Result: 1st Overall
Training leading up to the first Varsity College Multi-Sport event had been far from smooth. After having completed The ABSA Cape Epic 2 weeks ago my legs have been left in tatters. This years Epic took a lot more then expected out of me and I had only managed a handful of bike rides and 2 runs before Sundays race arrived. I was a little nervous as to how deep I was going to have to dig to try get a decent result.
It was yet another perfect day at Albert falls, The Dam was dead calm and the sun was out, cant ask for better weather to be out in the Albert Falls Reserve. There is a race to suit everyone at the Varsity College Series, with Multi-Sport, Mountain Bike and even trail running events all on the same day at the same venue. A really nice way to get everyone out and enjoying what Albert Falls had to offer.
The race got under way with a 5km run and straight from the gun Gareth Harrington took off at a pace way faster then my short legs could handle, I knew I was about to bleed for every single km of that run, I managed to get in behind him once we started the single track climbing and from there I was just holding on for dear life and hoping not to blow before we got to transition. We were opening up a good gap on the chasers, Daniel Carleton, Justin Porteous, Daryn Purtell and Chris Visser.
We entered transition and I did my best to get out onto the bike as quick as possible, Max had warned that it was an extremely fast bike route and I wanted to be alone so no one had the chance to sit my wheel. After Epic the 20km went by in a flash averaging just under 29km/h on a Mountain Bike. I barely had time to get to my bottle of 32GI Accelerate. Even though it was so fast I thoroughly enjoyed the route, having a bit of everything yet not very technical so the beginners would still enjoy themselves.
Into T2 and I donned my Saucony Kinvara's for the final 2.5km dash for the finish. I had opened up a good gap by then and felt really comfortable on the final run, crossing the finish line in a time of 1h08.06 with Daniel Carleton coming home in 2nd in 1h10.33 and Gareth Harrington having a solid final run to finish up in 3rd.
It was another brilliant event by the team at Max Cluer Sports Marketing and to make the day even better Prize Giving was made earlier by some 40mins, this is definitely a first for me and shows how well oiled the team is.
Next weekend is the final event in the 2013 MudMan Series so time to recover up and fine tune before another Dash for the finish line.
