Stages Two and Three are complete and it’s been a sweltering couple of days on the course. Still, the team have confirmed that there were multiple sitings of stunning desert-adapted elephants around camp last night and this morning and the presence of these pachyderms lifted everybody’s spirits.
Below you’ll find the results from Stages Two and Three plus the overall standings. The podiums are currently as follows:
Top three female athletes:
1. Ellie Milnes – 22:26:00
2. Sheila Sanei – 23:13:00 (+00:47:00)
3. Muriel Filliers – 24:56:00 (+01:43:00)
Top three male athletes:
1. Shane Thrower – 19:09:00
2. Steve Williams – 19:19:00 (+00:10:00)
3. Robin Imthorn – 21:59:00 (+02:50:00)
The big news from Stage Two was the withdrawal of clear race leader Jon Shield. Jon is safe and well and helping out the other runners, but he will have to wait to claim a 4th and final win in the Global Race Series.
As for Stage Three – we’ll let you absorb our Event Manager Dean Read’s final update from that day:
‘The day started off quite cloudy, which was a pleasant change. The runners had to deal with the challenging riverbed section first thing (a 10+km stretch in a soft dry riverbed) which drained their energy.
By the time I reached Checkpoint 3 in my vehicle, the temperature was 43°c. By Checkpoint 4, one of the local team had a reading of 49°c! It has been an extremely hot afternoon, which has been very tough for the runners. But everyone persevered and there were no major issues. As always it was a big celebration when the last finishers reached camp to be greeted by all the other runners.
As we reached camp, which has moved since last year to an area close-by with more shade, we received information over the radios that there were elephants in the vicinity. As Yuko was arriving, the final runner, we spotted some elephants leisurely walking through the scrub on the side of the river near camp.
There was a magnificent large elephant accompanied by a small baby. However, as the sun set behind the Brandberg the elephants became almost invisible as they passed silently through camp. It’s amazing how quietly they move. After guiding Yuko to the camp, we could still see the shadows of the elephants on the opposite side of the riverbank. It was a spectacular sight.’
STAGE TWO RESULTS:
| Race Number | First Name | Surname | Time of Finish | Finish Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Shane | Thrower | 14:58 | 6:58 |
| 33 | Steve | Williams | 14:58 | 6:58 |
| 22 | Robin | Imthorn | 15:47 | 7:47 |
| 5 | Craig | Hamilton-Smith | 15:56 | 7:56 |
| 6 | Ellie | Milnes | 16:09 | 8:09 |
| 9 | Gary | Chapman | 16:22 | 8:22 |
| 26 | Sheila | Sanei | 16:26 | 8:26 |
| 32 | Ronan | Minvielle | 16:27 | 8:27 |
| 19 | Muriel | Filliers | 16:42 | 8:42 |
| 31 | Sherief | Elabd | 16:50 | 8:50 |
| 16 | Kenneth | Donaldson | 17:20 | 9:20 |
| 14 | Katherine | Holdstock | 17:37 | 9:37 |
| 8 | Emmanuel | Valenti | 17:40 | 9:40 |
| 27 | Silvia | Czaja | 17:44 | 9:44 |
| 13 | Jules | Bardwell | 17:50 | 9:50 |
| 30 | Kim | Mortensen | 17:50 | 9:50 |
| 15 | Katie | Hislop | 17:52 | 9:52 |
| 18 | Massimiliano | Augusto | 17:55 | 9:55 |
| 21 | Riana | Scholtz | 19:01 | 11:01 |
| 2 | Andy | Delderfield | 19:03 | 11:03 |
| 3 | Barbara | McNulty | 19:03 | 11:03 |
| 11 | Jenny | Hall | 19:13 | 11:13 |
| 17 | Marie-Louise | Pharaony | 19:47 | 11:47 |
| 28 | Tanja | Braun | 20:17 | 12:17 |
| 29 | Yuko | Oe | 20:17 | 12:17 |
| 4 | Calvin | Barnard | DNF | DNF |
| 12 | Jon | Shield | DNF | DNF |
| 24 | Sara | Curtin | DNF | DNF |
STAGE THREE RESULTS:
| Race Number | First Name | Surname | Time of Finish | Finish Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Shane | Thrower | 13:20 | 5:20 |
| 33 | Steve | Williams | 13:20 | 5:20 |
| 22 | Robin | Imthorn | 14:23 | 6:23 |
| 6 | Ellie | Milnes | 14:29 | 6:29 |
| 26 | Sheila | Sanei | 14:41 | 6:41 |
| 5 | Craig | Hamilton-Smith | 14:48 | 6:48 |
| 18 | Massimiliano | Augusto | 14:48 | 6:48 |
| 32 | Ronan | Minvielle | 14:50 | 6:50 |
| 31 | Sherief | Elabd | 15:11 | 7:11 |
| 19 | Muriel | Filliers | 15:43 | 7:43 |
| 9 | Gary | Chapman | 15:54 | 7:54 |
| 14 | Katherine | Holdstock | 16:07 | 8:07 |
| 15 | Katie | Hislop | 16:09 | 8:09 |
| 30 | Kim | Mortensen | 16:11 | 8:11 |
| 16 | Kenneth | Donaldson | 16:18 | 8:18 |
| 8 | Emmanuel | Valenti | 16:23 | 8:23 |
| 27 | Silvia | Czaja | 16:32 | 8:32 |
| 13 | Jules | Bardwell | 16:55 | 8:55 |
| 2 | Andy | Delderfield | 18:09 | 10:09 |
| 21 | Riana | Scholtz | 18:10 | 10:10 |
| 17 | Marie-Louise | Pharaony | 18:22 | 10:22 |
| 28 | Tanja | Braun | 18:27 | 10:27 |
| 11 | Jenny | Hall | 19:09 | 11:09 |
| 29 | Yuko | Oe | 19:41 | 11:41 |
| 3 | Barbara | McNulty | DNF | DNF |
| 4 | Calvin | Barnard | DNS | DNF |
| 12 | Jon | Shield | DNS | DNF |
| 24 | Sara | Curtin | DNF | DNF |
OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE THREE:
| POSITION | Race Number | First Name | Surname | STAGE ONE | STAGE TWO | STAGE THREE | TOTAL | M/F | GENDER POSITION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | Shane | Thrower | 6:51 | 6:58 | 5:20 | 19:09 | M | 1 |
| 2 | 33 | Steve | Williams | 7:01 | 6:58 | 5:20 | 19:19 | M | 2 |
| 3 | 22 | Robin | Imthorn | 7:49 | 7:47 | 6:23 | 21:59 | M | 3 |
| 4 | 6 | Ellie | Milnes | 7:48 | 8:09 | 6:29 | 22:26 | F | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | Craig | Hamilton-Smith | 7:48 | 7:56 | 6:48 | 22:32 | M | 4 |
| 6 | 32 | Ronan | Minvielle | 7:40 | 8:27 | 6:50 | 22:57 | M | 5 |
| 7 | 26 | Sheila | Sanei | 8:06 | 8:26 | 6:41 | 23:13 | F | 2 |
| 8 | 9 | Gary | Chapman | 7:40 | 8:22 | 7:54 | 23:56 | M | 6 |
| 9 | 19 | Muriel | Filliers | 8:31 | 8:42 | 7:43 | 24:56 | F | 3 |
| 10 | 31 | Sherief | Elabd | 8:57 | 8:50 | 7:11 | 24:58 | M | 7 |
| 11 | 18 | Massimiliano | Augusto | 8:54 | 9:55 | 6:48 | 25:37 | M | 8 |
| 12 | 30 | Kim | Mortensen | 8:22 | 9:50 | 8:11 | 26:23 | M | 9 |
| 13 | 13 | Jules | Bardwell | 7:43 | 9:50 | 8:55 | 26:28 | M | 10 |
| 14 | 14 | Katherine | Holdstock | 8:48 | 9:37 | 8:07 | 26:32 | F | 4 |
| 15 | 16 | Kenneth | Donaldson | 8:54 | 9:20 | 8:18 | 26:32 | M | 11 |
| 16 | 8 | Emmanuel | Valenti | 9:37 | 9:40 | 8:23 | 27:40 | F | 5 |
| 17 | 15 | Katie | Hislop | 9:57 | 9:52 | 8:09 | 27:58 | F | 6 |
| 18 | 2 | Andy | Delderfield | 10:42 | 11:03 | 10:09 | 31:54 | M | 12 |
| 19 | 11 | Jenny | Hall | 10:02 | 11:13 | 11:09 | 32:24 | F | 7 |
| 20 | 21 | Riana | Scholtz | 11:26 | 11:01 | 10:10 | 32:37 | F | 8 |
| 21 | 28 | Tanja | Braun | 10:43 | 12:17 | 10:27 | 33:27 | F | 9 |
| 22 | 17 | Marie-Louise | Pharaony | 12:09 | 11:47 | 10:22 | 34:18 | F | 10 |
| 23 | 29 | Yuko | Oe | 11:22 | 12:17 | 11:41 | 35:20 | F | 11 |
| 3 | Barbara | McNulty | DNF | 11:03 | DNF | DNF | F | ||
| 4 | Calvin | Barnard | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | M | ||
| 12 | Jon | Shield | 5:35 | DNF | DNF | DNF | M | ||
| 24 | Sara | Curtin | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | F | ||
| 27 | Silvia | Czaja | DNF | 9:44 | 8:32 | DNF | F |
