ASICS Frontrunner Brendan Lombard finished third (again) at the recent Three Peaks event in Cape Town and is looking solid for his assault on the 100km route of UTCT on 28 November.
“Three Peaks is the oldest trail race in South Africa and by far one of the most prestigious. It is 50kms tagging in all the major peaks in the Cape Town CBD, namely Devil’s Peak, Maclear’s Beacon and Lion’s Head,” Brendan explains.
“You start from Green Market Square and have to return to it after tagging each peak. It makes for around 3000m of elevation gain over the 50km. The running is very technical, with single track trails mixed with a bit of tar and jeep track. Probably one of the tougher races one can do in this country.”
According to Brendan what adds even further to the event’s allure is that fact that it is such an underground race. “Not just anybody can enter to run it - you either have to go on a waiting list or have to be invited,” he says. He was invited back because he had podiumed and, ended up repeating this feat…
“I finished third again this year. I was told by my coach to use the event as prep for Ultra Trail Cape Town where I am doing the 100km. So I felt pretty relaxed going in."
"The start line was really special, just to be part of that inner circle of the trail community is really cool. The vibe was amazing!”
Aside from getting a solid day in the legs ahead of UTCT, Brendan’s goal was to make it home in time to catch the Boks play (AND WIN) the Rugby World Cup final.
“I started off quite fast with Kane Reilly (the eventually winner) who eventually pulled away from me. I wasn’t too interested in pushing myself to blowing point and making my recovery this week tougher ahead of UTCT, as I also had to do a long run again the day after,” he says.
“I knew if I ran a good pace I could make the kick-off by around half-an-hour, which I did and was stoked with. The 50kms took me 5 hours and 21mins. I’ll definitely be back for my third Three Peaks next year."
