Upcoming Event - Ilanga Trail Series Misty Mountain

Ilanga Trail Series - Misty Mountain

Date: 15 February   07h30-13h00

Venue: Misty Mountain, Mpumalanga

Contact: Clive Smart - 082 894-0432

Event Website: Yes - Click Here

Enter Online: Yes - Click Here

Details:

The Misty Mountain Trails, maintained by the owners, take one into dense natural vegetation in the kloofs and along the escarpment edge, presenting spectacular views of the Lowveld below. The average elevation is 1700m. The property is a National Heritage site and the indigenous forests are magical, and the streams refreshing. The hospitality of the staff is old world and the food will break anyone's diet.

Accommodation Special at Misty Mountain

Please visit the Misty Mountain website for details of their Valentines Trail Runner specials!
Up to 30% off your accommodation bill!

20km

Runners must carry at least 1.5lt water. There will be ONE aid station with water and nutrition on the route.

SORRY NO WALKERS!

Minimum age on race day: 18 years old.

Cost: R120.00

12km

Runners should carry at least 1.0lt. There will be ONE aid station with water and nutrition on the route.

Minimum age on race day: 16 years old.

Cost: R80.00

6km

Minimum age on race day: 10 years old.

Cost: R50.00

Programme

Saturday 15th February 2014

06h15 - 07h30 Registrations at Start - Misty Mountain Resort

07h15 - 20km & 12km Trail Briefing

07h30 - 20km & 12km Trail Run starts

07h40 - 6km Trail Briefing

07h45 - 6km Trail Run starts

11h30 Prize Giving

General Information

Registration starts at 06h15 and the races start from 07h30 on Saturday 15th February.

Prize giving is to be held at 11h30 at the start / finish area. Medals to all finishers.

There is food and beverage available on the venue, please support our hosts, Misty Mountain they have really come to the party and we would love to return to the venue in the future.

Contact Info

Ilanga Trail Series - Clive Smart

Cell: 082 894 0432

E-mail: clive@ilangatrails.co.za

Web Site: www.ilangatrails.co.za

Running Video - The Mother

Sven's Terra Firma Trails - Kaapsehoop Trail A: Kaapsehoop - Barrett's Coaches - Wattles Loop

Introducing Mpumalanga as a Trail running destination, with regular trail reports and updates on what, where and how.

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Kaapsehoop has probably got to be one of the trails locally that get the most attention from trails runners and probably the reason most Nelspruit runners get into Trail. 

Being ±26km from Nelspruit its definitely one of the closest long trails in the area and has a lot to offer. The whole Kaapsehoop hiking trail is about 70km of mostly runnable, marked trail with not too difficult technical sections. 

I'm breaking it up into two more manageable routes. The Florence Hill route and this, the Wattles route. Wattles being the longer of the two at around 38km. Sorry to be guessing this, I went two weeks in a row and the first time the GPS stopped at Barrett's and the second time I only remembered to switch it on at Barrett's. 

Well the route to Wattles starts in the middle of the tiny town. Park your car and head out to the road, turn right and run about 300m until you see a trail to your left and a signpost that says Battery Creek Waterfall. This section starts off in the forest with a few short climbs and exits out onto sandstone trail that winds its way towards Barrett's Coaches. It's pretty straight forward going and well signposted. Its a short section to Barrett's at around 9.5km. 

From Barrett's you exit the small entrance gate and turn left up the hill towards the forestry offices and a short section of tar. Keep going and cross a cattle gate, follow the signs until you begin heading down into a ravine below. This section is probably the most technical section of the entire trail and winds its way along the edge of a mountain until it exits out onto a flat plain where you will find an intersection with wooden signposts - one saying Kaapsehoop Hut and another Wattles. Take the Wattles route (unless you are already tired which case opt for Kaapsehoop). The trail is pretty flat and runnable from here all the way to Wattles, winding along the edge of the escarpment with amazing views of the valley below. 

From Wattles you head towards a large communication tower and once again wind along the edge of the escarpment following the well marked trail with amazing trails all the way back to Kaapsehoop Hut. Order a pancake at Koek n Pan or any other restaurant and you're sorted. 

Please note that the Weather in Kaapsehoop is very unpredictable. You can have amazing clear skies on one day and thick mist the next. Winter is very nippy but this time of year is super ideal. The new grasses are growing and the trail isn't too overgrown.

Sven Musica

Mt Sheba Trail Run - Action Shots

Race Report - The Num-Num Trail Challenge

So now in its 3rd year, the Num-Num trail challenge is starting to prove itself as an incredible up and coming trail race, attracting some big names in the trail scene. And for good reason - the route profile is one of the closest to the biggest race on the calendar, the Otter African trail run. The Num-Num allows the runners to get an idea of how their training has been going throughout the year and the puts it to an incredible test. I stayed over with Landie and Christiaan Greyling at their parents’ house together with adventure racer and trail athlete Ryno Griesel. I psyched myself up for the event by learning everything I can from them, which didn't help much because they don't even Carbo-load! Their pre race meal consists of Lamb shank and veggies!

The Num-Num is a 36km / 5 day trail but we run it all in one go!

Day/Section 1 - Map

The race started early as I was seeded in the first group. My competitive spirit is always too high at these events (I can never hold back) so I naturally fell in behind and tailed Christiaan and Ryno (Salomon sponsored athletes). We covered a short stretch of tar and that was the last bit of smooth road for the rest of the race. As we hit the trail, it started with a good climb and it just went up and up and up, eventually climbing onto a plateau known as “Die Vlakte” at the 3km mark. This allowed one to turn the legs at a runners pace. At this point the eventual race winner Lucky Miya flew past me. This section is only a couple of meters long before you descend along steep cliffs, where a wrong step can really put one in a lot of trouble. It’s up and down from then on until you travel through the stone tunnel and arrive at the first check point.

Day/Section 2 - Map

The first part of this section allows you to get some running in but it is very technical, so you will only be running if you are confident. A runner that I had just passed took a nasty fall at that point and I could see that it destroyed his confidence as he fell back really quickly. But all that aside, this is a really beautiful section of the trail. You drop down to a small waterfall below and traverse along it, criss-crossing and boulder hopping along a stunning stretch of stream before you hit a super killer climb straight back up the mountain. Now when I say super killer, I mean there is no way anyone could run it! Hold onto those trees and grit your teeth until a relatively even uphill (not really) and then travel along a ravine climbing a few ladders till you get to a dirt ROAD. Now if you’re not too battered and bruised you get to run about 3 km of badly rutted jeep track until you hit the single track again and experience a quad killing decent. At this point I was a bit too brave and took my first face plant of the race after kicking a stump. Adrenaline and momentum got be going real quick again!  Once you get to the bottom you cross over an incredibly thin suspension bridge and this indicates the start of the insane climb up to Bermanzi Camp. This is where the gradient lines on the map form one thick solid line…

Day/Section 3 - Map

The start of day 3 is good going. It’s a technical decent that allows one to run while grabbing onto any branches possible until you eventually travel along the river. At this stage you cross bridges and climb a few ladders and the field is so stretched out that it becomes a very lonely section of trail. The trail eventually opens up to a stunning waterfall that I really hate. Seriously! It indicates the start of a mean climb and the point at which my legs locked up and cramped for the first time. Many baby steps later you finally end day 3.

Day/Section 4 - Map

If your legs are not locked up too badly day 4 is actually the one section where you can probably run the most. It has moderate climbs, a few really steep ones, but killer descents that give your quads moments to remember. It’s where you really have to think about how long your knee caps could last. At this section’s halfway point you reach a stunning section of forest where my legs locked up and cramped for a second time. This time so badly that any movement initiated more cramping. I got going again after a good stretching session and some super slow walking just in time for some more ladder climbing and descents before the start of the final section – day 5.

Day/Section 5 - Map

At this point things got a little blurry…I know you climb and climb and climb, only to descend again and climb down the longest ladder you will ever come across. Then descend, descend, descend some more down the canyon to the river where you can splash your face in the awesome winter stream. Then climb, cramp, climb, cramp and climb back out the canyon. If you are able to turn your legs over at this point you could make up some ground, traveling along a stream criss-crossing it until out of absolutely nowhere you see a whole bunch of faces showing no sympathy at all at the finish line.

See you on the trail!

Sven Musica

Murray (right). Image by Ilonka Potgieter

Sven (below). Image by Ilonka Potgieter

Sven (fake smile). Image by Ilonka Potgieter

Too fast for the photographer.

Andrew Dollenberg's GPS Elevation Chart

Nedbank / LVCC Results:

12^th SVEN MUSICA 05:31:04

40^th MURRAY ANDERSON-OGLE 06:59:31

43^rd ANDREW DOLLENBERG 07:11:43

Photos by Murray Anderson-Ogle