MUDMAN HERMANSBURG

Result: 1st Overall

After my poor performance at XTERRA Buffelspoort the weekend before I was looking forward to turning things around at the first MudMan of 2013. I have been unbeaten in the MudMan series for the last 2 years and this was also a streak I didnt want to end.

The first MudMan of the year is always slightly different with its afternoon start but it was warm and a perfect day for racing. The swim got off to its usual frantic start and I pushed hard to get away from the flying fists early. I quickly got onto the feet of the swimmer out front which was a team swimmer and found my rhythm. We rounded the first can and I could see we were opening up a gap over the chasers. I stuck to his feet saving as much energy for the bike and run as possible.

We exited the water with around 25 seconds on the chasers. I was now on my own on the bike and set about creating a good buffer for the run. I knew Daniel and Mitch are strong bikers and could be working together to reel me in so I couldnt afford to let up. I thoroughly enjoyed the bike course with my new Specialized S-Works Epic soaking up the bumps and making riding such a pleasure. I also found the SRAM XX1 with a 36 tooth front chainring perfect for this kind of racing.

Going onto the run I had now built up the lead to 2m40s and just had 5km of running to get through. My footwear of choice for this race was the Saucony Kinvara 3's. It was a toss up between these and my old Type A3's but decided to go with the Kinvaras as those will be my choice for the longer XTERRA coming up in Feb. I had an interesting run having to dodge the athletes racing the half event who were still on their bikes and even watching as one of the ladies rode off the floating bridge and into the dam. Couldnt help but have a giggle before helping her out. I crossed the line to take the win just under 3mins ahead of my training partner Mitchell Ginsberg who had a epic dice with Daniel Carleton to complete the podium.

It was really great to see so many athletes from the Russell White Academy out at the race, having a blast and doing exceptionally well at the same. Good to see the sport growing and the younger generation getting involved and loving it.