Records celebrate a decade of the Houtkapper

TRAIL RUNNING NEWS - Celebrating a decade of anything is always a special occasion. This year's running of the Houtkapper Trail Run did its part in commemorating the event's significant 10-year milestone with two new records set in spite of some rather torrid weather conditions.

The Houtkapper Trail Run was the brainchild of local trailrunner Mihan Roos, who later enlisted the help of his brother Marsel to organise and coordinate the event.

The word "houtkapper", is Afrikaans for lumberjack. Lumberjacks aplenty used to roam the Knysna forests, and in doing so created many a trail through the dense vegetation, trails that were still used long after the lumberjacks upped and left the forests.

It is with these facts in mind that the Houtkapper Trail Run received its name, given that the routes run during the event make use of these old lumberjack trails to traverse the forested landscape near Millwood outside Rheenendal in Knysna.

The Houtkapper comprises three different distances – 9km, 15km and 27km – all with varying degrees of difficulty and elevation challenges. All three distances start and finish at Quinta da Montanha.

Runners make their way down the driveway at Quinta da Montanha towards the finish line.

It is held as part of the Knysna Oyster Festival every year and falls on the final day of the festival each time, the day after the Knysna Forest Marathon, making it ideal for runners seeking to "warm down" after the marathon. The Houtkapper is however a gem in its own right, and is run by hundreds of athletes annually who seek to experience the Knysna Forests in ways that few trail runs can.

This year the weather threatened to spoil the party, but a healthy cohort of 302 runners refused to let this happen. They battled rain and cold, with momentary breaks of sunshine, from start to finish, but the vibe was never spoiled and a great time was had by all.

A special prize is given out to the runner in the 27km who summits the hill on the run the fastest.

This year, the King of the Mountain was Lloyd Bosman and the Queen of the Mountain was Mellusca Toovey.

Two runners even broke records this year, despite the weather. Madelé du Plessis broke the 9km ladies record by 36 seconds, setting a new record time of 52:48. Francois Maquassa set the new 15km men's record at 01:06:23, improving on the previous record with 61 seconds.

A flying Nicholas Swanepoel is caught by finish-line marshall Ivan Palmer before he tips over.