Attakwas Mountain Bike Race 2011 Jan 15

So I did the good old Attakwas again with that I mean the 130km one for the 3rd time and I love it. It is such a stunning mtb race thru the Attakwas kloof over the mountains thru streams, watering points with ice cold watermelon and juice, what is there not to love!!! Okay well the last section is the one which is debatable the steep, long hard district road climbs where thousands of ants scuttle around on the hot road. This year it felt that they where scuttling uphill much faster then me, Christmas was good to me and in that way I don't mean with presents. But granny over here didn't do to badly I came 2nd in the ... ... category (didn't want to give the age away but suppose I should or one thinks I entered the kiddies race) the sub vet category! Overall I got no clue but time wise I did 7.36hrs and pretty happy with that with the training I managed this Christmas. The good old bike did well and the packet of GU Chomps was devoured with glee. Thank you to Pennypinchers for all the support and making it possible to do these fun, hard races and to GU for making it possible to finish them. Over and out Netski

Kurland Summer trail Run 12th Jan 2011

Kurland Summer Trail Run hosted by Pennypinchers Adventure Racing Team 12th Jan 2011

At gathering around a fire ( a braai) in early December while the Team was discussing the plans for 2011 I suggested it might be fun to organise a trail run and I have got just the spot to do it if we can get the permissions from the land owners. Peter and Zander Behr were only to happy if not a bit bemused to allow us to do a run across two of the most beautiful pieces of land in the Crags.

With the mix of the current team we were able to pull off an amazing event.Jeff and his son Brandon were seen shirts off sweating clearing the route. Netski sorted out the kiddies race and Chris arrived back from holiday the day before the event and put his expert skills of route marking and sweeping into place on the day. Race day arrived and we all pulled in our wives and partners to help with marshaling and entries. The day turned out to be a huge family affair with Jeff's Welsh in laws adding an international flavour to our team.

Chris,Netski and lettuce take in the flood of late entries.

The inaugural Kurland Summer Trail run which was organized by the Pennypinchers Adventure Racing Team was held on the grounds of the Kurland Hotel and the neighboring Kleinberg Estate on a hot Wednesday afternoon. The race was organized with two with two aims in mind firstly to have a trail run in the Plettenberg Bay area over the holiday period and secondly to raise awareness and some funds for two local charities, The Kids of Kurland and Mind the Gap charities which do a huge amount of good work in the local Kurland Village.
There were three different events on hand a 1,5km Adventure trail for kids, a 4km trail run for novices and the not so fit and the then the main event a 12 km trail run. The routes were clearly marked for all three races with the kids following a meilie meal trail through the forest and across paddocks back to the start where they all received a certificate and a gift. The 4 km route followed the 12 km route up a gentle hill through the forest before turning down hill and back to the start past galloping polo ponies and the green manicured polo fields.

The 12 km runners head into the mountains

The 12 km route continued up hill to the 3,5k mark and then the forest opened up into a spectacular fynbos filled valley. A long gentle downhill bought the runner s to the water point on the course , a clear cold mountain stream where many lay in the water to cool off and the racing snakes scooped a couple of mouth full’s of water and sped off only to be greeted by a steep firebreak that got every one walking. The views from the top of the firebreak stretched as far as Robberg and the sea and were well worth the effort. From here the course speeded up with and undulating section of roads and jeep tracks to the finish.

Guy Dempster downs a bottle of Independent Milk at the finish of his 4km Run

A total of 120 athletes took part in the races and the winners in each category were rewarded with prizes from many local sponsors including Ocean Blue, Plett Puzzle Park, Advanced Massage Therapy, Knysna Cycle works, 34 Degrees South, Spur Plett ,Independent Milk and Pennypinchers.Photos from Glen Murray addeda great touch to the event.

Winner of the men’s 12 km race was local running club athlete Chris De Villiers described the route as tough but awesome. His winning time of 60min and 55 secs was a couple of minutes ahead of Knysna junior Nic Cuthbert and Martin Fraser Mackenzie. The ladies race was won by Georges Chantal Nienaber with Kerry Roos and local Kerry Ravenscroft in second and third respectively.
Peter Behr of Kurland hotel was one of the Novice runners in the 12 km run and despite being absolutely “buggered’ he really enjoyed the run and was going to definitely train for the next one.

The Kurland Mielie Meal Kids race saw 24 children ranging from age 1 half to 14yrs old participate. The trail consisted of following mielie meal arrows which took the children thru forest jeep track, single track, fern forests, puddles and grassy meadows. The race/walk was about 1 half km starting and finishing at the same place as the 12 and 4 km race. The mom's and dad's who where not racing in the trail run come along or provided support at the finish line for the little ones. Jeff from the Pennypinchers AR Team had to run fast in front trying to keep ahead of the eager children while the rest of the mielie meal hunters stayed at the back with other Pennypinchers AR Team member Jeannette to explore the forest. Each child received a certificate congratulating them on completing the trail with prizes for each one of them. The children's entry fee went towards helping the unprivileged children in Kurland. It was a fun filled afternoon with lots of smiles and dirty feet to show. Thank you to all of the children who came along.

With the explosion of trail running in the rest of the country the Pennypinchers Adventure Racing Team has committed to organizing more amazing runs in the Garden Route especially in the Plett area. They are part of the mission to help make Plettenberg Bay the Nature Sports Capital of Africa. Look out for the Easter Trail Run to be hosted by the Team over the Easter weekend at another amazing venue in the Plett area.

Kurland Summer Trail Run

Everthing is in place for the Kurland Summer Trail Run to be held on January 12th. The route will be appreciated by all trail runners from beginner to experienced trail gurus. Entries can now also be found on trailrunning.co.za

Dont forget there is something for everyone, a 12 km,4km and even a fun kiddies event.

Contact James on 082 9257885 or email jlettuce@xnets.co.za

The Knysna Ghost Adventure Race December 16

Pennypinchers Adventure Racing Team member Jeannette spent her public holiday running around Knysna in the rain with about 30 other crazy people. The weather was actually perfect for the Knysna Ghost which was a small adventure race covering a distance of 50km with 5 transitions which kept the seconds on there toes. It all started with a 5km run at Crabs Creek along the phantom pass rd to a local farm along the Knysna River where we climbed in for a paddle back to Crabs Creek. Onto the mnt bike traversing across the mnt to Buffalo Hills River Deck to clip our second check point, along the road to our next transition at Buffalo Backpackers where the run started. Awesome single track thru the coastal vegetation which then took us the beach all the way to Brenton on Sea where we got back onto our bikes across the railway line just past the St James headland and back into our canoe's to paddle across to Crabs Creek. We had to collect six check points along the way. It was a real good fun event, well organized Thanks to Pax and Louise and all the helper. But big thanks to my super second Colin who made it to every spot in time and collected all his checks points as well which the seconds had to collect as well making it interesting for them to.
Results Jeannette Walder 1st lady and 3rd overall in the solo.


From the local press

LOCALS CLEAN-UP at inaugural Knysna GHOST!!

Two of the Garden Route’s top athletes – Marcel Roos and Jeanette Walder stunned the crowds at the first ever Knysna GHOST Adventure Route held in Knysna last Thursday 16th Dec.

Despite the shocking cold wet and windy weather conditions, hard core athletes turned out in their droves. Solo and team participants set out at pace from the start at Crabs Creek for a 5km dirt road run. At transition 1, the solo competitors rushed for their boats, whilst the team participants switched racing vests for the second leg of the race, a 7km paddle down the Salt River. Transition 2 saw the mountain bikes racing off through some magnificent pine forests, negotiating some tricky sandy terrain, to end up at The River Deck and Buffalo Bay, where a 7km trail and beach run was next on the cards. At Nauticus, Brenton on Sea, competitors again reached for their bikes to negotiate the railway line over the lagoon and back to the Point to grab their boats for the final leg home and back to the finish at Crabs Creek. Race marshals had barely finished eating their delicious breakfasts, when the winning competitors came into sight over the very choppy lagoon!

Local “Younguns” - and team of 3 Bradley Nelson, Grant Ayton and Rory Sandberg won overall with a winning time of 3h13minutes. Hot on their heels, and only 3 minutes behind them, was local “Toppies” team, Jan and Rhoda Zonnestien, and MTB champ, Paul Mickelwood. The first Solo man was local hero and tri-athlete Marcel Roos who completed the 50km route in 3 h 23 mins. He was followed by Danie Leonard from Blanco who came in 9 minutes later. In third place overall, and comfortably winning the ladies solo category was renowned adventure racer, Jeanette Walder who completed the course in 3hrs 39 minutes. Kate Southey took second place in the ladies solo category. The winner of the teen category was Team Merrell consisting of Wouter Bezuidenhout, Benjamin Gilomee and Michaela Beers. In second place in the teen team category, was Oak Hill team Amy Williams, Jonty Andrews and Anola Walk.

Said race organiser Pax Mosterd of Garden Route Events and sponsor Ultimate Cycling, “I am overwhelmed by the performance of the pro athletes on this course who have set some mean times to beat next year. It was equally awesome to see the less competitive entrants having such a blast. See you again next year”.

Kurland Summer Trail Run by Lettuce

Summer Trail Run
12 JANUARY 2011, 4:30PM

The Pennypinchers Adventure Racing Team has decided to put on a trail run over the Xmas holidays to make sure that people don’t eat too much Christmas pudding and those that do will have an opportunity to work it off before the end of the holidays.A portion of your entry fee will be going towards two local charities here in the Crags Mind the Gap and Kids of Kurland.

Living in The Crags I had a pretty good idea of a route and with permission from Peter and Zander Behr the team headed into the hills above the Kurland Estate to scout a route that would suit our needs. The area is so beautiful and cut out for trail running that we had to restrain our selves from running all day and just work on a route that would be suitable for everyone.

The route that we have chosen is roughly 12 km long with 375m of climbing. The run starts with a gradual climb into the back of the Kleinberg. This climb is rewarded with a view over the Crags towards Robberg and an easy 3 km down hill to a cold mountain stream where the runners can sip the pristine waters as refreshment. After the stream the runners will leave the jeep track and head over the Kleinberg on a fire break choosing their own route down the other side. From here the route speeds up for those that still have some energy and follows some winding roads past natural forest, honeybush tea plantation and horse paddocks. The Pavilion comes into sight but there is still some work to do as the runners follow some single track back to the finish line.

If that sounds to tough there is a 4km fun run that will given novices a small taste of running through the forest and around the well groomed Kurland grounds. Our preprimary school teacher Jeannette will be putting together a mini trail run for the kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old with the moms or dads able to go along for some fun.

The restaurant and bar will be open at the Pavilion with some light meals and ice cold refreshments for runners and spectators.

The late afternoon start (Registration from 3:00pm start at 4:30pm) should provide for a cool run with a great opportunity for sundowners at the spectacular Pavilion.

Send me an email to recieve an entry jlettuce@xnets.co.za

The 12km Kurland Summer Trail Run is restricted to 100 runners only so please print a copy of the entry form and indemnity and fax it with proof of payment to 0866192563.