Hout Bay Trail Challenge
Stephan Granger / 02.08.2014
22 year old trail athlete, Kane Reilly, raced to an impressive victory in testing conditions in the 38Km Hout Bay Trail Challenge yesterday, clocking 4 hrs 09 min 57 sec, three minutes clear of Andrew Hagen, who challenged strongly in the final stages. Protea trail athlete, Christiaan Greyling, placed third.
Veteran trail athlete and former Puffer Trail winner, Karoline Hanks, made a welcome return to the top of the podium in a major trail race, winning in 5:13:03, 9 minutes clear of Linda Doke and Chantal Nienaber.
The tough circuit and technical nature of the mostly rocky circuit, combined with a vicious storm, proved a bridge too far for many athletes, with an unusually high 20% of the 220 starters failing to finish.
While the leading athletes escaped the worst of the rain-storm, which broke 4 hours into the race, the buffeting winds, in particular on the Back Table, impacted on performance. Under the circumstances Reilly’s winning effort, although 9 minutes off AJ Calitz’ record run last year, was outstanding – the third fastest winning time in the event’s 14 year history.
The race was robbed of an even closer contest with the withdrawal before the race of one of the favourites, Duncan O’ Regan, who placed second to Calitz last year.
“I had a good run out there,” Reilly commented. “ I managed to stay pretty relaxed and went out conservatively. I lost some time trying to find the first checkpoint, before Christiaan (Greyling) arrived to point it out.
“Ben Brimble, who was running in the team competition, was in front and then Martin Kleynhans burst ahead running like a maniac on the technical downhill section to the Sandy Bay sand dune! I managed to take the lead again towards the end of the first leg at Suikerbossie and stayed in front till the finish.
“But the Hout Bay is a tough race, and one should never be complacent. I found that to my cost with the ascent of Vlakkenberg at the start of the third leg. I felt completely depleted and although I had a sizeable lead over Andrew (Hagan) at Constantia Nek, I was horrified to see he had closed to less than two minutes up Vlakkenberg. “Fortunately I got my second wind and managed to open up again to the finish.”
53year old Mark Preen, one of the race founders 15 years ago, ran an exceptional race in arguably the performance of the day, placing 5thin 4:37:43, just 6 minutes off his best several years back. Also impressive was women’s master Maxine Reilly, mother of Kane, who clocked 6:19:07 to win the women’s masters category by almost 2 hours.
Hanks was in complete control in the women’s race, although Dokes drew level after 14km at the start of the climb up Lllandudno Ravine, with the two friends running together for a short stretch. But it was Hank’s day and she opened a clear gap on her rivals to win with some ease. “I felt strong and enjoyed the run,” said Hanks. “It was one of those days when everything came together and it is good to have this under my belt before racing Puffer (80km trail race) in September.”
Doke crossed the line in second, a minute ahead of Nienaber, but in a sporting gesture, penalised herself for having received assistance along the beach at the finish, with NIenaber awarded second prize and both athletes accredited with the same time.
