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Gauteng Winter Trail Series® Report

Ah man! We hate it when a good thing comes to an end. After a super exciting day of racing at Leeuwenkloof on Sunday 8 July, that’s a wrap as we wave Gauteng farewell, and get prepped and pumped for the Cape Winter Trail Series®. The weather played out perfectly for Race 4. The cold front travelled up from Cape Town, but only brought just enough to leave a fresh bite in the air. Warm enough to start without a long sleeves, but cool enough for runners not to overheat. Race 4 included the all new 23km XL course at Leeuwenkloof. Arguably one of the best medium distance trail routes in the high veld. The course took runners through forests, streams, technical rocky single tracks, some tough climbs, a cave and some typical bush veld trails with views of Hartbeespoortdam and the Magalies Mountain Range. The XL set out at 8am, the...
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Race Report Race 1, Gauteng Winter Trail Series® 2018

 Less than an hour outside of Johannesburg, the B’Sorah Luxury Tented Camp is hidden in the bushveld of the majestic Magaliesberg Mountains. The 2018 Gauteng Winter Trail Series® took flight on 17 June, as the icy morning air at B’Sorah became blue skies, cool weather, and a perfect running morning. From bean bags, heaters and hot coffee, to the varied and flowing trails of B’Sorah. Fast, fun and something for every runner. This year, runners enjoyed some changes to the long course. They headed out and down past the river and canals, then faced a sneaky little climb back out of the valley. Once up top they joined the jeep track, now shortened to about 600m, followed by 3km of new single track which flowed between loose rocky climbs, fun fast technical descents and winding bush trails. Then it was time for a quick up-down bridge over the fence, a trot...
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Gauteng WInter Trail Series ® entries open

You know what they say about a Gauteng winter…   It’s dry, but you can run it!   Actually, SA weather patterns are all over the place at the moment so who really knows what the new season will bring. What we DO know, with 100% certainty, is that it will bring another fun-filled Trail Series® courtesy of Wildrunner!   From the Bushveld of B’Sorah on 17 June, to the majestic Leeuwenkloof on 8 July, runners of every age and ability will be spotted doing what they love most, rain or shine. The single track stoke will be high, the post-run chill zone will be buzzing.     What to expect…   The Trail Series® concept was designed as a safe, fun opportunity to transition in to trail running. At every race, you will find a combination of competitive runners, beginners, kids and social weekend warriors. You can select your seeding to optimise your race experience (this seeding cannot be changed during the series). You...
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Silvermine XL 2018 status

In email to TrailWP Chairperson Ellie Courts on the 29 January 2018, Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) Hospitality Services, Film and Events Manager Ms Saskia Marlow stated the following in respect of our pending request to revive the Silvermine XL as a provisional championships event in March this year: “In light of the recent attacks in Silvermine, all pending requests for events in Silvermine are on hold". Given that we are so close to the provisional date, Wildrunner will not be persuing the request submitted to TMNP for running the Silvermine XL in 2018, but will begin the process of application for 2019.   It would be remiss of us not to us this opportunity to remind our loyal trail running community to make safety a priority, and to work with authorities to bring a sense of security back to Table Mountain and surrounds. The more eyes and ears there are on the trails, the safer...
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Cape Summer Trail Series® 2018 Race 3 Report

A little further out of the Cape, and a little later in the evening, Race 3 at Meerendal Wine Estate had all the ingredients of the perfect date. Pink sky, good tunes, good food, wine and twinkling lights. You could forgive MC Sean Robson for encouraging runners to look around for their singletrack soulmate on the start line… ‘Tis the month of love, after all. Meerendal is usually the hallowed ground of mountain bikers, but was all ours for the evening. A course that includes a couple of rollercoasters and some infamous switchbacks along with smooth tracks designed for speed and fun. Warnings of numerous snake spottings on the course were relayed to the runners as they lined up, but that didn’t seem to slow the fast crew at all. As the Series® leader board takes shape, so the competitive edge sharpens. There was certainly no bromance between Dylan Stevenson, Jono Black...
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Cape Summer Trail Series® 2018 Race 2 Report

Two out of two Cape Summer Trail Series® races have brought a little drizzle to our drought – can we go full on down pour for the next two? We’re guessing the entire trail community would be stoked to jump in to a puddle or two. Tuesday 30 January was another magic evening at Kirstenbosch Gardens. Both the short and long course events sold out beforehand, and the Trail Series® Facebook page became a bit like the stock exchange with some mad last minute trading of subs. The crowd poured in from 5pm, and enjoyed a pre-race snack or cup of coffee as the pros went about their warm up routines. The A batch in the long course kicked off with their usual pre-race banter. Jono Black and Dylan Stevenson were off the blocks at high speed. Dylan pulled Jono up the climbs on this rollercoaster of a route, and Jono regained...
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Cape Summer Trail Series® 2018 Race 1 Report

It was a little drizzly on Appleberry Farm above the beautiful trails of the Lebanon Forest when the colourful trail community of the Cape began arriving. With hopeful eyes turned heavenward, we all wished it would just bucket down, as participants practised their queueing techniques ahead of our imminent #DayZero situation.  Coffee and breakfast treats were on sale from early, and the cars poured in, even if the rain did not. In true Cape Style, many left it to the day to enter, but both the short and long course were close to sold-out by the time Cape trail personality, Sean Robson, herded the A batch to the start of the long course race. The fast pack showed up, indicating that there would be some heat on the course, below the misty, low-hanging cloud.  Trail talent Rory Scheffer appeared in fine form alongside Jono Black, Emmanuel Dlamini and a few other...
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The 2017 Spur Gauteng Summer Trail Series® Wrap

Saturday 25 November will be remembered by our crew as the “Day Of Mud”. What is trail running without some weather thrown-down, right? Our trailer got stuck during set up, and had to be towed out by a tractor. Then the tractor got stuck… We debated cancelling the race because runners would not have been unable to access the venue. But cancellation is always the very last, last resort, and we prefer to make a plan. Eventually the tractor got unstuck, the trailer was successfully towed out and Sunday cleared up beautifully. The grand finale was a GO, as was the inaugural Leeuwenkloof XL. Runners taking part in the new XL departed at 06:30am. The course boasts a super variety of trail terrain. The beginning is the same as the Long and Short courses, with a steep climb straight out of the chute. Once up on top, the trail swings between...
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Start your new year with the Trail Series®

The Cape Summer Trail Series® is back! Whether you line up for full on and flat out, or rock up and chill out, the Cape Summer Trail Series® hosted by Wildrunner has something for everyone, even the kids. The Series®, now in its 11th year, was built on the premise that trail running needed a transition zone, and it became just that. Athletes crossing from road running to trail have experienced this transition in a non-intimidating, fun environment that allows them to test some new gear, and learn from more experienced trail gurus. Equally, the Series® has been the springboard of professional trail running careers, and a place where the sharp end got sharper, using the various races as challenging time trials to increase strength and speed. We’ve seen whole families transition from Sunday morning slouches to fit and fabulous, as they take on a healthy dose of sunshine and trail magic...
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Spur Gauteng Summer Trail Series® Race 4 Preview

Race 4, folks. We’ve kicked summer 2017/18 off in the best possible way, and we have one big one to go, so don’t miss it. What is waiting for you at Leeuwenkloof on 26 November? Life is all about choices, and here you have THREE. Short Course (8.8km), Long course (13.9km) or the brand new XL Course (23km). If you are happy with your current Series® results, then ramp it up to the XL. It’s going to be a great new addition to the Gauteng trail running calendar, with a combination of forest single track, epic views from the koppies above the farm, the potential to run with wild game and the infamous mineshaft “cave” towards the end. The Long and XL routes take runners through the old mineshaft, which is a special experience all on its own. It is high enough for you to stand up straight and wide enough for 3...
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