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Hey WildJoburgers!
First things first, we are expecting the perfect running day on Saturday. AccuWeather has us at a low of 5C and a high of 19C, with “Clouds and sun”. In a nutshell we can expect a fresh start, and manageable temperatures into late-morning and midday. We even have some clouds for ambience. One of the upsides of the Highveld winter!

1. Start Times
20km – 07h00
10km – 07h30
5km – 08h00

2. Registration
Registration will be at the venue at Thaba Trails and will open at 06h00. Runners will be able to register for their race up to 10 minutes before Start time. Please arrive as early as possible to register to avoid queues and unnecessary delays. No registration = no race number = no run!

3. Race Day Entries
By virtue of receiving this email, you’ve already entered online 🙂 but we know that often us early planners end up bringing along our procrastinating friends who enter on the day, so this is still worth knowing. Race Day Entries will open at 06h00 and entries for each distance will close 30 minutes before that race’s Start time. Entry fees on Race Day include a Race Day surcharge and will be payable in CASH ONLY, as follows: 5km-R180, 10km-R270 & 20km-R380.

4. Batching & Self-seeding
Continuing with the great trail running and WildJoburg tradition, batched starts will be used where necessary. In the event of a batched start being called, runners will be sorted into batches at the Start of their race on a self-seeding basis. This means that runners will be asked to voluntarily place themselves into the front batch, middle batches, or last batch. The number of batches and runners per batch will depend on the number of entrants per race. At this point we can advise that the 10km race will definitely have a batched start. That being said, the trails are well spread and well-balanced, so nobody should be desperate to start in any particular batch. In addition, positions and prizes will be awarded based on batch-adjusted times. However if you are planning a competitive race, we strongly recommend that you start in Batch A.

5. Race Shirts
Those of you that ordered one of the radical WildJoburg 2017 Race Shirts please note that they will be available for collection at Registration.

That’s it for now! Looking forward to Saturday!

WildJoburg2017

Hey WildJoburgers!

Two more sleeps! and WOW, have we got the perfect day for some awesome trail running! AccuWeather has us with a chilly but convenient low of 5C and a very manageable high of 18C, with partly sunny conditions and some cloud to keep things a bit cooler towards midday. It promises to be brisk at Registration and the Start, so be prepared and get there early enough to enjoy a hot cup of something from Cafe 88.

For those of you who had not entered yet or who might not have seen it, here is the link to Pre-race Briefing #1. Read it.

https://www.wildjoburg.co.za/wildjoburg-2016-pre-race-briefing-1/

We are expecting a good turnout on Saturday, so make sure you get there with plenty of time to spare. We will also prioritise pre-entries (meaning YOU guys) over Race Day Entries, so if you come with friends who still have to enter, you make sure you register first and let them sort their entries out at the separate tables.

Route Markings

5km runners you can ignore this 🙂 your route is fantastically straightforward and easy to follow.

For the rest of you guys, this is the most important piece of any information you might receive. Please read this carefully, apply your mind and think about what it means. We do this because experience seriously shows that people do NOT listen at Race Day Briefings, although we will still repeat this for you at the Start of your race.

Although the Start times are 30min apart so as to avoid as much congestion on the trails as possible, the 10km and the 20km races share a significant proportion of their respective routes. This will not be a problem in terms of traffic, but this is what it means in terms of marking:

The first approximately 8km of trail are marked with WildJoburg specific marking boards with BOTH Red (10km) AND Blue (20km) directional arrows. Picture examples can be seen on yesterday’s post on the WildJoburg Facebook Page. At about 8km, the 20km runners will peel off and head right, to be stretched, battered and bruised for another 10km or so, following their WildJoburg specific marking boards with Blue directional arrows only, while 10km runners will head left and follow a couple of WildJoburg specific marking boards with Red arrows only. The 20km runners will eventually rejoin the main route with about 2.5km to go, so the last stretch will again be common to both races, and runners will again follow the WildJoburg marking boards with BOTH Red AND Blue arrows.

Two very important things to remember – first, although there will be no bikers allowed on the trails on Race Day, the Thaba Nature Reserve is generally a multi-use facility, so there are other markers that are used at other times by our mountain-biking brethren etc. IGNORE EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT A WILDJOBURG SPECIFIC MARKING BOARD!! Second, a huge amount of work has gone into ensuring that ANY possible point of uncertainty has been marked with a WildJoburg arrow board, OR is clearly indicated with red & white danger tape closing off where you should NOT be going, OR will be manned by marshals. Experienced trail runners will know because they have learnt the hard way – do NOT just follow the crowd. Concentrate on the routes and the marking at all times for YOURSELF, and be aware of where you are going at all times. Statistically, individual trail runners almost NEVER get lost, while groups tend to get lost with depressing regularity. Enjoy the legendary trail runner cameraderie, but also concentrate on the route while you make new friends on the trails.

Lastly, in the roughly 3km – 8km section on the open plain where you are likeliest to spot game and the running is the fastest, you are also likely to be able to see other runners on different sections of the trail – ignore them and do NOT be fooled into thinking that just because you see other runners that that is the direction you need to be running! Concentrate on your own section of trail and the route markings! NOBODY should get lost if they follow these instructions.

Please also be aware that all three races will be covered by our very experienced, super capable and uber friendly WildJoburg Sweepers making sure that everybody gets home safely.

That’s probably enough to think about for now! Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday 🙂

Regards,

Warren

Hey WildJoburgers!

As we suffer through a cold & wet weekend it is good to know that we can look forward to some awesome trail running in great sunshine at WildJoburg next Saturday 🙂 The upside of everybody sitting at home under blankets is that we can get through some pre-race admin, which is important because as we all know, nobody listens to the Race Briefings on Race Day!

1. Start Times

20km – 07h00

10km – 07h30

5km – 08h00

2. Registration

Registration will be at the venue at Thaba Trails and will open at 06h00. Runners will be able to register for their race up to 10 minutes before Start time. Please arrive as early as possible to register to avoid queues and unnecessary delays. No registration = no race number = no run!

3. Race Day Entries

By virtue of receiving this email, you’ve already entered online 🙂 but we know that often us early planners end up bringing along our procrastinating friends who enter on the day, so this is still worth knowing. Race Day Entries will open at 06h00 and entries for each distance will close 30 minutes before that race’s Start time. Entry fees on Race Day will be payable in cash only and are as follows: 5km-R150; 10km-R250 & 20km-R350.

4. Batching & Self-seeding

Continuing with the great trail running and WildJoburg tradition, runners will be sorted into batches at the Start of their race on a self-seeding basis. This means that runners will be asked to voluntarily place themselves into the front batch, middle batches, or last batch. The number of batches and runners per batch will depend on the number of entrants per race. We expect between 2 and 4 batches per race, with batches of between 50 and 80 runners per batch. The trails are well spread and well-balanced, so nobody should be desperate to start in any particular batch. That being said, Attention Racing Snakes: positions and prizes will be awarded on a first-across-the-line basis, so if you are planning a competitive race, make sure you start in Batch A. For everyone else, finishing times will accurately reflect your Batch Start time. Batches will be set off 5 minutes apart.

5. Coffee & food

Previous WildJoburg runners will be familiar with the awesome coffee and food provided by Damian@cafe88. You will be glad to know that they will be there again on Saturday, and hot coffee / hot chocolate and delicious breakfast rolls, healthy rusks and other goodies will be available on what promises to be a perfect-for-running chilly morning from 05h45.

6. Race Shirts

Another great WildJoburg tradition, and fantastic to see the high-quality attractive WildJoburg Race Shirts from Anatomic at some of top trail runs around the country. Shirts are still available to order for post-race home delivery. All queries or orders to be directed directly through the Race Organisers at this email address.

That’s it for now! Enjoy the drier weather and have a great week 🙂

Regards,

Warren