Featured image Au-dessus du lac d' Annecy courtesy Didier Heroux on Flickr
The IAU World Ultra Trail Championships were held over the weekend, and the South African Team was filled with incredible athletes. The men's team consisted of AJ Calitz, Eric Ngubane, Jock Green, Graeme McCallum and Iain Don-Wauchope, and the women's team Nicolette Griffieon, Sue Don-Wauchope and Chantel Nienaber. As expected, they performed at the top of their game. A big thanks to Trail Run SA for the updates.
Race Information:
- Venue: Annecy, France
- Start time: 03h30 (France is currently GMT +2, same as South Africa)
- Distance: 85 kilometres
- Vertical gain: 5,300 metres
- Number of participants: 178 men and 109 women (287 total)
- Number of countries represented: 39 for the World Champs
- Course Records: Men: Sebastien Spehler (FRA), 8:45; Women: Caroline Chaverot (FRA), 10:15
As Trail Run SA reports:
K-Way athletes AJ Calitz and Nicolette Griffioen ran strong from the gun to hold onto their positions and maintain consistent splits as they passed through the checkpoints on the course. At 28th and 24th positions respectively, Calitz and Griffioen were the highest placed male and female athletes in the South African team. Remembering that Nicolette was almost the youngest competitor (watch this space). It seemed that Nicolette got stronger and stronger as the day progressed.
We are yet to speak to the team members as yet but we know that each and every one of them ran for their country, they gave it absolutely everything. We are extremely proud of them for this and we cannot wait to see what our team will do in Zermatt on the 4th July 2015.
The final results for the SA team are as follows:
Men:
- Andre ‘AJ’ CALITZ 9:42:00
- Iain DON-WAUCHOPE 10:15:43
- Jock GREEN 10:16:36
- Eric NGUBANE 10:37:24
- Graeme MCCALLUM 10:54:15
Women:
- Nicolette GRIFFIOEN 11:28:57
- Chantel NIENABER 13:39:51
DNF. Su DON-WAUCHOPE
A massive congrats to the SA team! A massive achievement, and they have made us proud. For a full list of results and report, head over to iRunFar.
