TIME FREIGHT MULTISPORT SERIES ULTRA EVENT

RESULT: 1st OVERALL

The final Time Freight Multi-X event came in at a perfect time for me, being just 2 weeks before I race World XTERRA Champs in Maui. It would be a great way for me to gauge my form leading into the big race and the fact that the temperature was around 36 degrees Celsius made it even better.

The main race was set as an ultra format being a 7.5km run, 38km MTB and finishing with a 5km run. This was longer than the usual sprint distance, which would lead to some interesting racing.

My aim for the race was to hold back on the first run and push harder on the bike and final run, however as the gun went the racing mentality kicked in and I decided to go out fairly hard with Gareth Harrington. I felt comfortable on the first run and was thoroughly enjoying my Saucony Kinvaras on the technical terrain. I came off the run leading the Multi-X event and began my favoured leg, the bike.

I made a rather crucial error however and decided to ride with only one bottle of PeptoSport not taking into account the intense heat and lack of a cooling wind. I immediately rationed myself and only took small sips throughout the bike. I also held myself back keeping my heart rate below 85% to avoid dehydration and any possible damage towards my weeks ahead. Even with this slightly subdued pace I wasn’t being caught and enjoyed the scenic views Albert Falls has to offer. Nic Floros put together a truly spectacular bike course and I enjoyed every second of it.

Onto the final run I opted for the lighter Saucony Type A3’s as it was a shorter and less technical route. It was great being out there alone getting to test myself up the climbs and monitoring my pace on my Garmin as I went. My legs felt really good on the final run and I was pleased with how my race went. I claimed the win in a time of 2h28:31 with Gareth Harrington fighting Dehydration and then over hydration to claim 2nd in 2h43:14 and Bryce Jackson claiming a well deserved 3rd in 2h44:10

Its been a crazy few days since the race with last minute meetings and packing but I am finally all packed and ready for the long haul flight out to Maui for what Im sure is going to be an experience of a lifetime. I have to say a quick thank you to the sponsors that have made this trip possible. Always a huge thank you to Richard from THULE who has backed me in every way possible this year and for providing me with my amazing luggage for the trip. To Glynn from Saucony for all the support and my 2 fantastic shoe options for Maui, the Kinvaras and Peregrines. To PeptoSport for powering me at Worlds. Obviously a big thanks to POWASOL for everything they do, truly a great brand who put a lot into our sport. Zululand Cycles have also been a huge help to me and is basically my second home. Compressport are a new addition and absolutely perfect timing as I look forward to using the compression products during the flight and races. And finally BeeWise for their multi-purpose Balms and chamois cream.

TIME FREIGHT MULTISPORT SERIES EVENT #2

RESULT: 1st Overall

Checking the weather report on Saturday before the race I was elated to see it was set to be a 29 degree scorcher. Summer is on it's way back and after racing the Cowan House mountain bike classic the weekend before in rain and freezing temperatures, resulting in a week of flu and resting, the heat was welcomed with open arms.

I decided on the Saturday after doing a stationery spin that I was feeling well enough to give the race a go. I knew I wouldn't be feeling my best but just couldn't bear to miss the event, especially with my personal sponsor THULE supporting the event. We were returning to Shongweni after a few years of not racing at the dam so would be nice to see what the course was going to be like.

The pace was extremely fast from the start in the run. I didn't feel to bad during the first km of the run, however after that we began to climb and my calves started tightening up. I was losing time fast and even had to resort to walking. My hopes for a win were disappearing fast.

I got onto the bike in 8th a long way behind the leader. I wasn't feeling strong on the bike but got into a good rhythm and was starting to make some passes. I was impressed with the course that was put together, it had loads of climbing with some spectacular single track. I was in my element and came through the transition area after the first lap in 3rd and not far behind the leaders. I soon realized that the one athlete ahead was Eric Zondi who wasn't doing the multi-x event and the other was Andy Birkett who was doing the event in a team. So I was in fact leading my event but really wanted to get off the bike first. I pushed hard on the second lap and knew the heat would be affecting everyone. I managed to catch both Eric and then Andy and came off the bike in first.

Starting the final run I could feel my calves were still extremely painful and I was just going to have to dig deep to get through the final run. I managed to narrowly hold on for the win finishing only 20sec ahead of Derrin Smith with John Ntuli finishing 3rd.

I was extremely happy to come away with the win after really struggling through the event. Definitely got a lot of work to do now leading forward and really excited for it.

Thanks a lot to Klint and the guys from POWASOL for being at yet another event and providing all the athletes with a great bike wash.

IMANA WILD RIDE 2011

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

RESULT: 1st OVERALL

Finally its Imana Wild Ride time of year again. " Out there alone, racing the tide" is the race slogan and it couldn't be more fitting as you race approximately 200km from the Kei river mouth to Umgazi river bungalows over 4 days along deserted beaches trying to get through each stage before the tide comes in, making the beaches extremely difficult to ride. As much as everyone is at the race to enjoy themselves on some of the best mountain biking this country has to offer the real reason for the race is to raise money through WREC (Wild Ride Education Company) and give back to the less fortunate communities along the rural Wild Coast. They go about this by raising money through tours and through the race itself and use the money to build classrooms at schools along the route. Last year enough money was raised to build 4 new classrooms which is an amazing achievement for a race of 70 teams. The great thing is that the communities along the coast can see what WREC are putting in and welcome riders with open arms, making riding through their land such an amazing experience.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

After racing last year with Sean Merridew and finishing 2nd due to an illness on the the final stage, we came into the 2011 race with the goal of getting our first Imana Wild Ride win. Although we were the strongest pairing, winning would never be easy as the Imana is so different due to the fact that it is an unmarked route. There are 4 stages and each day you are given a start and finish point, the route you take is your decision. Every year there are new "sneaks" (which in any other race would be basically a cheat) but in this race they are embraced and kept highly secret by the guys who have tripped the route before the race. Trust me it is very frustrating to go out hard from the start and think you pulling a good lead to just arrive at the next beach and see tracks ahead of you. But this is exactly what makes this race different, you have to pay your dues before you get welcomed into the small tight knit group of Wild Coast specialists.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 1: The day begins with an early wake up to drop the bags off at the truck and then take the short but very cold ride down to the Kei river mouth where everyone is ferried across to the northern side for the race start. It was a later start than years before due to low tide being later in the day. The race begins with a mexican wave and we're off immediately climbing up what is dubbed "Sunrise Surprise" a steep climb which wakes the legs up and gets you ready for what lies ahead. The route has been changed from previous years and this year we had to head straight to the beach from the top of sunrise surprise. The other new aspect was they started the men's teams 10mins behind the mixed teams, which meant our tracks were not going to be the first tracks on the beach and we would have tracks to follow. Sean and I got away up the first climb and decided to keep going on our own however we got to a point where we weren't sure whether to take off the beach and chose to wait. Iain Don Wauchope who was racing with 4 time Imana winner Nick Floros came past but was riding alone, Nick was no where in sight. This had us worried as we weren't sure what they were up to. We chased Iain down and tailed him, waiting to see what trick they had up their sleeve. However as the km's ticked by it seemed they had confused themselves as Iain wasn't sure if Nick was ahead or behind due to there being mixed teams tracks ahead of us. We continued to follow Iain as we were a bit flustered and still not sure if they were playing us. This turned out to be a bad choice as Iain wasn't sure where he was going and we ended up making quite a few wrong turns and this allowed another Wild Coast specialist Craig Woods and his team mate Jan Schutte to catch us at the first big river crossing of the day. After getting through the swim Iain was informed that Nick was in fact quite a distance behind us and he stayed at the river to wait for his partner.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Sean and I continued on our own and settled into a great pace, working well together and finding our way with ease. We got to the end of the stage still feeling great and had managed to put 9mins into the 3 chasing teams of Nick & Iain, Pete & Mike Smith and Tyrone Bird & Warren Price. We were very happy with the gap we had opened up and this would allow us to race smart over the next 3 days. The other different aspect about this stage race is instead of sleeping in the usual tented accommodation all the teams are put up in luxury hotels along the coast, all with spectacular views and meals fit for a king. Every evening all the teams are spoilt with a compilation of the days spectacular photos by Jon Ivins as well as footage by the guys from Big Shot Media. This always provides some great laughs and entertainment as you watch how your mates suffered and smiled their way through the days challenges.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 2: This is the shortest day of the 4, from Kob Inn to The Haven. From day 2 the top 10 teams start in real elapsed time or at 2min intervals which meant we would be starting 2mins ahead of the 3 chasing teams. To make the day even tougher a pumping head wind had picked up which was going to favor the chasing pack. We set off with the goal of trying to extend our lead instead of waiting for the other teams. This proved to be way more difficult then we had hoped. Between Seans one cleat coming loose and small navigation errors we just weren't opening up the gap but we kept trying none the less.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 2 has the the first of what has been dubbed "The Mothers" which are extremely steep long climbs where you have to walk up carrying your bike, these hills prove to be serious calf busters. We seemed to get over the mother well and reached the last beach stretch with 2m30 over the chasers. Sean wasn't content with this and set a blistering pace on the front into the head wind and pulled an extra minute over the last 5km of beach. Always amazed by his sheer power.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Stage 2 this year finished just before the mighty Mbashe River due to the unusual height of the river as well as numerous Zambezi sightings recently. I was definitely happy about that call.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 3: From The Haven to Coffee Bay. This was a day that is notorious for being full of "sneaks" so Sean and I made a tactical call to rather play it safe and sacrifice 2mins by waiting for Nick and Iain rather than going out alone and risking losing 10mins from a sneak we didn't know about. It worked out very well for us as they only had a 1m30 lead over the 3rd placed team of Mike and Pete Smith so they couldn't really afford to play games with us as they would risk losing their position.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

This ended up being a great day for us as it was not done at a very fast pace and we could save our legs for the 12km district road section from Hole In The Wall to Coffee Bay. This is a section with 2 very big climbs and where no sneaks can be taken. After traversing 2 "mothers" we got our first view of The Hole In The Wall, and what a magnificent view it is. We knew our work was cut out for us if we wanted to win the stage as Craig & Jan were chasing and had made up 4mins to be just 2mins behind us. Sean again was on a mission and proceeded to take off like a racehorse as soon as we hit the road. We powered over the climbs and came into Coffee Bay pulling an extra 2mins over Nick & Iain but only beating Craig & Jan by a mere 7secs for our 3rd stage victory. We were now going into day 4 with an overall lead of about 13mins.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 3 is the traditional fines evening which is usually held by the notorious "Spider" however this was the first year that Spider had not managed to make the event and a replacement was needed. Luckily there were Imana newbies, Songezo and Loyiso Mabece who were given the opportunity to run the fines evening which they did as a court hearing, and what a night they made it. No one can emulate the great Spider and they didn't try, instead doing something completely different and bringing their own spin to the evening. Fines were thrown out like mad and everyone was whipping out their folding money. Which in the end would be going to a great cause. After a magic night of fines and charity auctions of 3 guaranteed 2012 entries, 2 amazing Jon Ivins pics on canvas, 1 large painting by a Zimbabwean and an Ispyderfly 29er mountain bike. The goal was reached and another 4 classrooms will be built at a school on the wild coast.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 4: the longest day of all from Coffee Bay to Umgazi River Bungalows. This day involved the least amount of beach riding and more cattle paths, jeep track and district roads. We had a good cushion over 2nd place but we still didn't feel comfortable as anything can happen in this race. We decided again that we were going to ride with the guys in 2nd and not risk getting lost. We chose to wait at the first major river swim as we knew that it was the only place teams could swim the river and we weren't at risk of Nick and Iain sneaking around us. This actually proved to be a great plan as Nick and Iain had taken the " anchorage" sneak to avoid the first usually very soft beaches and confuse us into thinking they had taken a faster route, however the beaches were way harder then they have been in the past and they ended up getting past by Pete and Mike. We joined in with them and rode steady until Nick and Iain caught back up. It was now 3 teams up front, although everyone seemed to be a bit tired after 3 extremely tough days of riding and Craig and Jan were slowly catching up.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Day 4 provided us riders with the best weather out of all the days, the sea was dead flat and the water crystal clear. I couldn't help but admire the spectacular views every time we crested one of the big portage climbs. We are so lucky to be able to experience this part of Africa whilst doing a sport we all love. Craig and Jan eventually bridged the gap and didn't waste any time, they immediately went to the front and picked up the pace dropping both the other teams. It was now just Sean myself and Craig and Jan. Craig is a route specialist and had been helping us out with ideas each day along the course, knowing it was a huge goal for him to win his first overall stage we were more than happy to work with them and help him achieve this. They were very strong and we seemed to be opening up the gap over the chasing teams.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

We reached the last beach with no one else in sight and spent the last few km's of beach smiling and celebrating. We allowed Craig and Jan to ring the iconic Ferry gong at Umgazi first and take the stage. They deserved it after putting so many years into this great race. Sean and I crossed the line in 2nd filled with relief, we had done it. We took the overall win with Nick & Iain 2nd and Craig & Jan clawing their way into 3rd with their final stage performance. Everything had gone to plan for us with only minor mechanicals, but our tactics had worked perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2011 race as I had a great team mate as well as many friends who had managed to get into the race this year. After the evenings dinner and prize giving came the one tradition we were worried about which states that the previous years winners get to shave the heads of the new champs and obviously a normal buzz cut just isn't enough of a humiliation and many odd styles get shaped onto our skulls before finally reaching the end product, providing the very full bar with many laughs. Then it is onto what many call stage 5 of the Imana which runs to the early hours of the next morning in the Umgazi bar.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

What an experience this week was with so many new friends made and old friendships made stronger. Huge thanks to my awesome team mate and mechanic, Sean. He was faultless throughout the race and managed to keep me calm when my crank arm fell off and I thought our race was over. Also thanks to the organizers Bex, Steve and Glen for putting on such a fantastic event. Jon Ivins for all the breath taking pics. The whole crew from Big Shot media for the good times and great footage they provided for us each evening. And also to Coach Russ, Warren, Fifi, Brenda and Craig for all the fun and guidance along the way. My Dad and his racing partner Brenda Potts managed to take out the mixed team win as well, very proud of them for never giving up and taking the win comfortably in the end. This may be one of the most difficult stage races to get into but do yourselves a favor and get onto the waiting list it is definitely worth the wait.

(Photo courtesy of ©JONIVINS.COM)

Momentum health Iflex Duathlon event #5

RESULT: 1st OVERALL

To say I was excited for this race would be a massive understatement. After being quite disappointed with my performance at the Xterra in Knysna I was very keen to put a better result in especially in my home town.

It was set to be a very tough race with the likes of Brand Du Plessis, Lieuwe Boonstra, Theo Blignaut, Jock Green and Daniel Carleton all hoping to get onto the podium.

The race format is a 5km Trail run, 30km MTB and finished with a 2.5km Trail run. The bike course was going to be the decisive discipline as it was a tough course with some big climbs and enjoyable single track.




The run started and we were quickly into a section of single track. I managed to stay in the front pack until we exited onto the fast roads. I didn't want to over do it on the first run and knew I couldn't match the pace of the top 3 guys on the run so I tried to limit my losses and save my legs for the bike. I entered transition 1m30s down on Brand and 1min behind Lieuwe.

I got onto the bike feeling good and was closer to the leaders then I had hoped. Knowing the bike course was so tough I wanted to hold back slightly on the 1st lap and attack the 2nd lap with everything I had left. With this in mind I caught and past Theo Blignaut about 2kms into the ride. He had unfortunately had bike issues and was on a borrowed bike which he didn't seem to comfortable on. After cresting the first small climb I could see both Lieuwe and Brand ahead. I caught Lieuwe at the bottom of the "mother in law" climb and sat with him till the top choosing not attack at this early stage and rather stay together till we caught Brand, which happened at the end of the next single track. I chose the final single track of the first lap to put in a small attack and managed to exit with a 15sec lead over the 2 chasers. I kept this gap into the turn around point for the second lap and then started to push the pace as much as I could, attacking the single track and climbs. The gap was steadily growing and by the top of the "mother in law" neither of the chasers was in sight.




Coming into transition I had built up a 2min cushion over Lieuwe and 6min over Brand who had experienced a technical difficulty out on the course. It was now down to the final run, I knew everyones legs would be hurting by this stage and just tried to keep a good strong pace. Entering the last quarter of the run I knew I had the race won and couldn't help but smile all the way to the line. I had given my all out on the course and had so badly wanted this win. There is no better feeling then achieving a goal you have set yourself.




It's sad to hear that Lieuwe will now be retiring from multi-sport as I have thoroughly enjoyed racing against him. He is a true competitor and always fun to chat to after the race is done. He will be missed at the races in the future.




Have to say a huge well done to my dad Russell White who managed to set a brilliant course and had the trails perfectly prepped for the athletes and over and above this still managed to win his age group. Also thanks to Thule South Africa as always for all their support and to the event organizers and sponsors, Momentum Health, I-Flex and Pepto Sport. Without these companies support, multi-sport wouldn't be growing as fast as it is.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

XTERRA KNYSNA

RESULT: 5th Overall

My build up to XTERRA Knysna was far from what I had planned due to injuries but I was still looking forward to testing myself against a fully stacked world class field.

I was very pleased the race had a mid day start as the weather had been extremely cold and wet in the days leading up to the race, but we were greeted by perfect weather on race day, although the course would still be extremely muddy.

It was very intimidating lining up at the start next to the likes of Conrad Stoltz, Dan Hugo, Kevin Evans, Lieuwe Boonstra, Raoul De Jongh, Daniel Carleton and Gareth Harrington to name just a few of the top athletes.

The 1st run consisted of a 3km loop with one very big climb and a very steep fast descent. My aim was to set a comfortable tempo ensuring I still had legs going onto the bike, which would be my stronger leg. Even with this in mind I covered the 1st km in 3min and could see Lieuwe and Conrad pulling away. After reaching the top of the climb Raoul had come past setting a great pace and had caught Dan up ahead.

I had a good transition and came out a few meters behind Dan. I quickly realized he wasn’t his normal self and made my move to chase after the guys ahead. Soon after Kevin came past me. I tried briefly to get on his wheel but there was no way I could climb at the speed he was maintaining. I was now lying 4th and kept my head down hoping to catch Lieuwe. About 4km from the finish I managed to bridge the gap and came into transition with a slight lead over him.

The 2nd run was a distance of 7.5km and I quickly felt my lack of preparation as the run went immediately up a very large climb. My legs weren’t responding and Lieuwe came back past dropping me to 4th. I tried hard to find a rhythm once we reached the top but it wasn’t happening. I was now into damage limitation mode trying hard to hold onto my position. But unfortunately with about 2km of the run left Raoul caught me and attacked hard dropping me down to 5th. I was very disappointed crossing the line in 5th just ahead of Dan. Looking at the positives I did have a good bike leg and I know I have a lot of room for improvement on my run.

It was a great few days away in Knysna and also really nice to catch up with everyone at the event. I left the venue with renewed energy and know I can produce better results in the future.

Thanks again to THULE South Africa for believing in me this year and allowing me to chase my dreams.

Bikes on the Thule rack and ready to head down to the start

TIME FREIGHT MULTISPORT SERIES EVENT # 1

RESULT: 2nd in MultiX event

My nerves were running wild before the 1st event in the Time Freight Multisport series at Albert Falls. I wasn’t quite where I had hoped to be with my running after having sprained my ankle 2 weeks ago and with the field being as strong as it was I knew I was going to be in for a lot of suffering.

I arrived at the picturesque Albert Falls to be greeted by an extremely cold morning with the cars temp gauge reading just 1ºC. Thankfully the sun warmed things up before the start.

The 1st run consisted of 2 loops. The 1st loop was fast and flattish with the 2nd loop being technical with a steep climb and descent. We started out into the 1st faster loop and immediately the pace was extremely fast. JP Ten Napel being the top runner he is broke away early and began opening a large gap. I settled into the 2nd bunch and tried to hang on for as long as I could. I came into transition in 7th place just behind Gareth Harrington and around 1m40s behind a flying Ten Napel.

After a quick transition I set off in 4th and set my sights on trying to catch the leader. It turned out to be an extremely fast bike course so I knew this was going to make the task of getting into the lead even tougher. 5km’s into the bike I caught a glimpse of JP and knew I was catching.

At the end of the 1st 10km loop of the bike the gap was down to 30secs. After making the catch about 3kms later I sat behind and waited for the climb to start to make an attack. I managed to get a gap on JP and worked hard to build up a lead that I could defend on the run.

Starting the final run I could feel straight away that I had over done it on the bike and the small 30sec gap I had built was not going to be enough to hold Ten Napel off and I jogged through the final run enjoying the magic terrain we were getting to race on, ending in 2nd behind a very strong JP Ten Napel. Gareth Harrington had a great race to end in 3rd.

All in all I wasn’t happy with my performance and still have a lot of work to do. But a big congrats has to go out to Max and his team for putting on yet another great event. Was also great to have the Powasol guys at the event to get all the bikes clean after the race. Looking forward to the next race at Shongweni on 21 August and hope to see you all there.

MTUNZINI BIG 5 MTB CLASSIC

RESULT: 1st OVERALL

Sunday welcomed the mountain bikers with spectacular weather for a winters morning. By the start of the race it was already very warm and everyone was looking forward to a hot days racing.

The 50km classic started off with a short neutral zone along the tar roads of the Zini estate and we were quickly unleashed onto the dirt roads around the estate. It started off with only myself and Nick Porteous willing to do any work on the front, so I knew with this being a fairly flat and fast course I had to try and split things up early. On the first climb of the day I put in a small attack to try whittle down the size of the group. We were now down to a group of 5 riders.

Unfortunately it was still only Nick who was willing to help on the front so up the next steep muddy climb I tried another attack and this time I got away on my own, so I set about maintaining a hard pace to try break up the chase group. After some time I could see there was a lone cyclist chasing me and it was Dave Leiman who also races for THULE South Africa as a mountain biker. I figured it would be smarter to work with Dave rather than attempt to stay out front alone, so I sat up and we then set about working together to get out of sight from the chasers.

It was a very enjoyable ride from then and we worked well together to maintain the gap. Coming into the last 6km we entered some fantastic ‘mangrove’ single track and I used this as my opportunity to make a break from Dave. I pushed extremely hard through the tight twisting single track and arrived at the finish with the win and a gap of 4mins over Dave, Nick Porteous came in for 3rd, a good effort after being on his own most of the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the event and look forward to the rest of the BIG 5 MTB series.

GREYTOWN MTB CLASSIC

RESULT: 1st OVERALL

I was very close to not racing on Sunday as I had been on Anti-Biotics the whole week for an infection and just for good measure as I stopped the tablets on Fri I started to get sick. Thankfully it was just a head cold and by Sunday morning I wasn’t feeling to bad so decided to give the race a go.

We arrived in Greytown to be greeted by very gloomy, cold and rainy weather. It was going to be another muddy and slippery race.

The race got off to a fairly conservative start and no one was to eager to push the pace in the cold conditions. On the first slight incline I lifted the pace a bit and 3 other riders went with me. My legs were feeling really good so on the next climb I surged again and it was down to just Andrew Warr and myself at the front.

We had a great time out front in the mud ooh’ing and aaah’ing at each others close calls and saves. We had both gone for fast rolling tyres rather then wet weather tyres, which was making things very entertaining. After the long slog up to the top of the mountain we were rewarded with some amazing single track along the side of the mountain and the ride home was pretty fast.

About 5kms out from the finish the cat and mouse games started with Andrew trying a few attacks up some of the climbs but my legs were good and I managed to stay on his wheel. I wanted to wait till the end to make my move. I lead out of the last single track, kept the pace high and turned into the final straight in front and kicked hard managing to cross the line in 1st.

It felt great to win a MTB classic again and Im having such a good time at the races so going to try fit as many as I can into my training plan.

DPHS MUDMAN 2011

RESULT: 1st Overall

It was a rough lead up to the DPHS MudMan for me, I had done 2 mountain bike races over the last 2 weeks and not felt great in either, then to top it off I came down with a stomach bug the week of the MudMan so not much training was done. It took a lot of work from everyone around me to keep me positive but Im so thankful they did.

It was going to be a very wet and cold race but that was exactly what I had hoped for to make sure bike skills came into play on the fairly fast bike course. All the top guys were there as well as the addition of some German triathletes who are out in SA training.

The water was freezing so I was very happy I had packed my wetsuit. The start was frantic and it took a while to find some space. After pushing hard I found the feet of one of the German athletes and felt comfortable at his pace throughout the swim. I came out the water in 4th after having my best swim of the series.

I got onto the bike in 2nd along with a German athlete and Ryan Redman who was doing the first 2 of the 3 disciplines, great to see him healing up after his injury. I pushed hard early on the bike and I was elated to see that my legs were responding and feeling great. I quickly caught and passed the leader and set about building as big a gap as possible. The 1st lap was pretty slippery with all the mud but the 2nd lap after hundreds of bikes had been through was a different story, the lappers were keeping me highly entertained while many of them lay sprawled out in the mud laughing. Was great to see everyone having such fun in those conditions.

Exiting onto the run I had over 5mins on 2nd place and could enjoy myself out on the final leg. It was like running on ice in some sections so I was quite careful not to cause any unnecessary injury. The 2nd lap I could push harder chasing Brad Schuit and Justin Porteous who were on their 1st lap, its always fun having someone to chase. Unfortunately there was some confusion at the finish of the run and I was sent on the wrong route by the marshals but I still managed to get to the finish 1st with 3mins over Daniel Carleton and Justin Porteous a further 2min30 back in 3rd.

This result meant I won the series with Daniel and Justin tieing for 2nd. It was another awesome MudMan series and Im sad its over. I can’t wait for next year.

Just need to say a huge thanks to Coach Russ, Karen Keyter (chiropractor) and Angelique (massage therapist) they turned me round from feeling absolutely broken the week before the race to having probably my best race of the year.

CORDWALLES MUDMAN 2011

RESULT: 1st Overall

After finishing 2nd in 2010 I arrived at Midmar Dam wanting to move up to the top step of the podium and back up my win at the Epworth Mudman. I left home with the rain pouring down which excited me hoping that would make the usually very fast bike a bit more technical and suited to me but it ended up being overcast and cool at the race venue which made it very easy race conditions.

It turned out that this was the biggest Mudman ever held with well over 1400 athletes, great news for multisport in general. Along with the usual opponents of Daniel Carleton and Justin Porteous. (Unfortunately Ryan Redman was sidelined to just the swim due to a knee injury) there was the addition of 2 top road triathletes, Henri Schoeman and Glen Gore, they are both amazing swimmers and with the bike being pretty easy this had me a little nervous and I would have to give it everything on the bike to pull them back.

The midmar water was the cleanest I have ever experienced it, which made the swim quite pleasant. I exited the water in the 2nd pack but knew I had to get a move on when I got a 2min time gap to the leader Henri who had blitzed the swim.

I exited the transition with Justin Porteous glued to my wheel and I knew I couldn’t afford to play cat and mouse with him and had to focus on chasing down the leaders. We got by Glen fairly early in the 1st lap but we still had to chase hard after Henri. The catch was made early in the 2nd lap and I used a climb to attack hard and ensure he didn’t stick with Justin and I. This seemed to snap the ‘elastic’ as he was soon out of sight. Unfortunately later I heard Henri had a big crash and broke his collarbone, a sad blow as he was having a good race. Now it seemed to be down to Justin and I and it looked like the run would decide it. But then about a km from the finish of the bike Justin miss-read the run bike split and took the wrong turn I quickly shouted to him that he was on the wrong track as well as the many marshals that were at the split.

I exited the transition onto the run and was given a time gap of 30seconds to the now chasing Justin. It was going to be a tough run to hold him off but my legs were feeling great and I knew he would have had to have worked extremely hard on the bike to stay in contact. After the one big climb on the run route I took a quick glance back and could see the gap had increased and I could enjoy the run back to the finish, ending up with a 51second gap over Justin in 2nd. Daniel Carleton had fought hard for 3rd overall another great result for the Russell White Academy. Finally having my race kit and giving THULE the coverage they deserve for all the help they have given me added to the sweetness of the victory, as well as having so many friends and family at the event making it a fun filled day.

The Cordwalles crew did a great job with the route and organization and were rewarded with the number of entrants and smiles on everyone’s faces after the race. These are truly amazing events and I hope to see everyone out at the DPHS MudMan on the 13th April.

Article and Pic in the NATAL WITNESS newspaper