HAENERTSBURG – The George’s Valley Road to Ebenezer Dam was misty, with a samango monkey standing in an unusual and leisurelike manner at the side of the road – quite an odd visual seeing as these are historically shy primates. The oddness, as far as the weather was concerned, continued.
The mist rose and fell over the Ebenezer Dam like a slow moving thick, white stage curtain. The first race was thus delayed by an hour and 15 minutes. Without sight of the buoy, there can be no swim. The Ebenezer Mile venue, historically at the Yacht Club, has moved to a disused site further along the road owned by Lepelle. There’s now a separate start and finish line. The view is quite spectacular with an existing building called the Old Smoky which the Haenertsburg Rotary Club is set on restoring. There is also a separate area for stalls and seating with tables.
The coffee vendors also arrived late and for the love of coffee, individuals braved an hour in the queue to get a cup. The Vervet Monkey Foundation, with plant-based French chef William Laurent also had a late arrival.
Due to the misty weather, Josie du Toit from VMF had an accident on the George’s Valley road as she made her way to the mile, she is however with just a few bruises and a written-off car. The pancakes sold well in the chilly weather and the Letaba SPCA sold quite a number of dragon fruit and hamburgers.
Gone are the days when Haenertsburg Rotary did the timing as the chore has now been contracted out to TIMEME for the past four years. Stationed in Old Smoky, Barend Gouws from TIMEME explained that they travel all over the country as they also among others, time running and mountain biking.
The Ebenezer Mile was manually timed but TIMEME does however offer electronic timing. The company also captures late entries and ensures that these are placed into the system before the start of the event.
Ockert Vermeulen with a time of 20:45 and Anel de Vos with a time of 21:56 emerged as winners of the Ebenezer Mile.
