COURSE OUTLINE
The start and finish line are both situated at Lakeside Lodge on
the upper escarpment. After the start, the marathon as well as the half marathon
routes take the runners past Ravineside Lodge, the Entabeni Monolith and further
on to the lower plateau. The narrow and very steep Yellow Wood Valley is the sole
connection between the escarpment and the plateau below. Our route takes us trough
the valley – please be ware of the many loose stones on this part of the route.
On the lower plateau the route takes the runners round in a circuit (in ”lion land”),
before going up through the valley once again.
Back on the upper escarpment, the route home towards the finish line go through
“The Loop” where we run through a small valley on a circular route of about 6 km
between the valleys' two rock faces. There is a slight climb and corresponding descent
as we exit the valley. A beautiful isolated valley with rare cycads. If you come
across rhino we advise you to continue running (although quietly!). The running
surface is reasona
This is a fairly hard end to the run. We run halfway down the ridge, which provides
us with a wonderful view out over the Plateau's lake. The route climbs steeply the
rest of the way towards our goal and the surface is fairly bad, consisting of hard
uneven stony ground with plenty of large rocks and stones of all sizes. It pays
to keep a careful watch on the ground as we climb towards our goal. With the finish
line in sight you can now take it nice and easy.
The weather is very dry, sunny and cool at this time of the year. Participants can
expect an average temperature of around 15-20 Celsius, but with variations due to
sun, shade, wind and altitude.
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