Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 54, January 2014 | Page 24

Race Calendar (continued) North West Acres, near Upington, 6am, Heidi Coetzer 082 779 6013 CENTRAL NORTH WEST NORTH WEST CAPE Saturday 18 January Bert’s Great Brick Half Marathon, 10km & 5km, Olenpark Rugby Stadium, Potchefstroom, 6am, Theo Coetzee 083 538 3162 Saturday 25 January Ottosdal Nite Marathon, Half Marathon, 10km & 5km, Ottosdal Show Grounds, Koster Street, Ottosdal, 5:30pm, Willa Naude 018 571 0049 (W) Sunday 26 January New Balance Trail Run 12km & 6km presented by Isuzu, Buffelspoort Dam, 7am, Nicola Collins 021 883 2413 No races scheduled for this period NORTH WEST NORTH Wednesday 1 January Standard Bank Swazi Slojos Half Marathon & 5km, Somhlolo National Stadium, Ezulwini, 6am, Lynne Taylor 00268-7602 0202 No races scheduled in this period Northern Cape GRIQUALAND WEST Saturday 11 January Finlime Flat One Marathon, Half Marathon, 10km & 5km, Lime Acres Recreational Club, Central Avenue, Lime Neighbouring Countries NAMIBIA Saturday 18 January Breakfast Run Half Marathon, 10km & 5km, Jubber Hockey Field, Olympia, Windhoek SWAZILAND Orienteering Monday 30 December – Saturday 4 January BIG 5 O-Week, Ngodwana, Mpumalanga, Event Office 082 898 7871 Spur Cape Summer Trail Series, Western Province, 15 & 29 January. Triathlon & Duathlon Sunday 19 January Siyakhula Swim, Orient Beach, Amathole, Eastern Cape Saturday 25 January Totalsports XTERRA Lite Buffelspoort, Buffelspoort Dam, North West, Hendrico Burger 021 883 2413 (W) Sunday 26 January Totalsports XTERRA Buffelspoort, Buffelspoort Dam, North West, Hendrico Burger 021 883 2413 (W) Ironman South African 70.3, 1.9km/90km/21.1km, Buffalo City, Eastern Cape, Werner Smith 041 736 8509 (W) Adventure Racing Sunday 19 January Spur Adventure #4 Duo (long course MTB & Trail Run – individuals) & Sprint (short course MTB & Trail Run with water crossing – teams), Lourensford Wine Estate, Somerset West, Western Cape, Quantum Adventures 021 789 0188 (W) THANKS, TOM & NEDBANK This Race Calendar has been compiled with the help of Tom Cottrell, author and publisher of the Nedbank Runner’s Guide 2014 to Road and Off-road Races in South Africa. Now in its 22nd edition, the Runner’s Guide is an essential companion for every racer in SA, providing valuable info including venues, start times, route descriptions and everything else you may want to know about a race. ADVERTORIAL Taking part in a three-day stage trail run as part of a two-member team is a challenge in itself, but imagine meeting your team mate for the first time the night before the start of stage one! This was the case for Al Leslie and Matthew Daneel at the 2013 ProNutro AfricanX Trailrun presented by New Balance, but the experience was so memorable that they’re teaming up again for the 2014 event. “I t was a combination of fear and laziness that caused my original partner to withdraw, then two more partners withdrew due to injury or family commitments, so in desperation I put my name on various Facebook pages and had three enquiries before the day was out,” says Al. “The second and third were from two girls, who I later met and discovered to be stunningly beautiful top trail runners, but unfortunately I signed up with the first one to reply. Luckily, Matt turned out to be a machine and the most memorable part of the race was the scenery, getting to know Matt, bantering with other runners and the cold beer at the end. In 2014 I will be looking forward to more of the same!” Matt’s take on things is the same: “Al is a crazy funny Brit and had me in stitches 90% of the time, and we’ve been keeping team spirits high for the 2014 reunion of ‘Team Satisfaction Octopus.’ We had so much fun on the trails, but still managed a 10th overall finish, and we’d love to improve on that. The event atmosphere was incredible, many new friendships were formed, and the ProNutro AfricanX Trailrun was definitely my most memorable event thus far. 24 ” ISSUE 54 JANUARY 2014 / www.modernathlete.co.za EVENT DETAILS DATE: 14-16 March 2014 FORMAT: Three-day stage race for teams of two (male/female/mixed) VENUE: Festival Village on Houw Hoek Inn grounds, near Grabouw, Western Cape DISTANCE: 33km, 38km & 25km MORE INFO: www.stillwatersports.com or [email protected].