The Extreme 0.5 athletes enjoyed a tailwind back to Knysna but the full Extreme athletes continued to battle the wind all the way to Avontuur.
The Knysna Extreme Triathlon is known for offering triathletes a tougher-than-expected challenge, but this year’s edition far exceeded anyone’s imagination with just about every kind of weather imaginable ensuring a tough race for all.
The Extreme was held on Saturday 16 October, but before action could get underway, the largest field of entrants yet in both the Extreme 0.5 and the full Extreme registered on Friday 15 October.
The next day athletes were greeted with strong winds in the morning when they set off at 05:30.
The first leg of the race, the swim, was made tough by the wind and a strong outgoing tide.
The cycle stage followed and the difficulty factor went up, courtesy of a headwind on the way out to Wilderness. The Extreme 0.5 athletes enjoyed a tailwind back to Knysna but the full Extreme athletes continued to battle the wind all the way to Avontuur.
While the Extreme 0.5 athletes transitioned to their running gear on Thesen Islands for the final stretch up to Diepwalle Forest Station, the full Extreme athletes did so in Avontuur. The majority of the Extreme 0.5 athletes enjoyed sun and wind on their 30km run, with Keegan Cooke finishing the race first. Christine Harding was the first woman over the line in the Extreme 0.5.
The full Extreme athletes however had to battle wind and rain on their 50km from Avontuur to Diepwalle, with some even reporting negative temperatures on the route. Greg Laxton was first here with Jenny Close the first woman to cross the line.
Race organiser Sean Sandiford was thankful to his partners for making the race possible. “I need to say a huge thank you to Wesgro, Pezula, 2XU, Dream Knysna Properties, Red Bridge Brewery, 32Gi, TCS, Coastal Hire, Food Lover’s Market, Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Knysna RIB Adventures, Salice, Cape Cycle Routes, and All sound Security for helping make the race possible.”
‘We bring you the latest Knysna | Garden Route news’