The third leg of the Castle Lite Trail League drew some big names when hundreds of experienced trail runners and newcomers took to the hills of Happy Valley in Bloemfontein on Saturday morning.
It was interesting to note that a carnival atmosphere was the order of the day, rather than the seriousness you experience at road and cross country races in the City of Roses. That alone contributes a great deal to the growth of trail running in Bloemfontein, let alone the challenge of the undulating courses.
Everyone Courant spoke to enjoyed every minute of the respective races, including the winner of the senior ladies event (plus-minus 10km), Madelaine le Roux who had a fall along the way.
Le Roux, who recently clinched the junior women’s title at the SA duathlon championships, won the race on Saturday with ease. She was followed by the first junior in the race, Jayme-Sue Vermaas, who seemed to enjoy the scenery and hardly broke a sweat.
Vermaas and Le Roux are both great junior triathletes with Le Roux representing the country at the world junior championships and Vermaas wearing the green-and-gold at the Youth Olympic Games last year.
At the Pure Adventures series, juniors are considered to be boys and girls 18 years old and younger, unlike in the majority of other sporting codes where juniors are U19.
The men’s event (plus-minus 10km) turned out into a battle between former SA junior 3000m-steeplechase champion, Benjamin Molehe, and Chris Strydom. Molehe was just too strong for Strydom and made a clean break during the last of the three-lap course.
One of the Free State’s well known road races, Sampi Morapedi, came in third, whilst Daniël van Niekerk won the junior men’s division.
The shorter race, which was supposed to be in the vicinity of 5km, ended up being slightly longer, but no one had an issue about it. Fun was still high up on the agenda.
The first male athlete to cross the finish line in the last mentioned race was Wickus Saunders with Dylon and Kyle Wilson, who made it a family affair, in respective second and third places.
Elsje Waldeck claimed first place among the women. Estie and Mariaan van Rensburg finished in respective second and third places.
The red wine (the older the better) of Free State athletics, 74-year-old Willemien Smuts, was one of the big names present at the event and not as spectator, she completed the 10km race in fine style.
Earlier this year Smuts was the oldest trail runner at the Two Oceans marathon meeting and the next day she scored another distinction when she completed the Two Oceans halfmarathon as well – this time the oldest person to complete both in two days.
The fourth leg of the Castle Lite Trail League will take place on 15 August at Brandkop Conservancy in Bloemfontein.
