FinishTime Newsletter NEWSLETTER: April / May 2024 Don’t let the chilly weather stop you As the thermometer drops, we are now just a few weeks away from one of South Africa’s most famous endurance sporting events and the winter sporting season is ramping up. It is hard to miss the arrival of Comrades Fever as runners all over the country pound the pavements and roads, desperately trying to prepare for their 85,91km date on June 9.…
"Apr/May ’24: Don’t let the cold stop you"Tag: Trail Running
FinishTime Newsletter NEWSLETTER: March / April Paris beats 60-hour cutoff First of all, an apology … Regular readers of this esteemed newsletter will probably already know about the Barkley Marathon. The editorial team at FinishTime is a bit fixated on the American off-road ultra marathon, but we were determined this year to ignore the event after faithfully reporting on it for three years in a row – after all, we do try and give the…
"Mar/Apr 2024: Paris beats 60-hour cutoff"
BERGVILLE – Andrew Hill took a break from his holiday to quickly notch up a win at the Drakensberg Extravaganza Mountain Bike race at the Champagne Sports Resort on Saturday (Nov 23) — and he is planning to make it a weekend double at the road race on Sunday (Nov 24). The TIB Insurance rider and his wife, Bronwyn, were enjoying a short holiday in the Berg when Hill heard about the Drakensberg Extravaganza events…
"Hill breaks away to win Drak Extravaganza"
Champagne Sports Resort and nearby Bergville provide the focus for the opening weekend of the Drakensberg Extravaganza sport and cultural festival when the cycling and running events kick off the physical activities of the 11-day fiesta. This week saw a tourism summit and a business fair opening the Extravaganza and then a jazz festival will take place on Friday. However, the action steps up a notch over the weekend with the mountain biking and trail…
"Stedman back to defend his Drakensberg title"
The eyes of the South African cycling (and running) community will focus on the small Drakensberg village of Bergville next week when the Drakensberg Extravaganza rolls into town for a sporting and cultural festival. The Drakensberg Extravaganza is about more than just cycling and running, but the trail run and mountain bike event at Champagne Sports on Saturday November 23, and the road cycling race which starts and finishes in Bergville the next day, are…
"Bergville becomes the centre of attraction"
Mountain biking, road cycling, trail running and a road running event unite next month in the Bergville area as the highlight of the of the sporting side of the Drakensberg Extravaganza multicultural festival. The 10-day festival of cultural and sporting events in the Bergville and Champagne Valley region of KwaZulu-Natal will once again offer something for everybody with a variety of activities ranging from off-road and on-road cycling, trail running and a road-running marathon to a series…
"Sport & culture together for Drak Extravaganza"
On Saturday some of the country’s top trail runners will line up for the Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge, the opening leg of the Bos Sport Mountain Challenge Series. The man to beat in the main 39km event is likely to be defending champion Bernard Rukadza who held off Edson Kumwamba in 2018 to record the fastest time for the 39km distance. Rukadza has only not won the event once since the 38km distance was introduced in…
"Jonkershoek Challenge kicks off series." Tyronne White and Christie-Leigh Hearder emerged as double champions at the Fuel & Gas Kamberg Classic MTB & Trail Run on Sunday. White (Team Ballito Bicycle Co), winner of last month’s Wartburg Classic, edged out Andrew Hill (Darkhorse Wheels) in Sunday’s 65km MTB race to consolidate his early lead in the Quattro ROAG Series. Meanwhile last year’s joint women’s ROAG Series champion and also a winner in Wartburg, Christie-Leigh Hearder, also made it two wins from…
"White, Hearder win Kamberg" The North West Province will be treated to a weekend of exciting off-road racing when the 17th annual FNB Magalies Monster MTB Classic returns to ATKV Buffelspoort on Saturday, June 1, 2019; followed by the 7th annual FNB Platinum Trail Run a day later. The FNB Magalies Monster MTB Classic and the FNB Platinum Trail Run provide a perfect weekend breakaway for families. The events aim to provide the best off-road routes on offer in…
"Buffelspoort set for exciting off-road racing" It is called the Sani Stagger due to its tough nature. Starting and finishing at the Premier Resort Sani Pass Golf Course, the Sani Stagger winds its way up to the top of Sani Pass through the Lesotho Border Post to the summit of the Pass making it truly an international race. What makes this out and back race so tough is that you start at an altitude of 1566m and climb to 2873m over…
"No staggering at Sani"