Another spectacular evening of running for the Spur Cape Summer Trail Series® 2017 as runners chased down the sunset through the howling winds, otherwise considered a gentle breeze by all local Cape Tonians, on Wednesday night at Meerendal Wine Estate.
It was a first for the Spur Trail Series® at this new venue and proved to be hit for all who crossed the finish line. The view from the start/finish was a sight to remember as the runners wound their way up the beautifully cut switchback mountain bike trails, with Table Mountain and Lions Head lit up in the backdrop.
Racing kicked off at 19:30 for the long course, with all the racing snakes and serious faces lined up, up front. Current series leader and the hot favourite for podium step number one, was missing from the starting line, meaning there was a first place up for grabs.
Michael Davidson saw the gap and seized the opportunity for his first race of the series, flying through this fast paced course in a time of 45:48. After just missing the podium having to settle for 4th for two races in a row, Jarryd Dunn finally got his moment in the lime light claiming 2nd place for the evening, and coming in hot on his heels, finishing in 3rd place was Emmanuel Dlamini.
In the ladies race Sophie Cope kicked it up a gear, after two 3rd places in a row, she was hungry to move up in the ranks and sped across the line in first place in a time of 56:39. Another series favourite, Emily Yeo, came flying over in second place and taking the final spot on the ladies overall podium was Julie Huckle.
In the mens short course challenge, it was almost an identical podium as the first two races, as Dino Adams kept his winning streak going claiming his hat-trick win in an impressive time of 28:21. Making sure Dino had to run hard for his win, coming in right behind him to take his third 2nd place was Evan Fortuin. And wrapping up the men’s podium and newbie to this series’ podium was Gershon Aziza a mere 8 seconds behind Evan.
An all new line up for the woman’s short course Challenge overall podium. First to cross the finish line was Natalie Smit, who whipped around this course in a time of 37:33. Second place went to Jade Bremmer, a junior, she finished in a time of 39:31. And winning the final sprint off across the finish line to claim the 3rd spot on the podium was Lollos Rodseth.
Watching all the headlights floating in the sky around the damn at the finish was such a great sight to see, even better seeing all the lit up grins crossing the finish line. Impressive running from all runners who took part. This surely was a night run to remember, and one to diarize for next year.
Click here to relive the moment and view some of the awesome photos from race night. (Or to suffer from a small case of FOMO)
For the rest of the results click here.
A big thank you and shout out to all Sponsors and Partners who help make these races that much more exciting; Spur Steak Ranches, BOS Sport, Raidlight, Steenberg Vineyards and WWF run for nature.