Three Peaks Challenge
The Three Peaks Challenge is a mountain running trail of some 50km first done by Carl Wilhelm Schneeberger in March 1897. The challenge comprises ascending the three major peaks above Cape Town, namely Devil's Peak, Table Mountain and Lion's Head. Schneeberger completed the course in 9h5m, not counting his rest stops at the old Johannesburg Hotel in Long Street after each peak. On the centenary of Schneeberger's feat, Don Hartley and a group of 13 runners took on the challenge on 13 September 1997. In 2001 Chad Ulansky set a new record at 5h27m29s, a record which stood until 2010 when Andrew Hagen posted a time of 5h23m20sec. One year later, newcomer Andre Calitz beat Hagen, bettering the record by nearly 16 minutes, and set an astonishing new mark in 2012 with a winning time of 4h50m21s.
The course starts at 108 Long Street and runners scramble up Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain (Maclear's Beacon, via Platteklip Gorge) and Lion’s Head, returning to Greenmarket Square after each peak. [1]
Three Peaks Records: 1897 to 2014
| Year | Men | Time | Year | Women | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897 | Carl Schneeberger * | 10:50:00 | Pioneer | |||
| 1927 | Sandy Trimble * | 07:17:00 | ||||
| 1977 | Geoff Pitter * | 06:51:00 | ||||
| * solo efforts | ||||||
| 1997 | Don Hartley | 07:18:00 | 1997 | Catherine Schorr | 09:27:00 | |
| 1998 | Danny Biggs | 06:07:42 | 1998 | Tanya Katzchner | 08:23:07 | |
| 1999 | Glenn Castle | 06:41:56 | 1999 | Helen Davies | 08:43:15 | |
| 2000 | Arvind Varsani | 06:18:20 | 2000 | Tanya Katzchner | 07:38:27 | |
| 2001 | Chad Ulansky | 05:27:29 | 2001 | Caroline Brawner | 07:43:49 | |
| 2002 | Danny Biggs | 05:33:51 | 2002 | Sylvie Harris | 07:31:19 | |
| 2003 | Danny Biggs | 05:44:24 | 2003 | Nicola Le Marquand | 07:07:21 | |
| 2004 | Ake Fagereng | 06:36:13 | 2004 | Sylvie Harris | 06:42:32 | |
| 2005 | Ake Fagereng | 05:46:53 | 2005 | Janette Terblanche | 07:52:54 | |
| 2006 | Roger Steel | 05:56:42 | 2006 | Sylvie Harris | 06:17:26 | |
| 2007 | Andrew Hagen | 06:11:38 | 2007 | Karen De Kock | 07:48:12 | |
| 2008 | Bruce Arnett | 05:28:08 | 2008 | Caroline Balkwill | 07:40:34 | |
| 2009 | Andrew Hagen | 05:34:27 | 2009 | Cherilyn Vossberg | 07:09:23 | |
| 2010 | Andrew Hagen | 05:23:20 | 2010 | Janette Terblanche | 07:28:13 | |
| 2011 | Andre Calitz | 05:07:39 | 2011 | Caroline Balkwill | 07:14:09 | |
| 2012 | Andre Calitz | 04:50:21 | 2012 | Katya Soggott | 06:15:27 | |
| 2013 | Charl Souma | 05:46:57 | 2013 | Katya Soggott | 06:15:02 | |
| 2014 | Martin Kleynhans | 05:24:59 | 2014 | Katya Soggott | 06:15:44 |
Record Times:
| Name | Date | Devil's Peak | Table Mountain | Lion's Head | Total Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Andre Calitz | 03-11-2012 | 01:42:52 | 01:51:20 | 01:16:09 | 04:50:21 |
| Women | Katya Soggott | 02-11-2013 | 02:02:38 | 02:32:17 | 01:40:07 | 06:15:02 |
Ten or more Three Peaks Challenges completed:
| Name | Times completed | Year first completed |
|---|---|---|
| Gavin Snell | 18 | 1997 |
| Rolf Aebischer | 15 | 1999 |
| Roger Steel | 13 | 1998 |
| Brian Key | 13 | 2001 |
| Barry Washkansky | 13 | 2002 |
| Stephen Hector | 12 | 2000 |
| Mark Lemmon | 11 | 2002 |
| Annie Lemmon | 11 | 2002 |
| Roz Menne | 11 | 2003 |
| Glenn Castle | 10 | 1997 |
| Sonia Beard | 10 | 2001 |
| Guy Meredith | 10 | 2004 |
| Mark Spengler | 10 | |
| David Foyn | 10 | |
| Alan Green | 10 | |
| Sibylla Eickhoff | 10 |