Get Ready For The 2016 South African Skyrunner Series
News Release / 21.12.2015
Thin air, vertical gain and technical difficulty are terms that skyrunners love to hear – it gets hearts racing. The 2016 Skyrunner® Series will be packed with all of these criteria, and padded with the excitement to match. With four SkyMarathons® and three Ultra Skymarathons®, the action will be as steep as the mountains deliver, taking skyrunners’ breath away for the third and best year yet.
Grown from just three races in 2014, the SA Skyrunner® Series is not only attracting local and international trail runners, but garnering interest from race organisers around the country.
Confirmed events in the 2016 series are as follows:
|
Event Name |
Date |
Distance |
Elevation (m+) |
Race Type |
| Drakensberg Northern Trail |
19th March | 40km | 2100 | SkyMarathon® |
| Ingeli SkyMarathon | 30th April | 42km | 1500 | SkyMarathon® |
| ClemenGold Wolkberg Trail Run |
6th August | 34km | 1900 | SkyMarathon® |
| Marloth Mountain Challenge |
24th September | 55km | 3500 | Ultra SkyMarathon® |
| Uitsoek SkyMarathon® | 22nd October | 37km | 2100 | SkyMarathon® |
| Lesotho Ultra Trail | 26th November | 50km | 3400 | Ultra SkyMarathon® |
The criteria for a SkyMarathon® are a minimum distance of 30km and minimum vertical gain of 2 000m (5% tolerance allowed), with a winning time of less than 5 hours.
The criteria for an Ultra Skymarathon® are that the parameters exceed that of a SkyMarathon® by more than 5%, with a vertical gain of at least 2 500m.
The term skyrunning was coined by the International Skyrunning Federation some 22 years ago, when Italian mountaineer Marino Giacometti who, with a handful of fellow climbers during the early1990s, pioneered records and races on Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa in the Italian Alps. The sport has taken the trail running world by storm in Europe, America, Asia and most recently the UK, and is growing with speed into southern Africa since the formation of the South African Skyrunning Association (SASA) in 2011.
"Since inception, the association's key objective has been to work closely with race organisers in laying down the foundations for a solid annual series, one that encompasses the best our country has to offer in terms on skyrunning," said SASA Chairman James Hallett. "For 2016 we will shift our focus to the runners and will be working closely with local running communities to encourage more participation in what has already proven to be an exciting annual race calendar."
Today, skyrunning has grown to span some 280 registered races worldwide, with more than 30 000 regular participants from 54 countries.
For more information about skyrunning visit www.skyrunning.co.za or follow SASA onTwitter or Facebook.
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