

Most Miller's Runs recorded

• Rob Mousley: 44

20+ Miller's Runs Limited Edition Shirt

• Rob Mousley: 44
• Michael MacLachlan: 42
• John Blacklaws: 26
• Peter Holloway: 25
• Ian Black: 22
• Neil McCreadie: 21