Author: Modern Athlete

South African Skyrunning Series kicks off with successful Ingeli Skymarathon®

The South African Skyrunner® Series 2014 blasted off to an exciting start with the successful staging of the Ingeli Skymarathon® this weekend.

Dubbed “the green mamba of trail running” for the several nasty “bites” of ascent the route delivered, the 42km course through the Ingeli mountain range in Kwa-Zulu Natal covered 2 100m of vertical gain, making it one of the toughest races of this distance in the province.

The race was won in 3:37:19 by one of South Africa’s up and coming trail stars Lucky Miya (Saucony), who dominated the race after overtaking early leader Jock Green (Salomon) after the 9km mark. Prodigal Khumalo (Mr Price) finished in a close 2nd place (3:42:05), followed by Lesotho Ultra Trail winner Andrew Hagan (Vibram Fivefingers) just six minutes later.

“My race strategy was to start conservatively and then pick up the pace as I needed to, depending on the competition. I realised on the first climb that I was stronger than the other guys so I pushed hard and opened a gap. The course had a good mix of steep climbs and descents, and long runnable forest sections. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to win a skyrunning race, so I’m very excited,” said Miya.

Ladies winner Su Don-Wauchope (The North Face) ran a very strong race, leading the women’s field from the start and finishing in an impressive 5th position overall in 4:16:29. South African ultra-distance trail running champion in 2013 Tracy Zunckel (Salomon/Race Food) finished in 2nd place (4:35:42), followed by Erika Walker in 3rd position, almost a full hour behind Don-Wauchope.

The ladies race was always going to be between Don-Wauchope and Zunckel, both strong climbers and both living at fairly high altitude in the foothills of the Berg region.

“I knew Tracy was going to be strong, she always is, particularly over longer distances. I was worried I had started out too fast, but I’ve been doing a lot of hill training, and felt very strong on the ups. I approached the long descent cautiously, and once I got into the forest I tried to relax and stride out. I had a great day and had legs all the way to the finish!” said an elated Don-Wauchope.

Miya’s and Don-Wauchope’s wins secure both runners entries for the 2014 Skyrunning World Championships to be held in June in Chamonix, France.

“I’m so excited to have the chance to compete in an international Skyrunning race and be able to show the world how capable I am as a runner,” said Miya.

Being part of the South African Skyrunner® Series, points were allocated to the first 40 men and 15 women finishers of the Ingeli Skymarathon® by the South African Skyrunning Association (SASA). Next up in the Skyrunner® Series 2014 will be the Matroosberg Skymarathon® in October.

Ingeli Skymarathon® race organiser Andrew Booth says the Ingeli Skymarathon® is unique.
“The Ingeli mountain has huge allure – it’s an uninhabited wilderness of grasslands, wetlands, rocks and trails, where proteas grow, and antelope and caracal roam wild. The race was an enormous success. The front end of the men’s field was particularly competitive – there was no room to slack for Lucky and he had to push hard the whole way.”

If Auckland is anything to go by the Cape Town race of the ITU World Triathlon Series is going be a thriller with the top triathletes in the world all gunning for glory.

Current World Champion Javier Gomez from Spain kept his undefeated streak at the Auckland World Triathlon Series intact, recording a comprehensive win over Jonathan Brownlee in the first WTS event of the 2014 season. While Brownlee pushed him for most of the run, Gomez proved too strong on the tough, hilly course and won by some 20 seconds after running away from the Brit with a few kilometers remaining. This race added another battle to Gomez’s war with the Brownlees – Alistair and Jonathan – for world supremacy.

“It was another great race in New Zealand,” said Gomez. “I felt really good all the time, the water felt good, the bike was really hard, some of us worked pretty hard to keep the gap between the second group and during the run I tried many times to drop Jonathan, he was pretty strong, but on the last lap I had something left and I just gave everything and didn’t look back. It was a pretty good race.”

The Brownlees and Gomez have been dominating the World Triathlon Series for pretty much the past two seasons. If you look for a race winner other than Alistair, Jonathan or Gomez when one of these three were in the race, you have to go back to July 2012 when South African Richard Murray got the better of Gomez in the sprint in the World Triathlon Series in Hamburg. In the past 17 WTS events there have been only six winners and only Gomez, Alistair and Jonathan have won more than one race in this time. Jonathan has won 6, Gomez 5 and Alistair 3. The other winners were Joao Silva, Steffen Justus and Murray.

Alistair, Jonathan and Gomez have dominated by taking the top 3 places three times. Alistair podiumed five times, Jonathan eight and Gomez finished an astonishing 11 times on the podium.

With both Brownlees and Gomez entered for the ITU World Triathlon Series in Cape Town, the stage is set for the next battle in the Brits’ war with the Spaniard.

The FNB Platinum Trail Run presented by ISUZU celebrates its second anniversary this year. Taking place at ATKV Buffelspoort (North West Province) on Sunday, 25 May 2014 participants can choose between a 24km, 12km and 8km route.

According to Nicola Collins, Event Manager, the exclusivity and terrain of the Platinum Trail Run are what define this event. “Runners can expect to run on some of the best trails that the area has to offer, which consist of a wide variety of terrain and spectacular views. With FNB on board as the title sponsor we have been able to raise the bar in the overall event experience. FNB’s strong client focus has allowed us to create a truly memorable experience both on the route and back at the race village. Runners can look forward to relaxing and recovering in style once they have completed their race. Each entrant will receive an awesome goody bag that will include an event t-shirt. This combined with a pristine running environment and a festive race village is what makes the FNB Platinum Trail Run presented by ISUZU an event not to be missed”.

EVENT INFORMATION:
DATE: Sunday, 25 May 2014
VENUE: ATKV Buffelspoort (North West Province)
DISTANCE:24km
12km
8km
START TIMES: 09h15 – 24km
09h30 – 12km
09h30 – 8km

For more information on the FNB Platinum Trail Run presented by ISUZU contact Stillwater Sport & Entertainment on 086 138 3591, email [email protected] or visit www.stillwatersports.com.

The professional field at Sunday’s Ironman South Africa in Port Elizabeth put on an impressive showing in the warm and blustery conditions on the Sunshine Coast.

In the Men’s race, from the start there were only four real contenders for the title on race day. 2005 Ironman World Champion Faris Al-Sultan, Germany’s Nils Frommhold, Bas Diederen and South Africa’s rising star Kyle Buckingham were out of the water first and the rest of the field never came close to challenging them for the rest of the day. In the end it was Nils Frommhold who led from start to finish with the best swim, bike and run splits on the day that crossed the finish line first. Kyle Buckingham, who dropped down to third on his final lap of the run put in an impressive surge in the final stages to reclaim second place while the veteran Faris Al-Sultan was relegated to third with Bas Diederen claiming fourth.

The ladies race was equally spectacular with Britain’s Jodie Swallow exiting the water with the leading pack of men and once again, just like she did in 2013, put in an impressive performance on the bike. With more than an eight minute advantage heading onto the run it was fascinating to watch as the chasing pair of Lucy Gossage and Simone Brandli slowly reeled the former Ironman 70.3 World Champion in. The last lap of the run once again proved crucial as the two chasers made their move. It was Switzerland’s Simone Brandli who broke the tape first, followed by the two Brits Lucy Gossage and Jodie Swallow. You can access the full race report here but on Tri Talk SA this week Brad Brown caught up with most of the stars from Sunday’s race.

 

Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee would like to avoid a showdown with Javier Gomez at the Discovery World Triathlon Cape Town on Sunday, 27 April.

Alistair (25) is the current Olympic Champion and Jonathan (23) is a former World Champion and winner of the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics where the British Brownlees became the first brothers to be together on the podium in an individual sport at the Olympic Games since 1908.

Alistair, Jonathan and Javier Gomez (ESP) will be the favourites along Cape Town local Richard Murray to stand on the winner’s podium. The Cape Town event in the ITU World Triathlon Series will be held at the V&A Waterfront. The women’s race is on the Saturday (26 April) and the men on the Sunday.

For both the Brownlees it will be their first visit to Cape Town. “I'm really looking forward to racing in Cape Town. I’ve been to South Africa before, but never to Cape Town,” said Alistair. Jonathan has never been to SA before. “I’ve only been to Africa once when I climbed Kilimanjaro. I am very excited to see what the country has to offer.”

Both Alistair and Jonathan are looking forward to race on the route that was announced recently. Action will start in front of the Table Bay Hotel and finish at The Lookout. The Elite swim over 1500m will have a dry start at Quay 6 in front of the Table Bay Hotel. Athletes will swim two laps of 750m each. The course will be confined to the Victoria basin, providing spectators the chance to view the action for the entire duration of the swim. The first transition area is located at Quay 6, in front of the Table Bay Hotel. The cycling leg over 40km will leave T1 in front of the Table Bay Hotel. Upon exiting T2 at The Lookout, the 10km run course will lead athletes onto Beach Road where the first Water Station will be located within 100 meters. Circling Cape Town Stadium, the course will turn left at Fritz Sonnenberg Road. The second Water Station will be located at the turn into Fritz Sonnenberg, 600 meters from the first. Athletes will turn left once more into Granger Bay Boulevard. The third Water Station will be placed at this turn. The distance between the second and third Water Stations will be 900 meters. To complete a lap, athletes will turn left from Granger Bay Boulevard onto The Lookout and pass through the grandstands again. After four laps of 2.5 kilometers each, athletes will reach the Finish Line at The Lookout.

“It looks very scenic, especially with Table Mountain close by. I think it's great that they're using the City landmarks like the Cape Town Stadium and V&A Waterfront,” said Alistair. Jonathan added: “I am looking forward to running down the sea front. Sea swims are always good fun as well.”

Alistair has been setting the standard over 10km for the past few seasons. Running sub 30 minutes over 10km has become a regularity at ITU World Triathlon Series events. Along with Alistair and Jonathan the other speedsters on the circuit include Gomez, Murray and Mario Mola. “Gomez is a big threat after winning in Auckland and if Mola is up there when the run starts, I think he could also be a challenge,” said Jonathan who finished second behind Gomez in Auckland. Alistair did not race in Auckland, but he also agreed that Gomez now has the confidence along with the form and that will make him very dangerous come Cape Town.

Neither of the Brownlee brothers have ever stood back for a challenge and both have their eyes on the top of the winner’s podium. And both agree that the final 10km will be decisive in who is eventually going to win the first ever ITU World Series Triathlon race on the African continent. “I want to win. I’m hoping to turn up in good shape and try to win the race. It's a pretty neutral bike course so I think it'll come together for the run,” said Alistair. Younger Jonathan is hoping to get the better of his brother, Gomez and, he jokingly adds, the V&A Waterfront seals apparently. “I’m going to try and win too. Hopefully beat Alistair. The most challenging leg on the day will be the run!”