Month: December 2006

The weekend of the 8th-10th of December saw a group of keen athletes gearing up and taking lessons from the best in order to better prepare for the Midmar Duel Ultra Triathlon on the 28th January 2007.

The Midmar Duel constitutes a 1,9km swim or 15km canoe, 90km road cycle and 21km road run and is being used by some as a training milestone for Ironman later on in the year.  Event organiser Ian Feely and multiple triathlon champion, Glen Gore hosted the weekend. Glen has years of experience participating in and training others for these kinds of events and had plenty of tips for the athletes.

Although typical midlands summer weather made for a rainy two days, it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the camp participants who are no doubt feeling a lot more confident about tackling the ultra in January.

For more pictures and comments from the athletes visit www.duelultratri.co.za

A relatively new Challenge in the Trust’s events portfolio, the Sterling Powerade Big 5 MTB Challenge – iMfolozi ran for the second time in July this year.  Wildlands Conservation Trust in partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife host this event as part of a series of extreme cycling, running and biathlon events held in some of the provinces most pristine conservation areas.  This event aims to provide a unique sporting experience for cyclists and to raise much-needed funds for conservation initiatives in the province, with a large portion used for community-conservation projects in and around the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.

At 07:30am, just under 300 cyclists set off on a grueling 55-kilometre journey through Africa’s oldest proclaimed Game Reserve.  It was not just the spectacular sun rise over the hills of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi that made the start of this unique Challenge so spectacular, but also a visit by two large white rhino’s, just metres from the starting area. If it was big game the cyclists were looking for, it could not have got off to a better start!

The route began at Cengeni Gate at the southern end of the Park, travelled along a management track which runs along the southern fence line, crossed both the Black and White Mfolozi Rivers before climbing up to finish at the parks game capture unit, where Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife hold their annual game auction.  Park rangers were stationed along the route and had to carefully monitor two prides of lion, a herd of elephant and a number of rhino’s to ensure the cyclists’ safety. Cyclists also reported sightings of buffalo, giraffe, nyala, zebra, impala, wildebeest and many different bird species en route

Andrew McLeish of Team Nutrex Elite dominated the challenge on the day and came in with a record time of 02:31:16, beating Gary Benn’s 2005 winning time by over 15 minutes. He was followed by Con Malherbe of Team ABI in 2nd place and Craig Carter-Brown in 3rd. The ladies challenge was a closely fought battle with Nanette Cocksedge taking the honours in a time of 03:33:05, followed closely by Allison Haycock of Team Timber 24 in 2nd place and Sue Malherbe in 3rd.

A number iMfolozi staff also took up the challenge.  First from Team iMfolozi was Quinton Rochat in 7th place with 2:54:29, followed closely by Craig Reid, Chairman of the organising committee, and Conservation Manager of iMfolozi Park in 8th place with a time of 03:02:48 improving his 2005 time by over 40 minutes.

The event was a great success raising over R90 000 for conservation. A big thank-you to the event sponsors namely Powerade, Sterling Light Lager, ABI, Supersport, Netcare911, Mica, ATV Productions and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.  Also a special thank-you to all the cyclists and their families and sponsors for their generous donations.

For more information on the Sterling Powerade Big 5 iMfolozi MTB Challenge please visit http://www.kznwildlife.com/cycling_imfolozi.htm or e-mail imfolozimtb@mweb.co.za