Calitz shows why he’s the Lion’s Head king – once again
MOUNTAIN hiker AJ Calitz tamed Lion’s Head and claimed his fourth Red Bull Lion Heart title, with Megan Mackenzie winning the women’s trophy.
Even though conditions were far from ideal on Saturday, Calitz summited Lion’s Head four times and went down each time in 30 minutes.
The high-intensity trail running elimination race was the brainchild of trail runner Ryan Sandes, who wanted to create a fun, innovative event where he shared the mountain with as many people as possible without compromising its core roots.
“Those who finished under the cut-off time of 38 minutes made it through to the next round. This meant shorter recovery times between heats and made for some very tactical racing.
“The top 100 men were assigned evenly, depending on qualifier time, to one of four groups of 25 to run the up-and-down route once against the clock,” said Sande.
Calitz said it was good to regain his title, as he had missed last year’s event due to a calendar clash.
“Ultra athletes need to know this is not a short race; the cumulative fatigue is similar to a longer race. Usually, my philosophy is to go ugly early, but with the short breaks in between heats this year it was difficult to do that,” he said.
The top 30 women, based on the Strava leaderboard, also qualified.
Mackenzie, who finished in 3.09, said she was honoured and excited to win the race.
“There are no tactics involved in this race. It’s just run your heart out until you’re finished. I’ve been third and second in the past, so this means a lot,” she said.