NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH ISLAND - Stellenbosch local, Robyn Owen (Best4Sports/ Jeep / Salomon) is on top of the world after the 27-year-old multisport sensation raced to victory in the World Multisport Championships at the Kathmandu Longest Day Coast to Coast this past weekend.     The Kathmandu Coast to Coast is an iconic multisport event based in the South Island of New Zealand. Held every February, the race starts at Kumara Beach on New Zealand’s West Coast, and traverses the width of the South Island, crossing the main divide, finishing on the East Coast at the Pier on New Brighton Beach in Christchurch. Across six stages, competitors cycle 140km, kayak 70km and run 34.1km. 

The women’s race was set for a titanic battle between the strongest women in multisport racing history - four-time Coast to Coast winner, Elina Ussher (New Zealand); three-time adventure racing world champion, Sophie Hart (New Zealand); 2015 runner-up, Simone Maier (New Zealand); and Owen, who has represented South Africa at world championship level in canoeing, mountain running and adventure racing. Owen, the Otter African Trail Run record holder and second-place finisher in the 2017 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100km, showed her running and cycling prowess at the start with a short, sharp 2.2km run to get onto the first leg of the bike. If left behind here, catching up is impossible, as Owen experienced in 2017, but a stronger, smarter Owen emerged this year.

 It was on the running stages that Owen created the biggest gap, a 16-minute lead over Hart and Maier during the 30.5km mountain run. Five-time winner and current record-holder of the Dusi Canoe Marathon, Owen’s illustrious paddling proficiency then extended her lead to 20 minutes heading into a nail-biting final 70-kilometre bike leg. Coast to Coast winner in 2011 and 2013, Hart, gained on Owen, cutting her lead to just under four minutes. Owen held on for a memorable victory in 12h44m56s, 45 minutes faster than her time in 2017. Second place went to Hart in 12h48m46s, and third place to Maier in 13h02m21s.Owen finished 14th overall.

Said Owen at the finish line, "I can’t believe it, I am delighted. I didn't know who was in second. But somewhere back on the road I heard my lead was down to 10 minutes, which I guessed meant she had been catching on the ride. So, I was trying to survive the last few kilometres, looking over my shoulder on each corner." In the men’s race, Sam Clark of New Zealand claimed his third consecutive win, almost 30 minutes ahead of Australian multi-sport athlete, Alex Hunt. Finishing 10-minutes behind Hunt in third, was fellow Australian, James Pretto. 

Women:

1. Robyn Owen (RSA) - 12h 44m 56s
2. Sophie Hart (NZL) - 12h 48m 46s
3. Simone Maier (NZL) - 13h 02m 21s
4. Elian Ussher (NZL) - 13h 11m 29s
5. Corrinne O’ Donnell (NZL) - 13h 16m 54s 

Men:

1. Sam Clark (NZL) - 11h 14m 33s
2. Alex Hunt (AUS) - 11h 43m 57s
3. James Pretto (AUS) - 11h 53m 05s
9. Lance Kime (RSA) - 12h 32m 38s
11. James Speed (RSA) - 12h 40m 20s
30. Bruce Hughes (RSA) - 13h 47m 36s   

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WESTERN CAPE, CAPE TOWN - South Africa’s iconic Cape Whale Coast hosted the inaugural Pura Soda Race-to-Stanford Triathlon, a Half Ironman distance, on 18 November 2017. The R2S Triathlon, the acronym for Race-2-Stanford, starts at the sea and finishes inland.

Multisport sensation, Robyn Owen, 27, who grew up in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, (Jeep Team/Best4Sports), is a multiple-award winning adventure racer not used to racing on anything tarred and flat. Currently in training with her younger brother, top paddler Lance Kime, Owen used the triathlon as an opportunity to put into practise time-trialling, fast transitioning, and running on tired legs in a race environment, in preparation for the 2018 Kathmandu Coast to Coast World Multisport Championships. This challenging triathlon started with a 1.9km ocean swim in the Hermanus Harbour, then cycling through the Hemel en Aarde Valley on a 90km bike leg via Caledon and over Shaw’s Pass, and concluded in a 21km run around the beautiful and historic Stanford Village. Owen, who is a seasoned off-road runner, paddler and mountain biker, finished the testing race in just under 6 hours, earning herself a surprise second-place finish with a time of 05:50:48.

First place went to Kelly van der Toorn in 05:42:51, while Gabriella Gioia finished in third place in 06:01:12. Owen reflects on her experience, “I swam 1.9 km with numb fingers in a pretty chilly ocean; rode 90 km with skinny wheels on tarmac; and ran 21 flat kilometres, and wasn’t half bad! The water was as clear and blue as an ocean gets; the hilly bicycle ride was good, hard work; and the 3-lap run through Stanford was as good as any cross-country run course I can remember. I'm no triathlon connoisseur, but I don't reckon a half Ironman could get much better than that. The Pura Soda Race 2 Stanford is destined to become a classic. The race was great training for Coast to Coast; and the unexpected bonus was the second-place finish. Thanks to Paul Ingpen and the team for a magnificent event and the incredibly warm welcome. And a massive thank you to Best 4 Sports, Jeep Team, Sivi Gounden and Caelyn Gounden for the support and for kitting us out in all the tri-essentials!” 

Results – Race-2-Stanford Triathlon 

Women

1. Kelly van der Toorn - 05:42:51
2. Robyn Owen - 05:50:48
3. Gabriella Gioia - 06:01:12 

Men

1. Matt Trautman - 04:18:58
2. JP Burger - 04:25:31
3. Stuart Marais - 04:32:14 

###  EDITORS NOTES 

SOME OF ROBYN OWEN’S ACHIVEMENTS May 2017 – Robyn Owen joins Jeep Team South Africa  TRIATHLON 2nd in Race-2-Stanford Triathlon, a Half Ironman distance, November 2017.  ADVENTURE RACING & MULTISPORT 2nd in Coast to Coast Longest Day “World Multisport Championships”, New Zealand, (winning fastest run & paddle trophies), February 2017 Owen leads SA Youth Team to victory (1st youth team, 7th overall) in the Altay X-Trail Expedition Race in Northern China, 2-10 June 2017 3rd-place finish in 53km Merrell Whale of Trail, July 2017. 2nd in Hout Bay Trail Challenge, August 2017 2nd in the world-renowned Otter African Trail 44km race, October 2017 She was a member of Team Painted Wolf, an elite South African expedition racing team: 4th place (of 96 teams) at the Adventure Racing World Championships, November 2016 in Shoalhaven, Australia.  From November 2014 to February 2016, she was a member of the Merrell Adventure Addicts. During that period the team moved from 16th to 7th on the AR World Series rankings.

Specific results: 3rd place at the Patagonian Expedition Race, Chile, February 2016 6th place at the AR World Championships, Pantanal, Brazil, November 2015 2nd place at XPD, Queensland, Australia, August 2015 1st place at Expedition Africa, Swaziland, June 2015 FKT (at the time) for a mixed team on the Drakensberg Grand Traverse: 78h57m, November 2014  TRAIL / MOUNTAIN RUNNING 1ST - Otter African Trail Run 2016 & record holder (5th place overall, 4h48m) 24th & 1st South African woman - Represented South Africa at the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in Poland, 2013 1st place at Darren Holloway Memorial (Buttermere Horseshoe), Lake District, & 2nd place at Welsh 1000 m peaks fell running race, Snowdonia, UK (June 2014) Podium finishes at popular South African trail running events: Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge, Old Fishermans Trail Challenge, Helderberg Extreme, Matroosberg Skymarathon and Lesotho Ultra Trail (2013) KAYAKING 5 times winner (2010-2014) & current record holder of the Dusi Canoe Marathon 2nd place (U23 women’s K1) and 4th place (senior women’s K2) at the ICF World Marathon Championships in Rome, 2012. Past winner of many of the major canoe races in South Africa including the Fish River Canoe Marathon, Berg River Canoe Marathon, Breede River Canoe Marathon, Drak Challenge and 50 Miler Canoe Marathon (2008-2013) 4th place South African K1 River Championships 2016 (Fish River Canoe Marathon)  

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EASTERN CAPE, GARDEN ROUTE - On Saturday, 28 October 2017, Tsitsikamma National Park on the Garden Route in the Eastern Cape was buzzing with the country’s finest trail runners, and a few international stars, gathering to do battle on the world-renowned Otter African Trail, a gruelling 44km race considered the benchmark of technical marathon-distance trail running.

Two of these athletes were Capetonians, Christiaan Greyling (Jeep/ Salomon/ Garmin), and Robyn Owen (Jeep/ Best 4 Sports/ Salomon). They were among 232 athletes all eager to stake their claim on the “The Grail of Trail.”

In both the men’s and women’s race, the terrain of the first section of the race favoured the technical runner requiring immense skill, speed and agility. Kane Reilly, top-5 Marathon de Mont Blanc finisher, took the lead ahead of Greyling by the first checkpoint, 20km into the race.  Despite the ensuing challenge from Reilly and Robert Rorich, whose speed had put them only minutes behind Greyling at the Bloukrans river crossing, Greyling held true to his current form and race plan, and took the lead with just 7km to go to take home his biggest win this year. He crossed the line in a total time of 04h13m15s, just under 12 minutes ahead of Reilly in second and Rorich in third, and breaking the South African record.  “I am blessed to celebrate winning the Otter African Trail Run in the fastest SA time ever - 4:13:15! I ran a race of no regret and gave my everything! Two years of Otter podium finishes and 4 years of working towards my personal goals.

This race taught me so much in life about goal setting, patience, discipline, hard work and faith. The Otter is a world-class event and a special trail to me. It was a privilege to run with my Salomon teammates Robyn, Kane, Meg and Thabang,” says Greyling. In the women’s race, Owen’s rock-running skill gave her a slight advantage holding the lead against her challenger, Meg Mackenzie. But the ever-improving Mackenzie took the lead and held a 4-minute advantage going into the last quarter of the race.

Owen held her own, but dropped off the pace slightly, finishing 8 minutes behind winner, Mackenzie. Third place went to Carla Van Huyssteen in a time of 05h34m44s. “What a weekend! I had a great run along the spectacular Otter Trail, and I am more than stoked to finish 2nd behind the new Otter African Trail Run Champion, Meg Mackenzie,” concluded Owen. 

Results

Men

1. Christiaan Greyling - 4:13:15
2. Kane Reilly - 4:25:00
3. Robert Rorich - 4:27:00 

Women

1. Meg Mackenzie - 5:01:08
2. Robyn Owen - 5:09:12
3. Carla van Huyssteen - 5:34:44 

### EDITORS NOTES 

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Trail runner Christiaan Greyling (Jeep Team SA/Salomon/Garmin), after his recent Top 12 result in the 110km Ultra Pirineu, is back on home soil and ready for the coveted Otter Run, a race that is considered the benchmark of technical marathon-distance trail running. The 44km Otter Trail is regarded as one of the finest ‘hikes’ in the world.  Alternating East to west and west to east each year, this year, the event will be run from East to West, starting at Storms River Mouth Rest Camp and finishing at De Vasselot Camp Site, Natures Valley.  It includes four river crossings, over 2600 metres of elevation and eleven significant climbs along a relentlessly technical coastal route. 

Greyling, who has competed in the race five times, ran his first Otter in 2011, posting a time of just under 5h30m. Since then he has run the race almost 20 minutes faster each year, and this year he is believing big! “I believe I can do a sub-4, but I’m not sure when. Based on my run last year, I am aiming for 4h10m, but that all depends on my recovery and preparation over the past few weeks abroad.

I prefer the Classic, running from Storms River to Nature’s Valley, as I love the first technical section and will be able to maintain a good position among the speedsters,” said Greyling. Greyling will have a huge fight on his hands as the field is stacked with South Africa’s finest trail champions including Kane Reilly who earlier this year achieved a top-5 finish at the Marathon de Mont Blanc in the French Alps. Other top contenders are winner of this year’s 53km Merrell Whale of Trail Challenge, Rory Scheffer, and 2015 Skyrunning African Champ, Thabang Madiba.  

In the women’s race, defending champion and record holder, Robyn Owen (Jeep Team/Best4Sports) will have her work cut out for her as she competes against the likes of two-time winner, Landie Greyling, who is in great shape and capable of a 4h30m finish this year, and the ever-improving Meg Mackenzie who won the Hout Bay Trail Challenge.  Owen is in great shape though and is now competing full time as an adventure athlete. She has come leaps and bounds since last year and is stronger than ever. Owen for Gold.  The 2017 Otter African Trail Run kicks off on Friday, 27 October 2017, with registration and the prologue, a 3.5km time-trial run to determine seeding for the main event on Saturday, 28 October 2017. 

-- End --

EDITORS NOTES 

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Photo Credit: Terence Vrugtman| AdevtureLifeSA 

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Last weekend saw Robyn Owen (Jeep Team/Best4Sports) competing in the infamous Hout Bay Trail Challenge, one of the toughest trail runs in the Western Cape. Starting and finishing at the Hout Bay Yacht Club, the 41km race, with a total massive climb of 2622m, circumnavigates the mountains surrounding Hout Bay, taking runners through pristine forests and rocky mountain trails.

The marked route is broken into 3 legs with check points at Suikerbossie Restaurant and Constantia Nek. Leg 1, from Hout Bay Harbour to Suikerbossie, covered around 15km and includes a climb up Karbonkelberg. Leg 2 travelled 15km with a total elevation gain of 1066m, traversing the back of Table Mountain from Suikerbossie to Constantia Nek.  Leg 3, from Constantia Nek to the finish at Hout Bay Harbour, is considered the easiest leg covering 11km with an elevation gain of 540m. Owen finished 2nd in a time of 05:22:08, behind the winner, South African Long-Distance Trail Champ, Meg Mackenzie in a time of 04:43:22, and 3rd place went to Julie Huckle in 06:00:10. 

Results – 40km Hout Bay Trail Challenge

Men

1. Kane Reilly - 03:59:34
2. Kevin Spratley - 04:50:53
3. Lucas Adams - 05:05:54 

Women

1. Meg Mackenzie - 04:43:22
2. Robyn Owen - 05:22:08
3. Julie Huckle - 06:00:10 

###  OTHER JEEP TEAM NEWS MTB – Smith Wins Spectrum Vaal River MTBLast weekend, Jeep Team mountain biker Pierre Smith won the Spectrum Vaal River MTB Race in the south of Gauteng. Smith finished the flat and fast 65km marathon race in 02:21:48, claiming top spot on the podium. Second place went to Johan de Villiers, who finished 3 minutes behind Smith; and rounding off the podium was Louis Harmse in 02:27:49. Starting and finishing at Stonehaven on Vaal, the route offered 75% single track with a mixture of jeep track and dirt road. 

Says Smith following the race, “I had a lot of fun racing my bike in my hometown race today. It’s always special to race so close to home, and to top it off with an overall win is even better. It is also nice to see the young talent growing in these tough races! Well done to everyone who raced and finished today. Up next is the 230km Trans Baviaans mountain bike marathon.” 

Results –Spectrum Vaal River MTB 65km marathon

Men

1. Pierre Smith - 02:21:48
2. Johan de Villiers - 02:24:49
3. Louis Harmse - 02:27:49 

Women

1. Sylvia van Tromp - 02:43:49
2. Mariske McLean - 02:50:28
3. Ronel Van Staaden - 03:00:04 

###  EDITOR’S NOTES 

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PIETERMARITZBURG, 21 JUNE 2017 – From 2 to 10 June 2017, the world’s greatest adventure racing teams battled for glory in the 2nd edition of the Altay X-Trail Expedition Race in Northern China, the only Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) race in Asia. This year, the race organisers featured a youth team entry fee and travel subsidy to encourage youth teams from all over the world. A youth team has a combined age of under 110 years. In total, 24 teams, of which 10 teams were youth teams, all set out to conquer the Altay Prefecture.Robyn Owen (Jeep Team), along with Michael Owen, Andrew Houston and Julian Atkinson, made up the South African youth team, Best4Sports, tackling the gruelling 500km race. 

Say Robyn Owen Team Leader Best4Sports, “Being the most experienced member of the team was a new experience for me, but it turned out to be an easy job. Mike handled the challenging navigation as well as many navigators with much more experience; and Andrew and Julian were as tough as nails taking all the unexpected challenges in their stride despite having had very little time to prepare. “ The approximate 500km race through the remote Altay region of Northern China is not normally accessible to tourists, and consists of expansive grasslands, rivers, mountains and desert plains in this spectacular part in the world.

The massive, lush grazelands are home to nomads - the Kazaks and Mongolians - with a strong Kazak culture. Back in 2015, Wei Jun (race director) and the X-Trail crew invited ARWS Race Director, Louise Foulkes, and Executive Producer, Erik Nachtrieb, to the Xinjiang region of Northern China to consider creating an ARWS expedition race in China. They spent ten days meeting government officials, reviewing the potential course, experiencing the culture, riding horses, eating lamb's heads and wrestling Kazaks. The debut race took place in September 2016 although slightly shorter than this second edition.

The June 2017 Altay X-Trail Expedition was open to mixed teams of four, 3 men and 1 woman, and was a non-stop, unsupported race with the disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, rope skill and navigation. Winners were expected to take 3 days, and everyone else up to 6 days, to get to the finish line. The exact course was kept secret until 24hrs before the start. Each team was given maps and a course booklet containing the location of each of the race checkpoints. Much of the terrain is rugged, and over the race each team needed to pass through a wide range of landforms.

To finish the race, teams needed to navigate through all the checkpoints together and arrive at the finish line.Say Owen, “Altay X-Trail Expedition 2017 was an experience of a lifetime! The diverse scenery and conditions we encountered were crazy: from scary lightning and hail storms near snowy mountain tops, to the most brilliant rainbows I've ever seen over alpine meadows covered in bright flowers, to desert canyons and bleak Badlands. One morning we were riding through ice-cold swamps in frosty valleys with fingers which felt like they might snap from the cold, and later in the day we were suffocating in still dusty mid-30-degree heat trying to keep midges and mosquitoes out of our noses and ears.

A day later we in all our warm layers again, being battered by horizontal rain.”Owen lead the team to an impressive finish. The South African youth team finished the race in 80:39:00 (3 days, 8hrs), crossing the finish line as the first youth team, and placing 7th overall. Owen concludes “We are pleased with our overall result but more than that we are thankful for everything we learnt along the way - about the sport, about ourselves, about each other, about over-coming challenges and about life. The team are all hooked on Adventure Racing!   We are extremely grateful to X-Trail and Best 4 Sports for the making the incredible experience possible.” 

RESULTS - Altay X-Trail Expedition - China

1. Team Seagate (New Zealand)                          55:55:00

2. Haglofs Silva (Sweden)                                   58:40:00

3. Estonian Ace Adventure Team (Estonia)          61:35:00

4. Team Bones (USA)                                        72:35:00

5. Bivouac Inov8 (New Zealand)                          77:45:02

6. Uruguay Natural Ultra Sports (Uruguay)            76:45:00

7. Best4Sports (YOUTH South Africa)                80:39:00 (1st youth team)  

OTHER JEEP TEAM NEWS 

Paddling – McGregor Paddle SeriesOn Saturday, 10 June, Dabulamanzi Canoe Club at Emmarentia Dam in Johannesburg played host to Race 1 of the 2017 Euro Steel McGregor Paddle Series. Over 100 paddlers of all abilities braved the cold to participate in Race 1, the Euro Steel Dice, which featured a 4km and an 8km race.  The first event of the series was focussed on K2 boats (doubles) to enable experienced paddlers to invite a novice to share the occasion. 

Jeep Team paddler and multiple World Marathon Champ, Hank McGregor, paddled with schoolboy Matthew Eckhardt in the 8km race. The pair crossed the finish line in 4th place in a time of 36:38.46. “Race 1 was an immense success and I loved this format.

My paddle partner, Matt, is a really good 200 metre sprinter, but he hasn’t been training much after the SA Champs. He really felt it on that first lap as the pace was intense and there was plenty of jostling at the first turn. We finished fourth, and I think he will soon be back in a boat again.” said McGregor. Race 2, the Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Durban North Dice, is on the 28 July 2017 at the Blue Lagoon in Durban.  

RESULTS

Long Course – 8km

1. Michael Arthur/Wayne Jacobs                        35:24.66

2. Clinton Cook/Thomas Lovemore                     35:25.46

3. Hamish Lovemore/Callam Davis                     36:18.18 (u18)

4. Hank McGregor/Matthew Eckhart                   36:38.46 

Short Course – 4km

1. Nicolaas Swart                                              27:06.58 (u12)

2. Theo Dreyer                                                  27:22.50 (u12)

3. Tinyiko Mahwayi/Thembelihle Jokozela           28:27:98 (u14)

4. Caroline Power                                              29:04.06 

Surfski – Bay Union Surfski SeriesThis past weekend, Jeep Team paddler, Barry Lewin, participated in Race 7 of the Bay Union Surfski Series.  The race, dubbed the 5 Beaches, started in Umkomaas on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast and finished at Amanzimtoti’s Main Beach. Says Lewin, “Making a comeback after injury has been challenging. The first step is getting your mind in the game, the body will do its thing in time. Days on the coast like this make it easier - 4th in the 5 Beaches on some flat seas.”  

EDITORS NOTES 

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Euro Steel McGregor Paddle SeriesThe paddle series was started in 2016 by Hank and Pippa McGregor as a way of putting back into the sport that means so much to them. It is intended to be an easy and hassle-free way to introduce newcomers to the sport, while also providing a new competitive platform for serious paddlers to compete against one another. Everyone, including non-registered paddlers, is welcome to participate in the series. The goal of the paddle series is to drive and increase participation in flat water marathon racing. 

Upcoming Races:

Race 2                    28 July 2017                         Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Durban North Dice, Blue Lagoon

Race 3                    18 Aug 2017                         FNB Dice, Natal Canoe Club PMB

Race 4                    25 Aug 2017                         Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Durban North Dice, Blue Lagoon

Race 5                    1 Sept 2017                          Euro Steel Dice, Natal Canoe Club PMB

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – 31 MAY 2017 - Jeep Team South Africa is the most consistent Sports and Lifestyle Team in South Africa, providing a platform for athletes to grow, develop and mature to their fullest potential.Over the past 16 years, over 300 of the country’s top athletes have been through Jeep Team with the aim to reach the pinnacle in their sport, building their individual brands, to gain meaningful recognition and sponsorship, to take them onto the world stage.                                                  

The newest addition to Jeep Team is Robyn Owen (née Kime), an adventure sport, canoeist and trail athlete. Owen joins Jeep Team SA as an Ambassador and Supported athlete, continuing her primary partnership with Best4Sports, and existing Jeep Team partner, Salomon SA. Owen, who lives in Stellenbosch, has a Master’s degree in Water and Environmental Engineering, is currently working as a self-employed athlete, adventurer, tutor and mountain guide. Owen has a strong athletic background on water and on foot, representing South Africa at World Championship level in canoeing, mountain running and adventure racing. She started off her athletic career with Jeep Team SA while still in school after being talent-spotted by Max Cluer (owner/manager Jeep Team SA) 

Owen says on her career lift-off with Jeep Team SA, “Multisport and Jeep Team is where it all started for me - riding mountain bikes in the early mornings before school with Dad and Lance Kime (brother) and racing the odd run - bike - swim/paddle event on weekends. After a few such events, Max Cluer (owner/manager Jeep Team SA) spotted something in me and invited me to join Jeep Team, boosting my confidence as a young athlete and introducing me to the strange new world of competitive racing in the non-conventional off-road sports, and everything that goes with it. “ Since then, Owen has gone on to achieve noteworthy first-place finishes in paddling in the Fish River Canoe Marathon, Berg River Canoe Marathon, Breede River Canoe Marathon, Drak Challenge and 50 Miler Canoe Marathon, and significantly, is a 5-time winner and current female record holder of the Dusi Canoe Marathon.  Additional individual achievements comprise podium finishes at highly-contended South African trail running events such as the Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge, Old Fishermans Trail Challenge, Helderberg Extreme, Matroosberg Skymarathon and Lesotho Ultra Trail.

Robyn’s sporting highlights also include the record-breaking win over the best trail athletes in the world, including American, Stevie Kremer, at the 2016 Otter Trail, a 42km marathon distance trail with four river crossings, over 2600 metres of elevation gain and 11 significant climbs.   From 2014 to 2016, Owen joined the Merrell Adventure Addicts, one of the world’s top Adventure Racing teams. During this period, the team moved up the Adventure Racing World Series rankings from 16th to 7th place. The Merrell Adventure Addicts achievements over this period include, in 2016, 3rd place at the Patagonian Expedition Race in Chile; in 2015, 2nd place at XPD in Australia, and 1st place at Expedition Africa in Swaziland in 2015. Cementing her position as an individual world-class adventure racer, in February this year, Owen achieved 2nd female overall in the Kathmandu Coast to Coast World Multisport Championship in New Zealand.

This race starts at Kumara Beach on New Zealand’s West Coast, traverses the width of the South Island crossing four stages, cycling 140km, kayaking 67km and running 36km, finishing on the East Coast in Christchurch.Owen finished the 243km race in 13:29:21 behind winner, Elina Ussher, in 13:11:39, with Hannah Wells in third in 13:50:35. Owen won both the fastest run and paddle trophies for this event. 

Comments Owen on her journey to Adventure Racing “I later became a fervent paddler, forgetting about bikes and running shoes for a while; then a trail runner, and this is when I discovered mountain trails and travelled for a year without bike or boat, before Adventure Racing got me back onto a bike and shuffling disciplines again.” Currently, Owen is a part of Sanlam Team Painted Wolf, an elite South African Adventure Racing team, which in November 2016, achieved a 4th place at the well-documented Adventure Racing World Championships in Australia.    

In June, Owen will be leading a South African Youth Team, unsupported, in the Altay XTrail Expedition Race (Adventure Racing World Series). Her team will race across the 600km Altay Prefecture, located at the northern part of Xinjiang. To the northwest, it adjoins Kazakhstan and Russia; to the northeast, it adjoins Mongolia. The disciplines will be Trek/Run, Mountain Bike, Kayak, Ropes, and Navigation. From 23 June to 15 July, Owen will be climbing, running and mountaineering the Alps and Dolomites, and in October, she will race the Otter Trail marathon 42km; in December, she will attempt the Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100 km, and then early February 2017, she will once again compete in the Kathmandu Coast to Coast World Multisport Championship in New Zealand, this time with more experience and gunning for the top spot.  “My re-partnering with Jeep Team SA, which has taken on different shapes over the years, closes a full circle of sorts and I am very excited about the new possibilities that it brings,” concludes

Owen Max Cluer, Owner/Manager of Jeep Team SA says “We are delighted to have Robyn back in the team, and are super proud of her and her incredible achievements over the past few years. She is dynamic and very professional in her approach to her sport, and brings with her an incredible energy and loads of experience to share with athletes in the team. The Jeep Team has evolved substantially since she was last a member, and we are excited to grow with her and build her profile as an athlete and sports personality." 

EDITORS NOTES 

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