TRAIL RUNNING
( Bleep ) -ing Ourselves at Briefing
Due to COVID-19 , the race briefing was presented virtually , so our team dialled in from our respective homes and listened in horror as Adrian Saffy and the Pure Adventures team ensured we were properly s *** ing ourselves ! The weather forecast was horrible , with some of the worst weather to hit the area that week set to continue across the race weekend . As a result , the outdoor stores were hit hard the next day !
The team ’ s pre-race dinner : ( front , from left ) Herman , Mike , Anella , Adrian and Ed ; ( back ) Jaco , Riaan , Denis , Hilton , Daniel and Skippy
It ’ s at this point that we need to make mention of the excellent team at Pure Adventures – a consummate team of professionals , who put on a great show . The beautiful farms that the route passes through are also manned by many of the famers themselves , donating their time and land to us for the day , for which we were very grateful . ( Sure , at times we cursed them also , but we were mostly grateful !)
Also , we could not have arrived at the start line without the guidance from previous SkyRun finishers who helped us prepare for the day : John Black , who properly got us on track ; the runners at the FASYG group with their GPX route support ; and Skippy Claassens , a previous 65km Skyrun podium finisher and now the 2020 38km champion , for all his experience , advice and friendship . Another big thanks is owed to Wesley Brown and his team at Suunto . Wes introduced us to John , but was also a sponsor at the event . His team supported so many runners ( including our group ) on race day , also solving GPS watch and battery challenges thrown at them during the race .
Images : Nick Muzik & Reblex Photography & courtesy Ed Jardim
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