Dust off your running shoes ...

Since spring has sprung it is time to dust off those run­ning shoes or cyc­ling shorts and start to shed a few of those extra kilo’s that have crept up over the winter months. Here are a few idea to get your motiv­ated to do some exercise!

The Crazy Store Table Mountain Challenge takes place on Saturday 12 September and is a 35km trail run around Cape Town’s world fam­ous Table Mountain. Both pro­fes­sion­als and novices can enjoy this off-road run on the slopes of this moun­tain, which is a final­ist in the New 7 Wonders of Nature. If you are feel­ing up to the challenge

Start run­ning

you can take part indi­vidu­ally in the 35km race or if you are strug­gling to get back into things why not enter as a team. Teams can con­sist of up to 3 people with each leg of the chal­lenge between 8 to 17km, now doesn’t that sound man­age­able? The chal­lenge starts in the car park at Kloof Neck and you can expect some hills as well as a steep scramble, but it will be well worth it for the fant­astic views and the run through indi­gen­ous forest and across moun­tain streams. For more inform­a­tion you can tele­phone +27 (0)21 424 4760.

On Sunday 20 September 2009 you can take part in the Talisman Herald Karoo to Coast Mountain Bike Challenge which is a 100km chal­lenge and was voted as one of the top ten moun­tain bike races in South Africa by Bicycling Magazine in 2007. The race starts at 07h30 at the Uniondale show­grounds and fin­ishes at the Knysna High School fields via the Prince Alfred’s pass.

This is a tough yet com­pet­it­ive race and those com­pet­it­ors who have not reached the entrance to Kom se pad by 12h00 or the exit from Kom se pad by 13h00 will have their num­bers removed. There will how­ever be trans­port to col­lect those cyc­lists and their bikes who are not able to com­plete the chal­lenge. Your entry fee costs R220.00 per per­son and includes a pasta meal in Uniondale on Saturday 19 September. Registration takes place on Saturday 19^th from 16h00 to 21h00 with late regis­tra­tion on Sunday 20^th from 06h00 to 06h30. For more inform­a­tion you can con­tact +27 (0)44 382 6880.

Get cyc­ling

The Liberty Health Baviaanskloof Trail Run is a 50km single day trail run held in the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve on Saturday 12 September 2009. This is a rugged and rough race as it will take you through some of Southern Africa’s most inhos­pit­able ter­rain and if you need some­thing to assist you with your pace keep in the back of your mind that you will be run­ning in the ter­rit­ory of two of Africa’s most feared dan­ger­ous game – the Cape Buffalo and the Black Rhino.

Why not give this a go, you will become a legend amongst your friends. The event begins and ends at Geelhoutbos which is on the west­ern side of Baviaanskloof. This is a pre-entry only event and you can con­tact Evie on +27 (0)41 581‑6307 for more information.

The Drakensberg hosts the annual Mont-Aux-Sources Challenge on Saturday 12 September 2009. This is another 50km solo trail run and has been tak­ing place for over 15 years. You will run from the Royal Natal Park entrance to the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg World Heritage site to the top of the Sentinel and back again. This race was voted the best run­ning race of the year for 2006 and 2007 and has a lim­ited field of 250 run­ners so you need to get your entries in early as you are then put onto a wait­ing list and once invited to take part in the event you are able to enter the chal­lenge for 3 con­sec­ut­ive years. For more inform­a­tion you can tele­phone +27 (0)33 343‑1917.

Even though this is short notice to take part in most of these events, if like me you need a bit of inspir­a­tion, motiv­a­tion and plan­ning with exer­cise, why not set your­self a goal to com­plete one of these events next year? They are annual, they are tough and they should motiv­ate you to get fit, stay fit and keep those winter kilos at bay!

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