'Legends of the Baviaanskloof'

^{SanMari Woithe}

David Robertson

Christo Muller

Emil Hougaard

Andre Willemse

Chris Gedye

Frantz Struwig

Siegfried Milbert

Ivan Cockcroft

Bennie Burger

Jaco Klopper

David Mills

James Reid

Elna Fourie

Billy Kirkman

Willem Muller

Dickie Weers

Henry Hill

Greg Raubenheimer

Christo Muller and SanMari Woithe and took the honours, and the prestigious spekboom crowns, at the 2011 Liberty Health Baviaanskloof Trail Run.

Christo ran a superbly judged race, to cross the line some 8 minutes ahead of Brad Mackenzie.

Christo Muller wearing his spekboom crown

SanMari underlined her domination with her third consecutive win in her best time over the course.

SanMari and Christo were presented with the magnificent Alan Ainslie black rhino trophies and took home their 'Baviaanskloof leopard spoor' awards in addition to their gold medals and spekboom crowns.

Men:

1 - Christo Muller (3:25:13)

2 - Brad Mackenzie (3:33:33)

3 - Hylton Dunn (3:37:49)

4 - Grant Wolff (3:53:24)

5 - Bruce Olden (3:54:23)

Women:

1 - SanMari Woithe (4:20:11) - 13th overall

2 - Elmarie Booysen (5:10:50)

3 - Kym Rolfe (5:14:00)

4 - Karin du Preez (5:25:12)

5 - Alison Pledger (5:28:15)

Highlight of the prize-giving was undoubtedly the presentation of the 'Legend of the Baviaanskloof' awards to the first 19 recipients.

# 1 - SanMari Woithe

# 2 - David Robertson

# 3 - Christo Muller

# 4 - Emil Hougaard

# 5 - Andre Willemse

# 6 - Chris Gedye

# 7 - Frantz Struwig

# 8 - Siegfried Milbert

# 9 - Ivan Cockcroft

# 10 - Bennie Burger

# 11 - Jaco Klopper

# 12 - David Mills

# 13 - James Reid

# 14 - Elna Fourie

# 15 - Billy Kirkman

# 16 - Willem Muller

# 17 - Dickie Weers

# 18 - Henry Hill

# 19 - Greg Raubenheimer

Congratulations to all our runners and special congratulations to our Baviaans 'Legends'. You are a very exclusive group.

The winners are presented with those stunning Alan Ainslie  black rhino floating trophies - well,  if 35kg of bronze could float!!.

Liberty Health has once again arranged really appropriate, rather special and unique take-home trophies for the first man and first woman - presentation mounted Baviaanskloof leopard spoor.

Not only four legs out there.

The Baviaanskloof wilderness area has a wide variety of wildlife - during the recent route recce this little chap was spotted.

The scorpion was left unharmed after the photo shoot (and the lens cover retrieved). No member of the recce team was harmed during this encounter.

The Reserve List will now be cleared until registration opens for the 2012 Baviaanskloof Trail Run.

Baviaanskloof Field Rangers Sebenzile Rwexu and Klass Kietas, whose entries have been sponsored by the organisers, were absolutely thrilled when they received their Inov-8 Flyroc 310 trail shoes.

Sebenzile and Klaas, who will be running their second Liberty Health Baviaanskloof Trail Run next month, will certainly find the scree section a lot easier this year.

Special Notice

Baviaanskloof Access

Excessive rains have recently resulted in large scale flooding throughout the wilderness area. Large sections of the R332 have sustained moderate to severe damage.

To prevent further environmental degradation, access to/through the Nature Reserve is hereby limited by management subject to the following conditions:

Vehicle restrictions:

In terms of GNR28181 Part (3) Section 15 no access will be granted to any vehicle/s except:

- True 4x4 vehicles with a min 190mm ground clearance and low range

-Licenced motorcycles capable of water crossings in excess of 600mm

-Only if travelling in a convoy or together with at least one other vehicle that also meets these requirements.

Times of entry and travel:

In terms of GNR28181 Part(3) Section 14 access will only be granted to:

-Day visitors if entering the gate between 07:00AM and 13:00

-Overnight campers (Rooihoek/Doodsklip/Bergplaas) between 07:00 and 15:00

Note: Non compliance to these measures will result in prosecution and a person on conviction may be liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five (5) years or a fine or both imprisonment and a fine.

Inov-8 donated two pairs of their highly desirable (and darn good looking!) Flyroc 310 trail shoes to the two Baviaanskloof Field Rangers who will be participating this year.

Sebenzile Rwexu and Klaas Kietas, whose entries have been sponsored by the event organisers, will each be wearing Flyroc's which are ideal for the technical loose scree on the Liberty Health Baviaanskloof Trail Run.

Brad and Aiden Mackenzie, representing Inov-8, with the shoes for Sebenzile and Klaas

A FAQ on the Liberty Health Baviaanskloof Trail Run -

What three attributes will benefit a Baviaans runner to assist with qualification for a 'Legend of the Baviaanskloof' award?

We've been told that these three head the list -

1 - High pain threshold

2 - Bad memory

3 - They forget the third

Images courtesy of Mike Webb