It was Hot…
Race 3 at B’Sorah was an absolute scorcher. The heat hit the crew during set up, and did not abate on race day. A sneaky storm hit on Saturday night, and lasted around 30min. Just long enough to do some proper damage to the race village. Spur's gazebos got tossed about and came down in many little bits and pieces. But, with some critical crisis management and the usual amazing crew, we had the race village cleaned up without a trace of the storm before the first runner arrived.
The long course runners set out on 1km of foresty jeep track just to spread the field a bit before making their way down into 3km of stunning single track between the river and canals and through some lush forests. After that, they had a tough 1km climb out of the valley, but just before they wanted to give up and walk, they reached the top and tapped out on to 4km of gradual downhill running where they got to wind through jeep track and cattle trails and witnessed some beautiful bushveld scenery along the way. For the last 3-4km runners wound their way through a mixture of open fields, wetlands and majestic forest single track.
Race 2's wildcard Van Zyl Steenekamp was back again to claim his 2nd victory, with his eyes set on top honours in the Championship Series Open Men's category. However, the wild cards seem to keep popping up, and Lawrence Mango arrived to completely mess with Van Zyl's game plan.
It was a hot race, with Lawrence holding on to his 20 second lead all the way through. Every time Van Zyl started closing the gap, Lawrence looked over his shoulder and kicked it up a gear, making sure he just stayed out of reach.
Lawrence took the win in a time of 50:33, Van Zyl second in time of 50:50, and rounding up the podium was Kiwi import, Sean Fietje in time of 54:46.
In the ladies race Marelise Retief made sure there was absolutely no chance of second place catching her. Putting the pedal down hard from the get go, she finished 4th overall and 1st in the ladies race in a time of 57:17. Second was Peret Badenhorst in a time of 01:05:51, and 3rd was Marelize van der Merwe in time of 01:08:06.
In the short course there were no surprises with overall winner Ryno Van Vollenhoven. Currently untouchable in this short course distance, Ryno won it in a time of 24:04 (over 4min ahead of second). Shaking things up a little on the podium and bringing some fresh new names was second place Mphodisa Sebopa in a time of 28:25, and hot on his heels was 3rd place Phaphama Giovanni in a time of 28:52.
In the ladies race Michelene Kahl claimed her 2nd win for the series in a time of 30:13. Second place was Race 2's winner, Anita O'brien in a time of 31:06, and 3rd went to Phyllis De Fouw in a time of 33:47.
All in all, a great morning of racing. It was slightly on the hot side of perfect running conditions, but thanks to Mountain Dew and Capri-Sun and good ol Mr H2O runners got some refreshing drinks at the finish line to cool down. The bulk of the field stayed behind for prize giving to get their hands on one of the awesome lucky draw prizes.
Thanks to Spur Sports, Raidlight, Steenberg and WWF South Africa for the continued support and all that they bring to the trail party.
Next up is the grand finale for the summer series and for 2018 at Leeuwenkloof featuring our all new XL route.