Trail runners entering the 2023 K-Way MaxiRace Cape Winelands will take on what organisers believe is the best sub-100 km route in the province.
The release of the route follows five years of hard work and negotiations, with the popular event, which is presented by Banhoek Chilli Oil and On Shoes, set to be held on Saturday 30 September.
“This year we have decided to focus our attention on our longest ultra route, the 75 km race, and thanks to CapeNature we are able to offer one of the best that the Western Cape has to offer,” explained race director Andri Stander. “The new 75 km route will definitely be a tougher day out on the legs, with 4 000 m of total elevation, but it is completely worth it as you will run in the majestic Assegaaiboschkloof and Berg River Neck into Jonkershoek!”
As in previous years the 75 km route will start at the Franschhoek Dutch Reformed church and finish at the Maxi Vagabond Race Village at Hoërskool Stellenbosch. Runners will have a 05:00 start, with a cut-off time of 17 hours to complete the route.
“Our 45 km route remains mostly unchanged to last year’s route, presenting an incredible introduction to entry lever ultra trail runners and a fast, exciting route for elites,” Stander added.
This route will both start and finish at the same points, with runners starting at 07:00 and having 10 hours to complete the route. This year also sees the introduction of the brand-new 30 km route, which is grouped as part of the MaxiRace ultra series. “We have intentionally grouped our new 30 km route with our ultra routes, as we want this route to be a stepping-stone race from the 20 km to the 45 km route and beyond,” Stander pointed out.
The route will start at Banhoek Chilli Oil in Kylemore at 08:30 and finish at the Maxi Vagabond Race Village with a cut-off time of five and a half hours.”
The popular shorter routes – 20 km, 13 km and 7 km – originally were held on Sundays will now be held on the same day as the longer routes to create an even more exciting race village experience. The shorter routes, which all feature exciting changes, will start and finish at the race village.
There are still a few entries available for all the routes, so visit www.maxirace.co.za for further details.
