Other Trail Running Groups

A quick, rough guide to the regular weekly free trail groups in and around Cape Town

The  groups referred to here are by no means the only clubs and organisations that offer trail runs but these groups above are open to all runners, not just club members. For these groups, there are no fees payable for attending the runs. You may be asked to contribute by leading a run, doing car-guard duty or lifting other members however.

There is no insurance involved.  You run entirely at your own risk.

You don’t need to RSVP to any of these group runs unless specifically requested.  You just rock up and run.  You may be required to fill in an attendance register at the run though. Most of them will announce the week's meeting place on their facebook page.

You are expected to know the general rules of trail running and which kit to wear and carry for the different weather conditions.  If you don’t know then you must ask.


TUESDAY TRAILS: Tuesday 6pm is a standard, follow on Strava for other runs & events. Solid people, good vibes, beers, poly/cotton tee's & truckers. 4 speed groups: Snakes, Old School, Ideas Crew, Packers. They rotate between Newlands Forest and somewhere on the Town side of Cape Town. They never run the same route, they like to climb and they are always searching for single track. Leaders are all volunteers, nobody is a dick and having a jol is the main aim after running. Follow on Insta at @tuesdaytrails for other info and good vibes.

CRAG / CSAG / CWAG:  Wednesday evenings.  A pack run that caters for most trail runners.  Not  what I would call a beginner runner group as you need to be able to do 10 -15km of technical trail with confidence but once you have some base fitness then this is one of the first groups you need to join.  Lots of experienced trail runners to advise you.  The running group has recently been split in two.  CRAG is the Faster Group and CSAG (Shufflers) is a slower running group.  CWAG is the walking group for a brisk walk on the mountains.

CELTICS:  Thursday evenings.  4 – 5 Pace groups which cater for just about all speeds from slow to super-fast.  If in any doubt, start with the slowest group and work your way up over time.  A great place to kick off your trail running although you do need some base fitness (must be able to run 10km) even for the slowest group.

CHICKS WHO TRAIL: Also Thursday evenings in Town. Women's trail running community in South Africa for all things girl. And trail. And badass. Functional training, yoga sessions, running retreats, social races, nutrition, skills workshops. Great beginner's academy.


MATES:  Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings.  Similar to K-Way VOB Longer Faster Group and often a little (or a lot) more hard core (extreme terrain) but definitely do-able for most experienced trail runners.  Helps to be a beer drinker.




It's a good idea to subscribe to Tim Bellair's weekly email circular by sending a blank (subject and main body) email to vobtrailrunners+subscribe@googlegroups.com


You may also like to register as a trail runner with TrailWP.

Trail WP is a public, non-profit organisation established for promoting the interests of Trail Running as a sport and recreational pastime in the Western Province, at all times conducting its activities in a manner that encourages the fullest participation of all the members and ensuring that such activities are for the benefit of and widely accessible to the general public. More details are available on their website: www.trailwp.org.za.


The objectives of the Association are

(a) To develop and foster the sport of Trail Running.
(b) To encourage members to participate in Trail Running at all levels.
(c) To represent the interests of members at all levels of administration.
(d) To ensure that Trail Running is conducted with due consideration for the environment and other trail users.




No comments: