Feedback on Saturday 20th June’s Mid-Winter Sortie to Noordhoek’s Long Beach.

Feedback on Saturday 20^th June’s Mid-Winter Sortie to Noordhoek’s Long Beach.

Despite a cold 6 degree Celsius start to the morning, 29 smiling Trailers turned up for the mid-winter run along Noordhoek beach, though much hand rubbing and foot stomping was evident as the group signed in. With the shortest day of the year just one sleep away, three groups of Trailers set off along the pristine stretch of white sand in the dim morning light towards Slangkop lighthouse just after 7.30am.

Pete had arranged the weather perfectly and there wasn’t a breath of wind to deter us as we scampered along the hard, wet sand.  As the morning developed, the temperature rose to a balmy 10 degrees and our fingers defrosted as our blood started pumping. 

Seagulls and other sea birds were plentiful, as were the horses being exercised – galloping at full speed in the yellow-pink dawn light. It was a feast for the eyes;  the sky melting into the sea in soft layers of pinks, blues and greys, and the frothy waves lapping gently on the pale sand.

 

 

The recovery group stopped for photos at the wreck of the SS Kokopo.

(A short history lesson here: This steamship was on her way to Sydney when she ran ashore on 25 May 1900. A north-westerly gale had picked up and, with visibility impaired by driving rain, the captain mistook Chapman’s Peak for Cape Point and ordered ‘hard to port, full steam ahead’. Instead of sailing into False Bay the boat smacked straight into the beach. The boiler, rudders and ribs can still be seen sticking out of the sand.)

There were a couple of moist toes at the little river crossing despite Neil’s true gentlemanly assistance to the Recovery Group ladies but not sufficient to dampen our spirits, but the most challenging obstacle on this run was the glossy seaweed which lay in large piles on the dry sand as we rounded the little outcrop towards Kommetjie.  

 

This stretch gave us a leg-lifting, heel-sinking workout as we weaved between the slimy green-brown kelp and sent the scavenging birds scattering into sky.

It was just at the turnaround point that the sun made its glorious appearance over the mountain to the north and the flat-topped outline of Table Mountain was visible in the golden glow. A couple of surfers posed conveniently for a post-card photo op. ;)

The return run was even more beautiful and awe-inspiring than the outward one. The sunrise ahead lit the morning sky and the waves rolled gently onto the sand in their hypnotic rhythm. More horses greeted us as we approached the Chapman’s Peak shadows and we enjoyed watching them splash at the water’s edge. It was one of those mornings that could have gone on forever.

The statistics:

The main group of 18 runners did the full distance to the lighthouse - some 15 kms. The leaders managed an amazing sprint in 1h47 and the tail-enders ran up the boardwalk in 2h10 or so. 

The 6-strong recovery group did 12.5 kms in just over 2 hours and the 5-man (and woman) run/walk group did11kms in 1h 57m.

Blog post and photos by Lorraine Nevin                    

(If anyone has any more photos, please share! )

FEEDBACK: Saturday 13th June, Constantia Green Belts

42 runners arrived for a run on the Constantia Greenbelts. All three groups left from the Constantia Sports grounds and made their way up to Cecelia Forest parking via the Alphen and Klaasenbosch trails. The Main group did an extra loop in Cecelia Forest before heading back to the start via the Diep River Trail.

All three groups at Ceclia Forest.

The Main group completed 15km in 2hrs and the Recovery and Walk/Run groups completed just over 10km in 1hr 40min.

Main group route.

Well done to Elaine who has completed 25 sorties and wears a red trailers shirt, Leslie and Lorraine who have completed 50 (picture of Leslie below), and Richard who has completed 75 sorties.  I hope these achievements inspires our new recruits to continue to join us on Saturdays and run through the Cape Town winter.

Leslie wearing his green TMT shirt (50 sorties) with pride.

FEEDBACK: Saturday 6 June, Kleinplaas dam circuit

Rewarding views for our early morning efforts.

A break in the week's rainy weather meant a cold but clear Saturday run. The later winter start has also recruited more runners, with the Recovery group (or as Lorraine prefers, the Tweenies) being the same size as the Main group.

At 7:30, all three groups left from the parking on Black Hill road for the dams. The Main group did an anti-clockwise loop to the Kleinplaas dam, the Recovery group did a clockwise loop to the Lewis Gay dam and the Walk/Run group followed the short cut paths.

Route and profile of Main group.

The route was reasonably easy undulating bush trails with a few modest hills with some sandy stretches.  The week's rain had made the sand good for running.

The Recovery group at the Lewis Gay dam - Ballet poses!

Kleinplaas dam.

The Main group.

The Main group completed 14km and the Recovery group completed 11.6km in 1h 50min. The walk/run group came in at just over 2hrs for 10.4km.

Thank you to Piero for organising this week's run.

Treat! The proteas out and staring to bloom.

And some of the ladies in the Recovery group enjoy a well-deserved breakfast.

FEEDBACK: Saturday 30 May - 2nd leg of TMC

Fifteen brave runners huddled in their cars avoiding the rain until the very last minute and then made a mad dash for it. The Norwegians were right, the downpour stopped and other than the odd shower we had a pretty dry run. The advantage to running after rain is that all the streams and waterfalls in the forest are in full flow and there is something special about the smell of a wet forest with damp leaves and slippery boardwalks underfoot all adding to the adventure. Our route took us up to the contour path above the Kirstenbosch dam and then a little deviation up the start of the Window Gorge path and along to the start of Skeleton Gorge. Cecilia Waterfall was absolutely magnificent (see pic) and instead of the Volunteer Firefighters helping us across as is customary on the 2nd leg of TMC we had Geoff who turned himself into a human bridge. Thanks Geoff! Up the dreaded Rooikat Ravine we went and instead of heading back immediately along the contour path homewards we went up a bit more and then took the Mates Time Trial route down, a magnificent piece of single track to Constantia Nek. From there an easy jog back along the lower contour path to Cecilia parking lot.

The Recovery group consisting of Gae, Laura and Jo ran a 9.7km route in 1h45 – thanks Gae for leading. The Main group ran 12.1kms in just under 2hrs and our thanks to Hein for leading on us on a really lovely route. Thanks to Andrew Pitchers for the photographs.

Allison

FEEDBACK: Saturday 23 May 2015, Constantia Neck-reservoirs via Smuts Track

We had a great turnout (7 newbies) to this Saturday’s run, despite the looming cold front that lay ahead. The lead group was led by a super-lead group ie. Koji and Brigette, who lead until they took a wrong turn at Ash Valley and disappeared into the mountain mist. The normal lead group was lead at an ok-I’m-awake-now pace by master trail runner Hein, who did some extra milage with his looping backwards and forwards to make sure we were in tow. We took a short cut through the empty Hely Hutchinson Dam just to experience the moon-like terrain. Back on Smuts track we found Koji and Brigette making their way down Nursery Ravine - and raced them back to the carpark.

Gaeleen led the recovery group on a variation of the same route via Ash Valley, doing about 11.5kms in total. The lead group covered 13.9kms, and the super-lead group finished about 16kms.

Thanks everyone for an awesome morning on the mountain and well done to run manager (Tamsyn) os completing her 50th sortie.!

Tamsyn

FEEDBACK: Saturday 16 May 2015, Devils Peak

Just a couple of brave trailers pitched for a cloudy run on Saturday.  The three groups set off in the mist to the King's block house.  The Main group set off at blitz pace up Mowbray ridge and along the Middle traverse to Oppelskop.  Up and over the saddle, the Main group came back along Newlands Ravine.  The Recovery group set off along the Lower traverse towards Tafelberg road and came back along the contour track via Newland's path.  The Walk/Run group returned via the contour path to the start.

The Main group completed 12 km, with a lot of up, in 2hr 10min.  The Recovery group completed 11.3 km in the same time on a more undulating path.  The Walk/Run group completed 8.75km in 2hrs.

Recovery group at the King's Block House.

Some trailers waiting on the contour path.

Beautiful morning sunrise through the mist in Newlands forest.

Feedback: Saturday 9th May 2015: Deer Park

FEEDBACK ON SATURDAY MAY 10TH’S DEER PARK ROUTE

It was dark and windy in the Deer Park car park on Saturday morning but 29 souls managed to find the meeting point, despite the lady in the Googlemaps app sending us all on a wild goose chase into a cul-de-sac!

This route was a new one for the group, although a few of us have run it in the past couple of years as official participants in the annual VWS event.* The first half of the route consists of a loop in the direction of the southern suburbs, and the second half a straight out-and-back towards Tafelberg Road.  It’s an undulating route with lots of devilishly short, sharp ascents that require walking but, strangely, a seemingly unequal number of downhills. To spice things up a little, the main group headed off on a variant right from the very start, so they improvised pretty much the whole route but by all accounts enjoyed the scenery and company very much. The other two groups did manage to follow the intended track despite an almost-miss at the get-go! (*It was memory that prevented us from following in the footsteps of the main group rather than map-reading skills.)

The Main group was led by Richard and they covered 12.87km in an hour and 41 minutes, while the Recovery group, led by Pete, reported an 8.5km roller-coaster run in just over 2 hours. The Recovery group did 10.36kms in about an hour and a half.

It was one of ‘those’ days though: Mrs Googlemaps' misdirections, the lost main group, the disproportionate ascents… even the breakfast at the Deer Park Café afterwards was jinxed as there was load shedding and no decent coffee! Nevertheless, great fun was had by all.

A collection was taken for the VWS firefighters and we raised R1,350.00 Thank you. 

None of the groups managed to take any group photos (probably due to the huffing and puffing and searching for the right path) but we do have some lovely cloud images and views from Lize, Mmama and Craig.