PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS – The Nature's Valley Trust (NVT) will be benefitting from the generosity of local athletes taking part in the 2022 Otter African Trail Run and Otter African Trail Challenge Run this week.
This year is the 'Retto' edition of the iconic trail run which will be run from west to east, from Nature's Valley to Storm's River.
"NVT is extremely grateful for the generosity from the race organisers, Magnetic South, and is very excited to be partnering with them in this year’s proceedings and in the future to promote trail running, conservation and community development in the area," the organisation said in a recent press release.
As in previous years, NVT will be running a shoe monitoring station where they will ensure that each runner's shoes are clean of any possible invasive alien plant seeds that could otherwise be deposited along the trails.
Outside the realm of their own involvement, they will receive support from local runner Rodney Prins who is crowdfunding to support NVT while running the Otter this year. Prins, 34, is a local from Kurland, in the Crags, and has been involved in athletics since primary school.
He has previously run for the Mr Price Athletic Club for four years and for the past 10 years has been running for the Nedbank Running Club. He regularly competes in a range of athletics from track and field to road running, cross country and trail running.
The area means a great deal to Prins, and he has been training hard to represent this cause for conservation to the best of his ability.
He is very grateful and excited about the opportunity to race the Otter African Trail Run and hopes to give it his best.
Funds raised will go towards NVT's conservation research and education programmes to help them continue to raise awareness within the schools and communities in the surrounding areas.
"We hope to build awareness around the importance of protecting this pristine coastline for future generations whilst promoting locals to get out and explore our beautiful coastline," the organisation explained.
Before the Otter African Trail Run takes place on Saturday 8 October, the challenge run takes place first, today Thursday 6 October, and Gert van Jaarsveld - owner of Outsiders Gym in Plett - will be running in support of NVT.
"I jumped at this opportunity gifted by Nature's Valley Trust through a sponsorship by Magnetic South, as it's been on my bucket list for years, combining 3 of my passions, fitness, being outside, and nature conservation," he said.
You can find both crowdfunding campaigns on www.backabuddy.co.za by simply searching 'Nature's Valley Trust'. Van Jaarsveld's campaign is titled 'Nature's Valley Trust/Gert/Otter' and Prins' campaign is titled 'Running the Otter African Trail Run for NVT 2022'.
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