race

Kirstenbosch delivers!

What an spectacular balmy summers evening to kick start the six race Trail Series® Super League in 2022!  

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens always delivers, and to have the privilege of racing through this national treasure is simply goose bump stuff.  The three race distances were 5.2km short, 9.5km long and a 14.2km XL - all concluding with a snaking route right through the heart of Kirstenbosch.

With the COVID fog of the last two years slowly beginning to clear, it was so awesome to have a capacity field again, to feel the buzz and to see and chat to so many familiar faces in our trail running community.  The heart of 15 years of short course trail running is pumping again!

As usual the front end was a fast and furious one, with Llewellyn Groeneveld (XL), Brandon Keeling (Long) and Mikaeel Moolla (Short) setting the pace in their respective distances.  Llewellyn's winning time of 1:01:37 set a new bar, breaking the course record set in 2020 by Michael Davidson (1:06:44) by over 6 minutes. Siviwe Nkombi's Long course record of 39:38 set in 2020 still stands, as does Anele Bams Short course record of 23:57.

Emily Djock (XL), Caro Jordaan (Long) & Elise Groeneveld (Short) won their respective ladies races.  Elise set a new blistering hot ladies record on the 5.2km route, being the first to go under 30min, finishing in 29:26.  This is three minutes faster than the previous ladies course record!

William Inggs not only took third overall, but absolutely owned the 'Minimee' category (11-14yrs) with over a six minute lead on his nearest rival.

Rupert Good won the 6-10yr olds 'Peewee' category, coming 13th overall.

Congrats to all the finishers for completing race 1 of 6!  For full results click here For photos click here

Next up in the TSSL is a brand new area and route at Ida's Valley Nature Area near Stellenbosch.  The date Sat 26th Feb.  For all race info and to enter: www.trailseries.co.za/idas-valley-nature-area

Keep abreast of the news by following the Trail Series Facebook page or Wildrunner Instagram

#TSSL22

COVID-19 has been no picnic for anyone and as event organisers, this won't be letting up any time soon. The gathering ban, announced back in March by the President, will be maintained until we are out of all lockdown levels, and when this will happen is anyones guess.

Unfortunately, this means that we are having to re-imagine the way we do things to stay alive, and that means exploring ways of offering racing without gathering.  We want to maintain the backbone of competition - that being a comparison of your time versus another over the same race course. What this means for the TSSL is that we are working on putting all the details together to allow you to race this on your own time. 

To do this, we are arranging permissions from the event venues to open the trails to you, so that you can run the race course, tracking yourself in the process  - using your smartphone and a specified app (or your own device if you have one).  We will use the track data to verify your attempt and confirm your race time. 

The TSSL Race 4 at Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve has therefore been further postponed, until we have all of this in place. 

Until we are out of lockdown level 1 and gatherings and organised sporting events are allowed again, our aim is to offer all of the remaining Trail Series® Super League races in the same way. Details on exactly how this will work will be sent to you once the venue permissions are finalised. 

Thank you for your understanding and support during this unprecedented and very challenging time.  If you have any queries, please email info@wildrunner.co.za. 

The 2016 edition of the 32km Spur Silvermine Mountain XL began under grey skies as some of the Cape’s top trail runners came out to enjoy the magnificent Silvermine Nature Reserve.

This race sees runners traverse both Silvermine East and Silvermine West and really is a race of two halves.

In the men’s solo event, it was tight at the top as the top 5 were all within 30 seconds of each other at the first check point, 13km in, with up-and-coming Raydon Balie all smiles as he led veteran and defending champion Nicholas Rupanga, Ben Brimble, Rory Scheffer and Chad Gordon through the check-point in 01:15:20.

The second half of the race saw solo runners tackle 14km of Silvermine West trails and it was soon evident that this race was to become a game of cat and mouse, with the leaders marking each other until the final 5km to the finish.

At the 27km mark and the second check-point, it was Balie and Rupanga who once again checked in as the top 2. This is where Rupangas’ experience came to the fore as he pulled away on the descent to the finish to wrap up his second consecutive Spur Silvermine Mountain XL in a time of 02:47:48. Balie sealed his 2nd place on the podium in a time of 02:49:31 and Ben Brimble rounded off an impressive top 3 by crossing under the arch in 02:52:35.

In the Ladies 32km solo race there were two clear favourites and friends - Megan Mackenzie and Kate Mapham, who locked horns with Sandra Koblmüller, a professional triathlete from Austria who was first to the 13km check-point in a time of 01:25:18. Megan was hot on her heels in 2nd place with a time of 01:26:21 and third to check in was Kate Mapham, 01:34:23.

The next 14km saw Koblmüller put the hammer down as she relished the technical terrain and downhill to run into the second check-point in an accumulated time of 02:44:05, four and a half minutes ahead of Mackenzie and more than 20 minutes ahead of Mapham.

In the end there was no denying Koblmüller the victory as she powered her way over the 32km course in 03:07:49 with Mackenzie, who seemed to take a tumble out on course, cruising home in second place in a time of 03:14:24.

Mapham held off the charge to seal her spot on the podium with a time of 03:37:16.

TrailBusters leave their mark

In the Men’s team event the duo of Niel Swanepoel and Edward van der Merwe blew everyone away with a dominant display of running, coasting home in 2:45:31 - more than 15 minutes over the 2nd placed team, Team DJ. Team DJ claimed second place in 03:01:46 despite tough competition from the Llandudno trail surfers, as Robert Shaff and Michael de Kwaadsteniet ran a good race to take home third place, with an overall time of 03:05:24.

The Llandudno trail team rounded off a superb day for the lifeguards as the ladies (consisting of Linda Detering and Daniella Mihal) ran home in first, with a time of 03:30:23, with trail stalwarts Maxine Reilly and Charlotte Noble claiming an impressive 2nd overall in a time of 03:44:46. The Mamas, comprised of Natalie Marcus and Mmamapudi Kubjane, rounded off the top 3, crossing under the arch in 04:21:21.

In the Mixed team event, Cornel Smuts and Leentjie Visser proved that consistency counts as their respective leg positions remained unchanged, to come home first over the line with a time of 03:15:18 with team Just Wing It, made up of Ben Kooyman and Tessa Engelhardt, claiming 2nd mixed team overall with a time of 03:20:23.

Rounding out the top 3 mixed teams went to Jason Lammers and Marta Jakot of team Dos Cabras, who cruised home in 03:33:10.

It was another magical edition of the Spur Silvermine Mountain XL and a big thank you must go to our sponsors; Spur Steak Ranches, BOS Sport, La Sportiva and Protea Hotels.

For results click here and take a look at the photos here.