Ever popular The Dunes concludes Xtrail series

The Standard Bank Xtrail Winter Series for 2022 concluded with its grand finale, The Dunes, held in Swakopmund last Saturday.

The series consisted of three trail runs that took place during the winter months. The first was the K-H (Khomas Hochland) trail held in June, followed by the second event at Avis Dam in July.

Participants could choose between a 7.5 km or 15.5 km route. As usual there were a wide spectrum of participants, ranging from the ultra-competitive to the walker who loves a day out on unexplored trails.

The Standard Bank Dunes race started on an overcast and cool day at Tiger Reef Beach Bar. The route had been significantly altered for this year’s edition, including many larger dunes, some old heritage tracks, and gravel plains – all of it in 100% nature setting.

The race started with the runners having to make a choice to either take on the powerful Atlantic Ocean waves hammering the beach, or take a detour and get caught in a bottleneck. Most of them chose the bottleneck.

The route ran along the beach, down the harder sand of the Swakop River and into the Dorob National Park, where participants were given the privilege of experiencing the pristine beautiful dunes and gravel planes.

This was an unique trail run, one that encompassed copious amounts of sand artfully structured by winds and mists.

One participant, who manages a tour operating company, said this race would definitely be a big drawcard for tourists because of its uniqueness.

Some participants decided to make the most of a day full of sand and ran barefoot, which seemed to work just fine for them.

THE FINISH LINE

The first male elite in the 16 km The Dunes trail was Shigwedha Nasimane, coming in at 1:12:05. Only three seconds behind was Salomo David (veteran category winner) in 1:12:08, ahead of the next elite competitors Martin Ntinda (1:13:17), Albertinus Goeieman (1:13:56), Gebhard Kephas (01:14:40) and veteran Pierre van Rensburg (1:15:40).

The 16 km women’s winner Gisela Noci (1:34:29) got away from Shani Scholtz (1:41:44) and third-placed Marion Himmel (1:47:18).

On the 7 km route, Tomas Andres emerged as the men’s winner (32:32), ahead of Ethan Snyders (32:43) and Malakia Namukomba (34:20).

First place in the 7 km women’s race was taken by Ndahambelela Shelikita (38:39), followed by Elizabeth Kawiwi (41:46) and Arina Lensing (42:37).

A very strong group of runners from Walvis Bay competed, including a group of outstanding youngsters who totally dominated the standings in the 7 km. In the under 11 race, promising Kyle Knowles won in 44:41, closely followed by Geraldo Cook and Jayden Snyders.

In the U15 race, Joshua Titus took first place in 39:45, Nathan Snyders in second and Max McFarlane third.

SERIES RESULTS

For the Standard Bank Winter Series, the best two out of three results of a participant are taken into account. Competitors are assigned points on their respective positions.

The series winners were:

• 16 km Series, Elite women: Marietjie du Plessis.

• 16 km Series, Elite men: Martin Ntinda.

• 16 km Series, Veteran women: Margot Louw.

• 16 km Series, Veteran men: Salomo David.

• 16 km Series, Masters women: Shani Scholtz.

• 16 km Series, Masters men: Paul Brinkmann.

• 7 km Series, U11: Emma Brinkmann (girls), Durban Johnson (boys).

• 7 km Series, U15: Maja Brinkmann (girls), Matt-Reece Izaaks (boys).

• 7 km Series, Elite women: Corley Viljoen.

• 7 km Series, Elite men: Malakia Namukomba.

• 7 km Series, Veteran women: Ndemufayo Angula.

• 7 km Series, Veteran men: Martin Kalwenya.

• 7 km Series, Masters women: Anita Kinder.

• 7 km Series, Masters men: Jurie Scholtz.

GENEROUS PRIZES

Yvonne Brinkmann, race organiser at OTB Sport, thanked Standard Bank for its generous sponsorship of the Winter Trail Series. A total N$76 000 in cash and equivalents were handed out at the prize-giving.

“This is the seventh consecutive year that Standard Bank has sponsored the series. They have been a huge component in growing trail running in Namibia, slowly but surely.

“There are now more and more races developing, but it all started with the great foresight of Standard Bank. They were the first to put their efforts and money behind trail running and today, thanks to them, we have a solid sport that is robustly growing every year. It is not only a sport for the running enthusiast, but also for the walking enthusiast who loves nature,” says Brinkmann. Full results and more photos are on OTB’s FB page or at www.otbsport.com.