Saturday Runs

CAPE POINT "WESKUS" , 13 Dec 2008
Graeme T reports back:

As the day to do this run approached I felt more and more apprehensive about whether it would please everyone.  Too long?  Too short?  Too hilly?  Too flat?  You can never please everybody!

With the south easter hitting us at broadband speeds throughout the week my last reminder post advised battening down the proverbial hatches and wearing dust masks to cope with the potentially lethal winds at the Point.  Well, were we in for a pleasant surprise arriving bleary eyed and baboon ready at the carpark near the pointy end of the reserve on Saturday morning?!  A cooling waft of moving air decorated with some small scudding hi-altitude clouds which were soon to scud off… Classic.

Thanks to Georgie and Pops Casey for getting out of bed and finding the “right” lighthouse carpark to meet at; and they brought their hangovers out for a run too! Superb effort..

The route eventually chosen, pretty much at the last minute, turned out to be one of those near perfect courses.  Wooden board walk, rocky outcropped view points, gravel stairs, rock scrambling bits, succulent dune vegetation, soft, firm, wet and dry beach sand, single track, technical downhill and only about 200m of tarred road were some of  the variety of surfaces encountered.  Dreadful.

Our “loop” was a near carbon copy of the run Jade and I took whilst tripping the outing a month back with the fortunate addition of a 3 or 4 K section down Platboom beach which yielded a close up sighting of Bontebok, with 2 calves in tow, as well as the lesser spotted genus, Surfskipaddlerhorribilus in the form of Greg “was once a member of HaHa” Davies and crew preparing for a trans-point migration in the balmy conditions.

This run simply has to happen again so get a Wild Card and watch this space closely..  Thanks to all who made it and special thanks to the shutterbugs Anneliese and Jade de Piglet for the images. View pics here>>

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Of late, our Saturday morning runs have largely comprised of trail runs around the peninsula, what better way to spend the morning... great company, good laughs, awesome terrain, splendid views... pure exhilaration!

Check out the Cape Point trail run pics from the 28 of June and see what you missed out on. (Photos courtesy of our en-route photographer, Anneliese.)

Graeme reports:

Cape Point Outing was a success...

We got rained on and Dom was chased by the Baboon monitors but managed to pull through it all unscathed and were awestruck by the terrain, the Bontebok, Ostrich, Dassies, Meerkats, Baboons and so on. Such diversity in so small a place! So, to see where you went, for those that made it, check out the Garmin Track in Google Earth.

For those not there, check out where WE went! (the RED line, north to south) Oh, and the speed line on the graph only does that steep thing at the end because I left the Garmin running for the first 30 seconds in the car leaving the car park!

Through the shouts of "encore" I resolved to plan a trip on the other side (Atlantic) of the reserve in coming weeks, so watch this space.

Click on map and graph for enlarged views.

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Saturday races are graded by colour similar to the grading of the ski slopes of Europe, but with a difference. Thus below is a classification of how it works:

Advanced
Definition: of above 2hrs in duration, medium to proficient fitness required, bring water and food, multiple steep gradients likely, not for the faint hearted, may be risky to split group.
Grading: BLACK

Challenging
Definition: of about 1h30 - 2h00 in duration, medium fitness required, may split group into two depending on route, bring water, few steep gradients.
Grading: YELLOW

Medium
Definition: of about 1h15 - 1h30 in duration, medium to "off your game" fitness required, may split group depending on route, water not essential weather permitting, bring digital camera to snap views, route will avoid steep gradients.
Grading: GREEN

Easy
Definition: of about 55mins - 1h15 in duration, novice to medium fitness level, will try and split group if possible, route will be chosen by its proximity to water point, hills? multiple stops en route, bring cameras, beers, kids etc Graeme will probably have a hangover that day....
Grading: PINK

Notes:

Routes for our Saturday runs will be selected for their accessibility, safety, beauty and access to clean water.

Where possible dogs will be allowed on all these routes: if dogs are NOT allowed this will be made clear in the club e-mail or SMS not both
Sat club runs are first and foremost intended to be fun, second to be a tool to improve fitness and third a way to socialise and integrate club members. This appears to be working well.

If you have a favourite route that we have not run before and would like to include it on the route roster, if you have any concerns about lifts, the severity of the chosen course, safety or distance please call Graeme Trautmann on 083 628 8641 or drop him an email: graemet@zeintec.com

The run Grading accompanies the club SMS of the week. Please read the SMS and come to club on Thursday TT to discuss it!