Winners . . .
Athletes overcome challenging day
AN ENTHUSIASTIC field of participating athletes braved the heat and strong winds to make for a very successful Discovery Surfers Challenge on Saturday.
The race incorporating runners and paddlers doing battle against the elements over 17.5km, along with two feeder events, the Junior Surfers over a distance of approximately 5km and a race billed as the Surfers 10, but which is raced over 11.2km from Gonubie to Nahoon.
Due to the strong westerly winds, the paddle race was moved to a starting point on the Buffalo River and in the East London Port, and directed via the Orient and Eastern Beaches to finish on Nahoon Beach.
The runners of the traditional Surfers retained their tough Kwelera Mouth to Nahoon course.
Comfortably over 3 000 visitors and locals joined in one of the city’s favourite sporting pursuits.
The leading runners found the going tough into the wind, and, on a course somewhat more covered by rocks that is the norm, soft sand and a strong head wind were the other challenges. As always, the crowds in Gonubie – and at the finish – made up for these impediments with exceptional vocal support.
Siviwe Pati was the comprehensive men’s winner in the run event with a time of 73:06. Malixole Kalideni finished second in 74:21 and Simphiwe Mojiki took third spot 53 seconds adrift .
Masters runner, Makaya Masumpa, came in fourth, leaving thousands of younger runners in his wake. Masumpa, who won the race back in 1996 and 1998, finished in 77:48.
The pre-race prediction in the women’s version that Andrea Ranger would record her first win came to fruition, when she brought the women home in 92:32.
Veteran runner Karen Davis was