KNYSNA NEWS - Locals who are concerned that Knysna's iconic Oyster Festival might be in jeopardy after chief sponsors Pick and Pay pulled out, can breathe a sigh of relief as organisers of the 2019 Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour and the Knysna Forest Marathon have confirmed that plans for this year’s events are on track.
The Cycle Tour will take place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June, and the Forest Marathon will be on Saturday 29 June as part of the annual Knysna Oyster Festival.
The events are the iconic sporting events of the festival and both have been running for over 30 years.
Andrew Finn, Cycle Tour marketing director, says the event will provide a stunning family cycling weekend. The main events, the MTB event, the Road Race and the Children’s fun ride will be back to thrill and challenge the thousands of participants who flock to Knysna every year for the tour.
Changed courses, new challenges
The MTB events consist of two premier races: the 80km race for elite riders and the half marathon 50km event for experienced MTB cyclists; and the two family events consisting of 30km and 15km rides for adults and children aged nine to 16 years old.
This year, three events have been reinvigorated with changed courses and new challenges. The premier events will have more kilometres in forest areas and more singletrack. Both races will descend via Eastford to the Oakhill School cycle track, thus avoiding the Simola Hill descent.
The team coordinating the Knysna Cycle Tour and Knysna Forest Marathon. From left is Elwin Thompson, Clive Wilkinson and Andrew Finn of Knysna Rotary, and president of the Knysna Marathon Club Wayne Kidd. Photo: Supplied
The 30km event will, instead of going up the Simola Hill, will head to Welbedacht and then to Phantom Pass, which is a slightly more family-friendly – an easier route with less climbing.
The route for the 15km race, which was introduced in 2017, will remain the same.
Family-friendly pricing
Both the 30km and 15km races will be priced for families, with only one adult in the group paying full price and additional family members paying just 50% of the entry fee.
Knysna Marathon Club president and coordinator of next year’s Forest Marathon, Wayne Kidd, says online entries for the marathon are open for Loyalty Entrants (all 2018 participants) and general online entries for the full and half marathons will go live on 4 March.
“We’re looking forward to another great event,” says Kidd. "This event is one of the most popular races on the national running calendar and there is nothing that beats the uniqueness of an early winter-morning start in the middle of the Knysna forest. There is something very special about this race that keeps runners coming back every year. It’s one of those bucket-list events that every runner wants to tick off and then, once they do it, they just want to come back and do it all over again.”
Both events are organised by local volunteers and raise substantial sums for local charities every year.
Find out more
Visit Knysna Cycle and follow their Facebook and Twitter pages. Follow the Knysna Forest Marathon on Facebook for regular updates or click here.
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