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This past Sunday the grand finale of Spur Cape Summer Trail Series® 2017 (CSTS) took place on the beautiful mountain bike trails of Oak-Valley wine estate. The Elgin Valley dished out some of its best weather it had to offer, making for a perfect morning of running.

Oak-Valley’s epic mountain bike trails are normally closed off to runners, but once a year we get exclusive access for the Spur Trail Series® runners to head out and enjoy these fast, flowy and fun trails.

With this being more of a mountain bike trail as well and slightly less technical mountain running, it meant we were also in for an extremely fast morning of running. Especially after having a look at the start line up for the XL. Race 4 see’s the addition of the Elgin Valley Summer XL. And on Sunday we had some big names line up, the likes of  Nicholas Rupanga, Edson Kumwamba, Jarryd Dunn, Ben Brimble, Noel Ernstzen, Katya Soggot, Annamart Laubscher (Marloth 24,5km winner as well CTM Peace Trail Winner), Ashleigh Simonis, Tish Jones and wildcard Ben Matiso all lining up to take on the XL. Making for one extremely exciting morning of racing.

The XL set off at 6:30 and the heat was immediately turned right up with the front runners setting a silly pace of 3:05 for the first km. It wasn’t long before road running top dog Ben Matiso (top 20 at Comrades) decided to really put the gas down, and came sprinting across the finish line in incredible time of 1:42:50. Nicholas Rupanga came in nearly a minute after Ben to take 2nd place, and 3rd place male was Edson Kumwamba.

In The ladies race top duo Tish Jones and Ashleigh Simonis crossed the line together, with Tish Jones taking the top step in an impressive time of 1:55:22 and Ashleigh Simonis a mere 2 seconds behind her. Final spot on the ladies podium, Annamart Laubscher who crossed the line in a time of 1:58:36, this girl is making some serious noise out on the trail running scene with her impressive CV so far.

Even though the long course missed out on a few of the top runners due to them taking part in the XL it didn’t seem to slow this bunch down at all. Racing kicked off at 7:30 for the A-Batch. With Series favourite Raydon Balie still away on his training camp, Emmanuel Dlamini seized the moment by whipping around this 15,7km course in a time of 1:02:05. Coming in second and 3rd place respectively was Ricardo Jaftha and Enok Jimani.

Svenja Gliem took a clear win in the ladies race, in a time of 1:15:24. Second place, Julie Huckle, came in a good 4min behind Svenja, and claiming the last step in the ladies race was Devon Basson coming in 3rd.

The short course racing snakes came sprinting across the finish line as fast as they set out. First place went to Evan Fortuin in a time of 28:21, second Gershon Aziza and third Llewlyn Jacobs. First to fly over the finish line in the ladies race, after a strategic call to downgrade from the long course, was Chantel Berowsky, claiming her first Trail Series podium. Second place went to Jade Bremner and wrapping up the ladies podium for the day was Josie McCann.

A seriously fast paced and impressive morning of running was had by all and we couldn’t have asked for a more exciting way to finish off this excitement that was Cape Summer Trail Series® 2017.

A big congratulations to our overall series champs (see below) as well as to all who completed the series.

Championship Results:

Open Men

1. Emmanuel Dlamini

2. Jarryd Dunn

3. Ricardo Jaftha

Open Ladies

1. Sophie Cope

2. Emily Yeo

3. Lize Cornellius

Veteran Men

1. Shaun Gregory

2. Mogale Piloso

3. Mark Jacobson

Veteran Ladies

1. Julie Huckle

2. Bianca Daniels

3. Jane Fisher

Master Men

1. Neil Hermann

2. Arno Lawrenz

3. Hans Woermann

Master Ladies

1. Maxine Reilly

2. Paola Vignani

3. Elvera Schwan

Challenge Results:

Open Men

1. Dino Adams

2. Evan Fortuin

3. Llwelyn Jacobs

Open Ladies

1. Josie McCann

2. Caro Jordaan

3. Elmarie Meyer

Veteran Men

1. Rudi Bezuidenhout

2. Arno Rossouw

3. Bill Dunn

Veteran Ladies

1. Nicolette Herring

2. Frances Fuchs

3. Anneke Von Maltitz

Master Men

1. Leslie Chivell

2. Richard Rossiter

3. Gary Green

Master Ladies

1. Lollos Rodseth

2. Tania Morkel

3. Michelle Groenewaldt

Junior Male

1. Gershon Aziza

2. Daniel Arendse

3. Stephen Millard

Minimee

1. Jethro Dunn

2. Christiaan Engelbrecht

3. Jade Bremner

Thank you all for coming out to play on the dirty trails with us this summer. We had an absolute blast with everyone. We look forward to seeing you all at the winter series kicking off on the 23rd of July at Paul Cluver. Until then keep on choosing adventure and enjoy exploring all the wonderful trails this country of ours has to offer.

Shout out to all our sponsors and partners who help make the events just that much more awesome. Spur Steak Ranches, Raidlight, BOS Sport, Steenberg Vineyards and WWF.

For more race results click here, for series results click here and to check out the awesome race day photos click here.

This past Sunday saw the trail running calendar kick off with the first race of the Spur Cape Summer Trail Series® at Lebanon Forest in Elgin. After taking a beating from the wild fires last year, it was awesome to have all the fun single tracks back in action. The Cape decided to play along as well and dish out some delicious weather for runners to play in out on the trails.

First light came peeking out at 5:30am as runners started rolling in for registration and number collection. By 6:30am there was an exciting buzz in the air from all the runners getting ready to dust off those holiday legs and kick up some dirt. To add to the buzz was Wildrunner’s own bag of exciting news for 2017. First was the fact that Spur Trail Series® and Wildrunner turns 10 years young this year.

Then the addition of Raidlight as new apparel sponsor, this means a whole lot of awesome spot prizes, podium prizes up for grabs.

On that podium note, let’s get onto the racing for the day. In the long course Championship, there was a fast competitive field lined up on the start line. All of them ready to take on the course record set by the legend himself, Bernie Rukadza in 2015, a smashing time of 53:43.

All though flying over the finish line at a ridiculous pace, no one could come close to Bernie’s time. Taking the win on the day was Raydon Balie, in a time of 54:49, almost a minute behind him in second was Emmanuel Dlamini, taking the final step on the podium, just sneaking in in front of Jarryd Dunn, was Vincent Viet in a time of 55:44.

In the ladies long course Championship race, taking top honours for Race 1 was local road running star Ashleigh Simonis, in a time of 1:03:37. Shortly after her was Swiss track running champion, Fiammetta Troxler, and wrapping up the ladies podium was Sophie Cope in a time of 01:10:21.

The short course men’s challenge race saw Dino Adams smash Riaan Wildskut’s 2014 short course record by almost a minute, racing across the line in a time of 22:45. Hot on Dino’s heels, and also breaking the record was Evan Fortuin, who came in only 2 seconds behind Dino. And claiming 3rd place was Llewellyn Jacobs. Some ridiculously fast running put on out there in the short course.

In the ladies Challenge race, Liezl du Plooy came sprinting across the line in first place, a long way ahead from runners up Josie McCann and Chanel Hannah. These two had a great battle out on course, and in the end it was Josie who snuck in 5 seconds ahead of Chanel in a time of 32:32 to take second place.

Amazing running by all out there on Sunday. Lebanon never ceases to hand a fantastic dose of good dirt to go and play on.

If you acted crazy, or stopped to strike a pose at the Steenberg Camera Trap, go check out the album here on facebook to see if you’ve been snapped? If we missed you this Sunday, be sure to keep an eye out at the next race for those Steenberg Gates and you could be the next lucky winners who also stand a chance at winning the grand prize. For more details on the competition click here.

A big shout out and thank you to all our sponsors and partners; Spur Steak Ranches, Raidlight, BOS Sport, Steenberg Vineyards and WWF.

Check out your race results here and some the race photos here.

The Spur Cape Summer Trail Series® kicked off with a bang and a bluster as almost 800 runners took on the howling south-easter at the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.
 
There was excitement in the air as runners started trickling in at the start venue and, with the Tygerberg hills looming over them, the reality of the challenge that lay ahead started to set in. Uncomfortable as the wind was, it brought welcome respite against the usual summer heat.
 
The familiar faces of Bernard Rukadza, Raydon Balie, Franz-Eric Streicher, Michael Gombart and Katya Soggot were joined at the start line of the 12.1km long course Championship by up-and-coming youngsters Jarryd Dunn, Hayley Preen and Megan Leslie and it was clear from the outset that the racing at the front of the field was going to be fierce.
 
We were not disappointed and Balie put in a strong performance, showing his intentions for the Series, and claiming his first win of 2016 with a time of 55:07. Rukadza, on tired legs due to training for an ultra, crossed the line in second place in a time of 56:59, with the impressive Dunn not far behind in 1:00:02.
 
The ladies race was dominated by Preen, who is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. She crossed the finish line more than five minutes ahead of her closest competition in a time of 1:06:04. In second position was the surprise package of the evening, Sanja Steyn from Zimbabwe in a time of 1:11:44. An old Spur Trail Series® favourite, Katya Soggot had to settle for third place with a time of 1:12:14 as she recovers from injury.
 
Afrika, Leslie going for gold
In the short course Challenge there wasn’t time to blink as the up-and-coming Andre Afrika swept around the 8.1km course in a blistering time of 35:42. Behind him, Stefan Oosthuizen and Juan Carstens were chasing hard but they could not keep up – Oosthuizen claiming second place in a time of 37:14 and Carstens completing the podium with a time of 39:23.
 
Megan Leslie once again showed her class as she claimed another first place in the short course race with her time of 45:09, ahead of Tina-Mari Meyer in 46:53 and Linda Detering in 48:20.
 
It was a thrilling start to what promised to be another memorable Spur Trail Series® and we can’t wait to continue this Sunday when the Series moves to the beautiful Lebanon Forest in the Elgin Valley.
 
A big thank you to our awesome sponsors, Spur Steak Ranches, BOS Sport, Protea Hotels and Outward Ventures for making these events possible and to everyone who come out to the races and make it all worthwhile.
 
We’ll see you on Sunday!
 
Click here for full results and here for photos.