30 Jun '15: ATC Weekly

 

Knysna Oyster Festival – SA DU Champs – DC - Clanwilliam

 

SA Duathlon Championships takes place on Sunday and we wish the Western Province Duathlon Team all the best for the race!  The team will be collecting their team kit from the Green Point Cricket Club this evening (Tuesday) before and after our track session.

 

The ATC Office will be open in the container this evening, before and after track if you need to collect anything before the Knysna week.   The office will be open before the run from 17:00 and again afterwards from 19:00.  After tonight, the office will not be available until Tuesday 14 July.

 

On Sunday we launched one of the ATC buoys, we purchased a while ago, for the first time.  It is huge and looked spectacular in the Camps Bay Tidal Pool.  It is going to be very useful to us for open water practise and sighting.  It took quite a while and a lot of effort to inflate so we will need to look at getting a compressor or blower to inflate and deflate these buoys.  We also need some advice on the size of the anchor required to keep this in place under windy / rough conditions.  If you have any experience or contacts in this area, please let us know.

 

Good luck to the following members who will be representing Western Province at the SA Duathlon Championships, taking place in Bloemfontein this weekend:  Timothy Langerman (16-19), Chris Visser (20-24), Alan Hardaker (40-44), Henry Wolstenholme (45-49), Maureen Dennehy (50-54) and Dawn Clarke (50-54).

 

For the next two weeks the club training schedule will look somewhat different as a lot of us head for Knysna.

 

SWIM:  The Canal Swim will be on this coming Saturday afternoon at 16:00.  There will be NO canal swim next Saturday (11 July).

 

BIKE:  On Thursday morning we will do a Mountain Bike ride from the Point Virgin Active at 06:00.  There will be no club rides this weekend or next week.

 

RUN:  This evening (Tuesday) there will be a track session at 18:00 at the Green Point Cricket Club.  Next Tuesday there will also be track session at 06:00 in the morning and at 18:00 in the evening.

 

On Thursday we will do a Trail run from Green Point Cricket Club at 18:00.  There will be no club trail runs this weekend or next week.

 

This weekend is the start of the Knysna Oyster Festival and the Big 5 Sports Challenge.  We wish all ATC’ers taking part good luck and hope you will give it your all so we can clean up in the Club Challenge!  Chairman STeve Attwell published a great article on the Big 5 Web site telling you what to do, what to pack and where to go.  Click here to Read it.  We are looking forward to the best 10 days of winter!

 

The Big 5 Sports Challenge kicks off with the Knysna Cycle Tour Mountain Bike Ride on Saturday, followed by the Knysna Dragons Lagoon Mile, a nautical mile swim, on Sunday.  Big 5 Lite participants can choose between this swim, the road bike ride or the canoe Lagoon Challenge.

On Tuesday challengers jump on a ferry to Featherbed and tackle the scenic Coelacanth or Seahorse trail runs back to the start at Cruise Café.

XTERRA Knysna, an off-road Duathlon, follows on Thursday when athletes are likely to encounter more water than in a Triathlon.  The Big 5 finishes next Saturday when Challenge and Lite athletes head for the forest in the Knysna Half Marathon.

 

In-between all this Athletics SWD is running a development week with Cross Country, Relays, Street Miles and Fun Runs.

 

If you are not going to Knysna you can do the equivalent of the challenge in time on a track in Vredendal in the Orak 12-Hour Track Race.

 

Or choose between the TSiBA Trail run at Middelvlei on Saturday, the Dirtopia Wine Adverture Trail at Warwick on Sunday or the Tortoise Winter Trail Run at Skilpadvlei in Stellenbosch.

 

After the Oyster Festival we will start organising teams for this year’s Double Century, which takes place on 21 November.  Entries will open in July and we want to make sure we enter enough teams for ATC Members wanting to take part.  We will provide more details later as we get information on dates and fees, etc.  We have booked accommodation for two to three teams.  For now, please submit your details here to book a slot in one of our teams.  If you cannot access Google Forms, you can also email cycling@atcmultisport.co.za

 

We have booked the chalets in the Dam resort again and will make these available to ATC members in July, once we have confirmation of the rates.  The event takes place on Saturday 3 October.

 

After Knysna, Embark will head to Mauritius with a group of runners taking part in the Full or Half Marathon there followed by a week of relaxing in the sun.  Then it’s back to business with a number of programs starting in July and August.  First up are the programs for the Cape Town Marathon and Gun Run Half Marathon, starting on 28 July.   Join these to run your first full marathon or half marathon or go for a PB in either.

In August preparation for the new Triathlon season starts in earnest as programs for Ironman Africa 2016 and 70.3 East London launch on 4 August.  There is also the Beginner Triathlon Program starting on 6 August.  Embark will also do a program and group booking for Ironman 70.3 Croatia, which takes place in September 2016.

For more information on these programs visit www.embark.co.za or come to one of the information evenings, which will be published closer to the time.

 

Organisers of this series of three downhill runs through beautiful forests, has offered ATC Members two free entries per event.  To be eligible for a free entry into the first event, taking place in the Lebanon Forest, near Grabouw on 1 August, please email info@raceinterface.co.za and tell them why you should get the entry.  The other events take place on 5 September in the Hawequa Forest, near Paarl and on 3 October in the Nuweberg Forest, near Grabouw.  Each event will offer 5, 10 and 21 Km routes and you can also contest a particular distance for the entire series.  More information can be found on:  raceinterface.co.za

 

Enjoy the Week!

ATC