SkyRun
Perfect Conditions At 20th Skyrun
Press Release / 21.11.2016
Perfect weather conditions at the 20th running of the legendary SkyRun presented by Salomon made for intense jostling for position between AJ Calitz, Christiaan Greyling and Lucky Miya for most of the race. Christiaan managed to pip virgin 100km route runner, Lucky, to the post in a time of 13hrs23min47sec with Lucky coming in at 13hrs31min58min. AJ Calitz took 3rd position in a time of 14hrs13min40sec.
"Today was an epic race for me, and definitely one of the best SkyRun's that I have ever attended, so I feel very blessed to be on top of the podium for the 20th SkyRun," says race winner Christiaan Greyling. "The trails were very fast and I knew I put a target on my back going out as quickly as I did, but I felt good and the amazing conditions definitely meant everyone would be going out for personal bests!"
The super hero award of the day definitely has to go to leading lady Nicolette Griffioen who finished in a staggering 7th position overall in a record-breaking time 15hrs16min08sec, taking almost a full hour off of Landie Greyling's 2014 record of 16hrs14min.
"The conditions today suited me perfectly, I don't like the cold so the warm weather was great for me," says Nicolette. "I was able to start out slowly and then pick up a nice steady pace through the race, I did have the record in the back of mind, so I am super stoked to have broken it and gotten the win. I will definitely be back – loved running this ultra!"
Ryno Griesel made a startling comeback from his injury he picked up at Addo in February earlier this year to set a new record for the 65km SkyRun Lite in a time of 8hrs46min22sec, followed almost 2hrs later in 2nd place by Mark Crandon and Dirk Immelman in 3rd position. "Having only recently come back from injury after having been off for 6 months, it was so awesome to be out in the mountains today and feeling strong," says Salomon sponsored athlete Ryno Griesel. "The perfect weather conditions and the fact that I was able to stick with the leading 100km runners helped me set this great time on the course – all in all a great day out in the mountains!"
"This has been an epic weekend for us at SkyRun, with definitely our best weather conditions in the last 10 years and a great day out for the competitors which was evident in all of our winners incredible times," says Race Director and Organiser, Michael de Haast from Pure Adventures. "We never believed we would ever see a lady run under 15 and a half hours on this course, but Nicolette Griffioen proved us all wrong by smashing the previously set ladies record with her remarkable run! We have had a great atmosphere here all weekend and aim to keep growing and improving SkyRun, keeping it at the forefront of trail running in SA for many years to come."
For more information about SkyRun and to see the full results please visit www.skyrun.co.za
RESULTS
Men's 100km Overall
1. Christiaan Greyling 13hrs23min47sec
2. Lucky Miya 13hrs31min58min
3. AJ Calitz 14hrs13min40sec
Ladies 100km Overall
1. Nicolette Griffioen 15hrs16min08sec
2. Karoline Hanks 19hrs28min12sec
3. Tracy Zunckel 19hrs51min54sec
65km Men's Overall
1. Ryno Griesel 8hrs46min22sec
2. Mark Crandon 10hrs40min51sec
3. Dirk Immelman 10hrs45min59sec
65km Women's Overall
1. Tarrin van Niekerk 11hrs58min17sec
2. Natasja Kask 12hrs33min35sec
3. Anadia Serfontein 12hrs33min40sec
SleepMonsters
