Records tumble at Rhino Peak Challenge

RORY Scheffer and Holly Page celebrated World Rhino Day yesterday by overcoming treacherous conditions and wind gusts of more than 100km an hour to shatter the records for the Rhino Peak Challenge, setting new male and female Fastest Known Times (FKTs) for the 21km journey from Gooderson Drakensberg Gardens to the top of the iconic Rhino Peak and back.

As Scheffer and Lucky Miya met each other stride for stride for the majority of the encounter, the pair unknowingly spurred each other to both soar past the previous FKT of 2:45 by eleven minutes, with Scheffer’s late charge earning him the day’s line honours and the new FKT crown.

“This was definitely the shortest race I’ve done in the Berg but one of the tougher ones,” explained Scheffer.

“The sheer altitude gain in the first 10km was something quite different and the wind played a big part in things, too.

“It was a howling wind up the top that most people here had never experienced before and definitely played a big part in making the Rhino Peak Challenge tougher and slower than expected.”

Following Scheffer and Miya across the line were Christiaan Greyling (2h58), Steven Erasmus (3h03) and Nic de Beer (3h14) Not to be outdone by their male counterparts though, a powerful female quintet of Great Britain’s Page and local lasses Landie Greyling, Robyn Owen, Meg MacKenzie and Tracy Zunckel, too, made light work of both the challenging weather and the altitude as they charged up and down the mountain in record speed. – Kyle Gilham