Fun and Excitement as THIRSTI AFRICANX TRAILRUN delivers top quality on final day

By Stephen Granger

Year on year the THIRSTI AFRICANX TRAILRUN Three-Day Stage Race delivers top quality trail running mixed with fun and entertainment in a party atmosphere and the 2022 edition, which climaxed yesterday (Monday 21 March) proved no exception.

While the depth of quality upfront may have been down on last year’s event, there was no denying the excellence of those who stood atop of the podium in various categories, and several ‘races within races’ provided do-or-die performances from the elite in the closing 18km Human Rights Day stage.

The words of THIRSTI’s Head of Marketing, Michelle Lillico, best summed up the weekend. “Whether you were a seasoned trail runner or someone with a come-and-try-it attitude, the THIRSTI AFRICANX TRAILRUN delivered a fun, scenic and rewarding event atmosphere in the beautiful Cape wilderness,” she said, before attesting to the perfect link with the event and the sponsor’s product. “We love the association with health, fitness and nature as runners stayed hydrated with our natural spring water and ISOFIT+ Sport Drinks.”

Starting and finishing at the Houw Hoek Hotel, Stage Three featured an 18km route – the shortest of the three stages – but including the largest percentage of single track as well as the steepest climbs, with a total ascent of 720m.

Although virtually assured of overall victory, Team Salomon’s Kane Reilly and Daniel Claassen were forced to pull out all the stops to avoid being upstaged on the final stage, as Johannesburg athlete, Retsepile Khotle – the surviving member of Team Here to Win, following Siviwe Nkombi’s withdrawal on the second day – was in no mood to hand Stage Three to Reilly and Claassen on a plate.

While no longer in line for team honours, Khotle, who won last year’s Stage Three, was eager to prove his mettle and he made the winning pair work hard for their reward. In the end, however, the trail-wise duo of Reilly and Claassen claimed gold in the Men’s Team Category, completing the three stages in a lightning-fast combined time of 05 hours 17 minutes 33 seconds.

“We had to really work hard to drop Retsepile – he was very strong and running very well,” said an exhausted Claassen. “But Kane was just pushing the pace today and we finally managed to drop him after about 14km. But we had to work hard till the finish line, as he was still breathing down our necks. It’s been a super fun weekend and I’m really chuffed with our effort today – the AFRICANX is the real deal.”

It was an emotionally-rich win for Reilly, on the eve of the anniversary of the passing of his father in a drowning accident last year and Reilly also paid tribute to Khotle’s tenacity. “We certainly had to work hard today,” he admitted. “We were expecting Retsepile to come out firing, which he did. The start was super-fast but we could not let him get away as the stage was just too short. We kept pushing the pace as we started the climb on some rocky sections and fortunately he dropped there as we weren’t planning on a sprint finish!

“Daniel has been a weapon,” Reilly continued. “We train a lot together and we just continued in the groove throughout the weekend. I am pretty stoked because although I’ve been on the podium a few times here, I’ve have never won this race before. I love racing close to home and AFRICANX is one of the best. I’ll be back next year and we’re going to encourage more top runners to return. It’s a great event which should attract all the top guys.”

Lovemo Nyaude and Hakeem Smith from Team HTRCrew Goats came in second overall after three days of racing, while the leading veterans’ team of Wandisile Nongodlwana and Nicholas Rupanga from Team ASICS Mojos finished third in that category.

The loss through illness of top Stellenbosch trail athlete, Landie Greyling, and the consequent withdrawal of her team, took a little of the edge off the women’s competition, but the duel between the top pair in the Women’s Team category, Lijan van Niekerk and Marion Leiberich of Team The Border Collies and the winning Mixed Team duo, Kerry-Anne Marshall and AJ Calitz of Team K-way New Balance, proved the closest of the competition.

Van Niekerk and Leiberich closed a sizeable gap to finish within 5 seconds of Calitz and Marshall on the second day, and the leading “Collies” were again competitive on Day Three. In the end, Calitz and Marshall raced home in third place overall to a well-deserved win in the Mixed Category, in both the stage and the race overall, clocking 6:13:36 for the three stage 74km event.

Leiberich and Van Niekerk finished just 45 seconds adrift of the Mixed Team duo in the final stage, to win the overall competition in a combined time of 6:31:28, well clear of second-placed Robyn Gardener and Leonie Schoeman of Team Handle with Flair.

“Today was great, I really enjoyed the trails,” said German-born Leiberich. “There was such a beautiful view running along the ridge and for me it was the most enjoyable stage. We worked well as a team and have different strengths that complemented each other. We haven’t spoken yet, but I’d love to team up with Lijan again and come back next year.”

“I could feel the tiredness in my legs,” admitted Van Niekerk. “But the stage was great and I loved the scenery. The trails were high in the mountains, with great single track through the fynbos – it was beautiful. I’ve always wanted to do AFRICANX and can’t believe that we won.”

RESULTS: THIRSTI AFRICANX Trailrun

STAGE 3

Date: Monday 21 March 2022

Distance: +-18km

Start Venue: Houw Hoek Hotel

Finish Venue: Houw Hoek Hotel

TOP 5 OPEN CATEGORY: STAGE 3

OPEN MEN’S TEAMS:

1 Kane Reilly and Daniel Claassen (Team Salomon) 01:19:49, 2 Lovemo Nyaude and Hakeem Smith (Team HTRCrew Goats)

01:33:27, 3 Wandisile Nongodlwana and Nicholas Rupanga (Team ASICS Mojos) 01:38:34, 4 Guido Tagge and Derrick Baard (Team 69) 01:39:04, 5 Kurt Karstadt and De Wet Albertyn (Team 81) 01:46:00.

OPEN WOMEN’S TEAMS:

1 Lijan van Niekerk and Marion Leiberich (Team The Border Collies) 01:37:17, 2 Robyn Gardener and Leonie Schoeman (Team Handle with Flair) 01:59:19, 3 Stephanie Laurie and Sarah Krumbock (Team DGAF) 02:10:25, 4 Kerry-Ann Elson (Team Easier said than run) 02:11:47, 5 Madeleen van Wyk and Marise Prinsloo (Team Jetlagged) 02:12:48

OPEN MIXED TEAMS:

1 Kerry-Ann Marshall and AJ Calitz (Team K-Way NewBalance) 01:36:32, 2 Paige Botten and Josh Van Niekerk (Team First Ascent) 01:49:40, 3 Greg Erlangsen and Melissa Laing (Team Pura) 01:54:49, 4 Jada Linstrom and Clinton Bosch (Team Limpuma Mojo) 01:57:01, 5 Brett Nattrass and Ronel Nattrass (Team Nattrass) 01:57:35

TOP 5 OPEN CATEGORY GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (GC): STAGES 1, 2 AND 3 COMBINED

OPEN MEN’S TEAMS:

1 Kane Reilly and Daniel Claassen (Team Salomon) 05:17:33, 2 Lovemo Nyaude and Hakeem Smith (Team HTRCrew Goats)

06:09:21, 3 Wandisile Nongodlwana (Team ASICS Mojos) 06:14:18, 4 Guido Tagge and Derrick Baard (Team 69) 06:37:45, 5

Casper Van Antwerpen and Jason Van Antwerpen (Team Revenants) 07:02:01

OPEN WOMEN’S TEAMS:

1 Lijan Van Niekerk and Marion Leiberich (Team The Border Collies) 06:31:28, 2 Robyn Gardener and Leonie Schoeman (Team Handle with Flair) 07:35:41, 3 Madeleen Van Wyk and Marise Prinsloo (Team Jetlagged) 08:17:58, 4 Stephanie Laurie and Sarah Krumbock (Team DGAF) 08:20:14, 5 Kerry-Ann Elson (Team Easier said than run) 08:33:15

OPEN MIXED TEAMS:

1 Kerry-Ann Marshall and AJ Calitz (Team K-Way NewBalance) 06:13:36, 2 Paige Botten and Josh Van Niekerk (Team First Ascent) 07:00:00, 3 Greg Erlangsen and Melissa Laing (Team Pura) 07:17:37, 4 Brett Nattrass and Ronel Nattrass (Team Nattrass) 07:33:01, 5 Jada Liinstrom and Clinton Bosch (Team Limpuma Mojo) 07:46:43

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