Landie Greyling – Sue Don Wouchope
Team Contego consisting of veteran trail runner Dion Middlekoop and his partner Bernard Rakadaz took line honours on day 1 of the afb Southern Cross 3-day trail run, crossing the finish line in a time of 2:34:44.
Day 1 started and finished in Karatara, just past Sedgefield along the Garden Route, and saw just over 300 runners take to the Outeniqua mountains for 28km of muddy, wet trails. The chilly, wet conditions suited Team Contego who dominated the stage from the start, taking kings of the mountain for the day and finishing first overall, 11 minutes ahead of second placed Team 32gi (2:45:46) consisting of Lucky Miya and Johannes Mthimkulu both from Gauteng.
“It was extremely slippery and wet out on the trails so it was good to have decent shoes on,” said Middlekoop. He added that they were neck and neck with Miya and his partner for the first 8km but that once they hit the technical trails, they pulled away and opened up a huge lead on them.
Miya, fresh from winning the Num Num trail event last weekend, felt he still had some of the race in his legs but that they warmed up well after the first climb. “This is a three day event and anything can happen from this point onwards so it’s important to keep something in reserve for the last day,” said Miya.
Top veteran trail runners Derrick Baard and Noel Erntzen from Team Hammer Nutrition weren’t far behind in third place, finishing in 2:49:56. Erntzen said they just couldn’t stay with the Gauteng team when they passed them at the 8km mark as he was having a bad day.
Landie Greyling and her partner Su Don Wouchope from Team Trail Queens dominated the women’s event from start to finish, finishing fourth overall in 3:03:03 and winning the queens of the mountain. Greyling said the trails were hectic underfoot because of all the rain but the views were absolutely beautiful. “We had a good day today and hope that we can maintain our form for the next two ahead,” said Greyling, who has just returned from the World Trail Championships in Wales last month.
Veteran runner Jacqueline Haasbrook was the first woman solo runner home in 3:06:51 in an impressive fifth position overall, followed by another veteran Justin Fenn (3:07:45) who was first male solo runner. Team Cool Runnings consisting of James Thorburn and Tracey Almirall were the first mixed team and tenth overall in 3:20:23.
This year’s afb Southern Cross 3-day trail event from 9 to 11 August offers runners three unique routes starting with a mountain stage on day 1 in the Outeniqua Mountains, beautiful trails through indigenous forest on day 2 and finishing off with rugged coastline run on day 3.
image credit: Bruce Viaene
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