Records fall at “toughest” 4 Peaks Mountain Challenge

Gauteng trail athlete, Simon Tshabala, in his 'happy place' descending the peaks en route to victory in the K-Way 4 Peaks Challenge. Photo: Craig Kolesky - Nikon

Gauteng trail athlete, Simon Tshabala, in his ‘happy place’ descending the peaks en route to victory in the K-Way 4 Peaks Challenge. Photo: Craig Kolesky – Nikon

By Kelly Burke

Multiple records fell at the K-Way 4 Peaks Mountain Challenge on Saturday (September 25) in a memorable day for event organisers.

Dubbed as the toughest 24km trail race in South Africa with a vertical accent of over 1800m, the race takes place on the picturesque Free State Moolmanshoek Private Game Reserve.

In his fifth 4 Peaks race, leading Gauteng athlete and winner of the inaugural Maxi Winelands 100km in 2019, Simon Tshabalala, took podium position, taking six minutes off the previous course record in a time of 2hrs38min58sec, followed just 1 min 22 sec later by local Free State road athlete Chabeli Nyedimane, with Collin Kanyimo 3^rd a further eight minutes back.

“I am so very happy to have not only won today’s K-Way 4 Peaks Mountain Challenge race, but to have also set a new course record,” says winner, Tshabalala. “I had a tough time in my training for this race, but it all fell into place today and I had a great run. The first peak is definitely the toughest, and by the time I got over the 4^th peak and was able to focus on the downhills, my speciality, I was in my happy place!”

Nicolette Griffioen proved once again why she is one of the best, taking 20 minutes off the previous course record and coming in 8th overall in an amazing time of 03hrs44min21sec, Tara-Lee van Zyl came in 2nd place, and 10th overall, in a time of 03hrs47min15sec and 3rd place, 14th overall went to Trudie Carstens in 4hrs07min23sec

Leading South African ultra-trail runner, Nicolette Griffioen, in action and on her way to winning the K-Way 4 Peaks Challenge. Photo: Craig Kolesky – Nikon

The Four Peaks terrain is definitely not for the faint of heart and good preparation is a must. Four very distinctive peaks make up the race as athletes circle around the Moolmanshoek valley. The route is not marked and there are some very steep sections along the route that need to be navigated, with the two toughest climbs behind the Jakobsberg and Visierskerf. 4 Peaks is a fully unsupported race, meaning that all athletes will need to carry everything they need for the race on their person.

Race Results

Men

1. Simon Tshabalala 2hrs38min58sec

2. Chabeli Nyedimane 2hrs40min20sec

3. Collin Kanyimo 2hrs48min01sec

Women

1. Nicolette Griffioen 3hrs44min21sec

2. Tara-Lee van Zyl 3hrs47min15sec

3. Trudie Carstens 4hrs07min43sec

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Stephen Granger