P
UT on your running shoes and gear up for the fourth annual action-packed Bestmed Chokka Trail Run set to take to the trails in St Francis on Saturday, August 10 and Sunday August 11.
The race, organised by St Francis Sport and hosted by Cape St Francis Resort, features seven distances: 62km ultra-marathon, 42km marathon, 23km half-marathon, 10km trail run, 5km charity challenge, and a 3km and 1km race for the juniors.
The main events are set to leave the starting blocks on Saturday, while the 5km, 3km and 1km races will take place on the Sunday.
In the line-up for the 62km ultra-marathon, are 2018 winner Mvuyisi Gcogco, Roelof Mostert, Matt Healy and Robert Henning – all hoping to break the fiver-hour mark, securing a whopping R4 000 bonus cheque.
They are joined by ladies Caro Jordaan and Jo McKenzie who hope to break the five-and-a-half-hour barrier, pocketing a R2 000 bonus cheque.
Runners to watch in the 42km distance include 2018 winner Jacques Mouton, Obey Mtetwa and Melikhaya Msizi.
The winners of the 62km race will each receive R3 000, while the winners of the 42km race will receive R2 000 each.
All businesses, schools and charity organisations are invited to pick a team of four for the 5km Charity Challenge. All four runners, or walkers, can complete the distance in their own time. Their individual finishing times will be added together as the team’s final time.
No one will know who the winning team is until prize-giving.
The winning team will walk away with a team building event from Cape St Francis Resort, as well as R3 000 cash for their nominated charity or school.
Shortly after, the focus will be on the juniors when they tackle their 1km and 3km races respectively.
Route
The route is based on the well-known Chokka Trail, a 62km hiking trail in the greater St Francis area, and walkers are welcome – even in the longer distances.
Trail runners will leave the starting blocks at Cape St Francis Resort from where they will run on the beach in a westerly direction towards Mostertshoek.
The 10km runners will run a short loop on the coastline, before they turn back to Cape St Francis, while the 23km runners will remain on the Mostertshoek Road and the marathon and ultra-marathon runners proceed to Dune Ridge Country House.
Halfway through the Eskom Conservation Reserve the 42km runners will turn into the dunefield for 6kms of the Sand River, while the 62km runners proceed to Oyster Bay, coming back via the entire 15km dunefield.
At the road crossing on the R330 all distances will meet again, proceeding through the St Francis Field towards Port St Francis, the last waterpoint, before they make their way to the finish line at the Cape St Francis Resort.
More information
The entry fees are R900 for the 62km ultra-marathon, R450 for the 42km marathon, R200 for the 23km half-marathon, R100 for the 10km trail run, R50 for the 5km charity fun run, R30 for the 3km run and R20 for the 1km kiddies run.
Enter online at www.stfrancissport.co.za before 12:00 on Friday, August 9. A late registration fee will be payable on race weekend. The first 90 entries will receive a Bestmed T-shirt and goodie bag, while the first 200 entrants will receive a goodie bag.
Participants must register with ORGSU to ensure tacking and check-in times at the various water points.
For more information, contact Esti Stewart at 073 825 0835 or Eric Stewart at 082 394 7363.
Alternatively, send an email to info@stfrancissport.co.za.
