The Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival is already known as one of South Africa’s premium sporting events, with athletes testing their abilities, skills and endurance at some of the most anticipated and varied events on the Western Cape sporting calendar.

Now, for the third year running, the Festival brings you the ultimate in sporting adventures – the Big 5 Challenge. This festival-long challenge will have you cycling and running on both the road and breathtaking trails, as well as rowing on the Knysna estuary as you prove yourself worthy of the title athlete.

Big 5 Scoring System

To enter the Big5 Challenge you need to enter 5 of the following 7 Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival Events:

 Saturday 7 July   Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna MTB race - 80km

 Sunday 8 July     Choose ONE event from either

                           Pick n Pay Rotary Knysna Weekend Argus Rotary Knysna Road race

                           100km; or

                           Knysna Lagoon Challenge - 22km

Tuesday 10 July  Salomon Featherbed Trail Run - Coelacanth - 14km

Thursday 12 July  Totalsport XTERRA presented by REHIDRAT Sport - Full distance

Saturday 14 July   Choose ONE from either

                             Pick n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon or

                             Pick n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Half Marathon

All 5 races of your choice will be electronically timed.

In order to rank all Big 5 athletes against each other- independent of the choice of event – the scores will be calculated as follows:

Each Big Five event is scored on a points system where a maximum of 1000 points are allocated for each event of the Big Five. Points are calculated for each of the Big Five Events by taking the overall event winner’s time (male & female respectively) for that particular course and dividing that by the individual Big Five competitor’s time and then multiplying that by 1000 to give a point value.

For example:  the winner of the Pick n Pay Weekend Argus Knysna Rotary Cycle Tour race does a time of 03:02:15 and the Big Five Competitor finishes the race in 03:42:11. The Points calculation for that competitor for that event is 03:02:15/03:43:15 (0.820269) x 1000 = 820

Note that points will be rounded off to the nearest whole number.

By this system the scoring of a Big Five participant’s performance in each race is relative to the best competitor in the field for that race making it possible to compare the results in different event. Participants in the Big Five are able to make strategic decisions based on their competencies in the different sports relative to the best athletes in the field.

This one-of-a-kind challenge will not only challenge you beyond your comfort zone, but also brings with it plenty of other benefits. All participants will receive a 10% discount on race entry fees as well as discount vouchers for certain restaurants, activities and shops in town for the duration of the festival.

Take on the challenge and enter the Big 5 to experience adventure in one of the top 100 destinations in the world.

Entries open on the 1st of March – please visit www.oysterfestival.co.za for online entries. For more information and other queries, please contact Trevor on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or cell 0836535185.

The Knysna Oyster Festival takes place from July 6-15, 2012.