Petrus Maree of Plett Adventure Racing Team reports on the races and trails they took part in during August.
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August been a busy month with training back in full swing and I had the opportunity to take part in 3 races.
Graham Bird, captain of the Merrel Adventure Addicts sent me a last minute message to join their team for the Cyanosis Midlands 165km Adventure Race on the 4th and 5th of August. I was standing in for one of their team mates who could not make it. This race forms part of the A1 series. What a great opportunity racing and learning from these legends, Hanno, Tracey and Grant. After a 16hr drive we started Saturday morning 6am with a 42km trail run followed by a 43km mountain bike, 8km paddle, another cycle, a 21km run and finished off Sunday morning at Sunrise with a 30km cycle. We raced for 26 hours and 30 mins finishing in 4th place. I loved this race and it got me excited about other upcoming races again.
CYANOSIS RACE PHOTO CREDITS: GRAHAM BIRD AND T.K. PHOTOGRAPHY
The following weekend I took part in the Circles in the Forest 30km trail run. Back in the forests we know well in the Rheenendal area my training paid off and I managed 1st place for the one day event. It was a fast, hard run of mostly single track and jeep track finishing off with a killer of a climb. Circles in the Forest trail run forms part of the CS SOX 3-day stage race which takes place in the Knysna, Sedgfield and Wilderness area.
On the weekend of 25th and 26th August I joined forces with Drew and we raced together as a Plett Adventure duo team at the Kouga Full Moon 120km Adventure Race organized by Heidi and Stephan from Kinetic Events. Plett was well represented with 14 locals taking part, all finishing the full course and with awesome results. Drew and I managed a win in the men’s duo category and Buco finished in 3rd place for the 4-man mixed teams. A great race on our doorstep and a change for me to learn and practice navigating and everything that goes with it.
KOUGA FULL MOON PHOTO CREDITS: BRUCE VIAENE PHOTOGRAPHY
September is going to be a great month. I will be racing with Mene (a previous Plett local now living in Cape Town) as team Plett Adventure in the upcoming Dr Evil Classic, so lots of time will be spent on the bike at the moment riding around our local trails putting in the hours. I upgraded my bike a week ago and am super excited about the upcoming races.
We assisting Magnetic South in the route recces for the upcoming Otter African Trail run in October which will be the grand finale of the Salomon Golden Series.
Keeping my running up and spending weekends in Natures valley connecting all the trails to form some amazing long runs, Skyrun is my big race for November and the buildup for a 100km mountain run with about 6000m elevation gain takes months. Nature’s Valley is great for longer runs and the terrain varies from forest single track, beach, technical rocks etc. These are my go-to routes when the guys from Cape Town come to visit our area and I’m looking for running routes to take them on.
