By Stephen Granger
Team Salomon, aka Kane Reilly and Daniel Claassen, stamped their authority on the THIRSTI AFRICANX TRAILRUN in no uncertain manner, consolidating their win on the first day with an impeccable performance on the second (Sunday 20 March), racing to an overwhelming victory over the 32km from the Cape Canopy Tour headquarters in Elgin to the race base at Houw Hoek Inn.
Strong running from Lijan van Niekerk and Marion Leiberich (Team The Border Collies) saw them to victory in the second leg in the women’s competition, while seasoned campaigners, AJ Calitz and Kerry-Anne Marshall, were in class of their own in the mixed category contest.
A leg injury and forced withdrawal at half-way of Siviwe Nkombi of Team Here to WIN, Reilly and Claassen’s closest rivals, and the Stage Two pre-race withdrawal through illness of one of the pre-race favourites in the women’s contest, Landie Greyling of Team Blazing Blondies, robbed the event of competitiveness, although the leading athletes in all categories gave it their all over the full 32km.
The race began at break-neck speed on a long descent, with Reilly and Claassen setting the pace at 3 min 30 sec per kilometre. Nkombi and his Johannesburg partner, Retsipile Khotle, kept pace with the leaders in the early stages, with the leaders showing sporting intent by waiting for Khotle when he was forced to take a ‘bathroom break’ off the trail.
But when Team Salomon maintained the fast pace on an uphill gradient past 11km, their rivals quickly fell behind, running on their own in second place.
Greyling’s partner Danette Walley turned out on her own, initially keeping Van Niekerk and Leiberich in her sights, before the leaders moved clear in pursuit of Calitz and Marshall, leaders in the mixed category.
After a strained calf muscle forced Nkombi out at 16km, Team Asics Mojos veterans, Nicholas Rupanga and Wandisile Nongodlwana, moved into second, a position they held to the finish, while Calitz and Marshall, were running impressively in third position overall.
Reilly and Claassen scarcely let up in the second half, maintaining their fast pace and crossing the finish line in 2 hrs 09 min 58 sec – over 24 minutes clear of Rupanga and Nongodlwana. Van Niekerk and Leiberich closed strongly on the mixed category leaders, but Calitz and Marshall held onto third place overall by just 6 seconds.
German-born Leiberich, in South Africa to undertake post-doctoral veterinary research into issues relating to rhino translocation, underlined her trail-running ability by turning on the heat on the final hill to claim the Queen of the Mountain award for the female athlete with the fastest time on the climb.
“It’s interesting that being a vet seems to fit well with trail running – I think it’s the love of the outdoors, but also because the training to become a vet is ideal training to run an ultra-marathon – it’s so long and intense!”
“We went hard from the start and kept the pace warm,” said Claassen. “We managed to drop Siviwe and his partner around 11 km and maintained the pace until we eased off slightly towards the finish to save some energy for the final leg tomorrow.
“I find it’s important to fit in some racing during the year,” Claassen reflected. “The year gets quite long if you just do mileage in training. August is still quite a long way away (where both Claassen and Reilly intend to return to Ultra-trail Mont Blanc CCC 100km in the French Alps) and last year I was able to get to get into reasonable shape for Ultra-trail Cape Town in just four weeks.
“This fast running is great preparation for our races to come – I’m looking forward to return to the 60km at Ultra-trail Drakensberg and then the same distance at the George Mountain Ultra-Trail in June.”
“AFRICANX is an amazing event,” enthused Reilly. “The setup at Houw Hoek, the infrastructure, tent village and everything. It’s so impressive. I’ll be back next year and pushing to get more of our leading athletes to race. This race is set up for good racing and for all the best teams to be here so I hope it happens!”
Calitz and Marshall were in good mood following their strong showing in today’s 32km. “It was strange – on the climbs and downhills it was fine, but on the flats she murdered me,” Calitz joked about his partner’s ability. She is super-tough – it’s incredible. She’s not human!”
Marshall set the record straight. “He was a true gentleman out there, helping me on the climbs and he even held my hand on the grass at the finish!”
“We wanted to run as well as we could, irrespective of our competition. We really left nothing out on the course today,” admitted Calitz. “Nice to beat the first women’s team – in the end it was only a few seconds, but a win’s a win and we’ll take it!”
RESULTS: THIRSTI AFRICANX TRAILRUN Three-Day Stage Race
STAGE 2
Date: Sunday 20 March 2022
Distance: +-32km
Start Venue: Cape Canopy Tours
Finish Venue: Houw Hoek Hotel
TOP 10 OPEN CATEGORY: STAGE 2
OPEN MEN’S TEAMS:
1 Kane Reilly and Daniel Claassen (Team Salomon) 02:09:58, 2WandisileNongodlwana and Nicholas Rupanga (Team ASICS Mojos) 02:34:37, 3 LovemoNyaude and Hakeem Smith (Team TBC) 02:36:32, 4 Guido Tagge and Derrick Baard (Team 69) 02:55:06, 5 Casper Van Antwerpen and Jason Van Antwerpen (Team Revenants) 03:03:27
OPEN WOMEN’S TEAMS:
1 Lijan van Niekerk and Mario Leiberich (Team The Border Collies) 02:35:55, 2 Robyn Gardener and Leonie Schoeman (Team Handle with Flair) 03:18:05, 3 Madeleen Van Wyk and Marise Prinsloo (Team 373) 03:33:09, 4 Stephanie Laurie and Sarah Krumbock (Team DGAF) 03:36:13, 5 Kerry-Ann Elson and Alison Kouvarellis (Team Easier said than run) 03:37:13
OPEN MIXED TEAMS:
1 Kerry-Ann Marshall and AJj Calitz (Team K-Way NewBalance) 02:35:49, 2 Paige Botten and Josh Van Niekerk (Team First Ascent) 02:57:38, 3 Greg Erlangsen and Melissa Laing (Team Pura) 03:10:06, 4 Brett Nattrass and Ronel Nattrass (Team Nattrass) 03:15:38, 5 Jada Linstrom and Clinton Bosch (Team Limpuma Mojo) 03:25:40
TOP 5 OPEN CATEGORY GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (GC): STAGES 1 AND 2 COMBINED
OPEN MEN’S TEAMS:
1 Kane Reilly and Daniel Claassen (Team Salomon) 03:57:44, 2 WandisileNongodlwana (Team ASICS Mojos) 04:35:43, 3 LovemoNyaude and Hakeem Smith (Team TBC) 04:35:54, 4 Guido Tagge and Derrick Baard (Team 69) 04:58:41, 5 Casper Van Antwerpen and Jason Van Antwerpen (Team Revenants) 05:08:11
OPEN WOMEN’S TEAMS:
1 Lijan Van Niekerk and Marion Leiberich (Team The Border Collies) 04:54:11, 2 Robyn Gardener and Leonie Schoeman (Team Handle with Flair) 05:36:21, 3 Medeleen Van Wyk and Marise Prinsloo (Team 373) 06:05:10, 4 Stephanie Laurie and Sarah Krumbock (Team DGAF) 06:09:48, 5 Kerry-Ann Elson and Kouvarellis (Team Easier said than run) 06:21:28
OPEN MIXED TEAMS:
1 Kerry-Ann Marshall and AJ Calitz (Team K-Way NewBalance) 04:37:05, 2 Paige Botton and Josh van Niekerk (Team 653) 05:10:20, 3 Greg Erlangsen and Melissa Laing (Team Pura) 05:22:48, 4 Brett Nattrass and Ronel Nattrass (Team Nattrass) 05:35:26, 5 Liam Victor and Franza Landman (Team Fran & Liam) 05:39:49
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