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SIXTEEN hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds. That’s how long it took Vanessa Wayland to run from Port Alfred to East London last weekend – and she was cool as a cucumber to the last second.

The Washie 100 ultra marathon, which was run in the moonlight of Friday night and into the bright winter sun of Saturday, is one of the toughest races in the world as it is run over 160 kilometres. On Saturday morning 41-year-old Wayland from Johannesburg became the first woman to win the race since its inception in 1977.

My job was to run with the winner from about 10km out of town through to the finish at Buffs Road Running Club.

Daily Dispatch sports reporter Peter Martin and I had planned to reach the leading runners after they would have run about 150km of the 160km race. Quite reasonably, we assumed that whoever was in the front spot would be absolutely shattered and exhausted, hauling their broken body along the road in a blistered bid for glory.

It turns out we were spectacularly wrong in our assessment of how things would pan out – in what turned out to be the best possible way.

A couple of kilometres past the East London Airport we came across the leading runner. Embarrassing as it is now to admit, we were expecting a male front runner so when Wayland steamed past us, we assumed it was a guy with a long ponytail.

We continued driving and saw the second and third runners, Mogale Piliso and John Magagane, a good five or six kilometres behind the front runner.

Magagane would go on to pass Piliso and take second place overall, with Piliso settling for third.

We headed back and saw that the leader was indeed a woman. This was girl power at its best, and Wayland showed no sign of strain as she trotted along, looking unbelievably strong.

I have done a fair bit of running in the past two years and completed the Athens Marathon in Greece last year but I’ m not the type of runner who resembles a gazelle. I am a happy plodder, running between six and seven minutes a kilometre.

I was intimidated by Wayland’s flowing stride and felt she would be too strong and too fast for me to keep up with. Peter had to practically kick me out the car at the airport to follow the original plan of keeping up with the leader.

All very well when you thought the leader would be a hobbling wreck but Wayland looked as fresh as a daisy . I fell in behind her and her second who was running alongside her to keep her company.

My goodness, I thought, this pace is fast. A fter the first kilometre I glanced down at my stopwatch and gasped. She was powering along at about five minutes a kilometre!

As any runner knows, it is impossible to keep up with someone who is simply faster than you. Predictably, Wayland and her second pulled effortlessly away from me.

After five kilometres, she was just a speck in the distance and, seeing now how my plan of running with the leader was a futile task, I hopped back in the car to watch from the sidelines.

At this stage, the petite Wayland had been leading from the 120km mark, and you would never have guessed it. In the bright, cloudless morning, the sun bounced off her strawberry blonde locks as her legs just kept going and going.

Her smooth, relaxed run into the finishing stretch was no accident. Wayland had been training since January, racking up an incredible 2500km in her training log as preparation for the Washie. The 87km-long Comrades Marathon served as a “training run” last month.

Over Buffalo Bridge she glided, up Settlers Way she flew. The traffic cops were kept busy keeping cars from blocking her path as she sailed along.

At Currie Street, I joined her again. I t was, after all, a beautiful morning and it seemed a waste not to put a few kilometres in. Once again, I slipped behind her and her second as they motored down past Imbizo and on to the Esplanade.

A handful of supporters cheered her on and clapped. Even at this late stage, Wayland managed to smile and offered a queenly wave.

She must have known that her lead was secure and she was about to become the first woman to win the Washie, beating a field of 45, of which 41 finished, to take top honours in the prestigious race.

The welcome at the finish was small but heartfelt. There were just the race officials, a few supporters, and husbands and wives of runners .

Wayland says she will be back next year to defend her title. Judging by her form on Saturday, she will be tough to beat. Long live the Queen of the Washie!

l Special thanks to Buffs Road Running Club for allowing me to join in the race.