Namibian-born athlete, Wano Katjiri, enjoyed one of his best days out on the trails, earning a hard-fought victory over Patrick Cameron-Smith in the annual Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge over 38km, the first leg in the four-race Mountain Challenge series by Wildrunner.
Five hundred trail athletes enjoyed perfect late autumn conditions to complete one of the 12,5km, 21km and 38km races in the mountains surrounding Jonkershoek Nature Reserve near Stellenbosch over the weekend.
Former winner of the historical PUFFER race between Cape Point and Green Point, Cameron-Smith, pushed Katjiri all the way, using the more technical aspects to his advantage.
The two athletes were together over the challenging Swartkloof Pass in the first quarter before Katjiri moved clear on the forestry roads approaching halfway, running through the checkpoint at 17km in 1:57:08 – just over four minutes clear of his rival.
Cameron-Smith closed strongly on the technical descent in the third quarter and drew level shortly before the27km checkpoint, which they ran through together in 3:05:10.
Katjiri put the hammer down as the route eased in the last kilometres, opening a decisive gap to win by 7 minutes in 3:46:51, 6 minutes inside last year’s winning time. Veteran Dom Wills trailed a further 13 minutes back in third place.
Mia Uys found herself 8 minutes adrift of fast-starter Courtenay Gerber through 17km in the women’s 38km race and although she started to close the gap in the second half, Gerber held on for a 4 min 40 sec victory in 4:39:12.
Strong-running sports shop manager, Brandon Keeling, held too many aces in the half marathon, running through for a comfortable 5:20 victory over Nicholas Campbell in 1:38:33, with Anni de Klerk holding sway in the women’s competition, winning by two minutes over Gianna Marais.
A crisis for Vincent Buter minutes before the start of the 12,5km was narrowly averted when his friend, Deon Bochnig, arrived with an extra pair of trail shoes for Buter, who had arrived with none. He took little time to get used to them, soon racing into a lead he held to the finish, winning in 49:10. Ironically, Bochnig finished second, 3:36 in arrears.
Results
Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge 38km
Men
Women
Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge 21km
Men
Women
Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge 12,5km
Men
Women
