Saturday turned out to be an ideal day for racing with clear skies and a gentle breeze just to keep things real.
As I went for my warm up ride, I experienced this wonderful feeling of freedom as there was no need to put on any arm or leg warmers for a change. Summer is a coming!
The elite woman in the Marathon event (78km) started alongside the elite men in the Ultra Marathon (108km). As Always, this forced our pace high as we tried to keep up with the elite men off the start line. They soon took of on their escapade, leaving us behind to fight out victory amongst ourselves. During the early part of the race I found myself in a break with team mate Ischen Stopforth, Caitlin De Wet (Mr Price /Specialized) and Karien van Jaarsveld (USN).
The course led us on a road covered in thick sand, which required some good balance to keep upright and in a straight line. Caitlin and I managed to come out in the leading positions with Ischen and Karien left to chase. It was only afterwards that I heard that Ischen fell as she slipped through one of the sandy corners.
Up front Caitlin and I were working well together until bad luck knocked on her door around 30km into the race, leaving her to stop and fix a flat rear tire.
I forged on alone but not for long as I was soon joined by Ischen.
We stayed together until a technical rocky section where I managed to get through a bit quicker. This put me back in the leading position with Ischen 1min 30 sec behind me. All this was looking good for our team Bizhub!
I didn’t have an idea as to where the other ladies on the route were, as I could only communicate with the following camera crew. Although it isn’t their job they actually do give us a rough estimate to what the time differences are. The camera crew did a great job and also helped in lifting my spirit a few times as they motivated me along the course.
As the final kilometers started ticking down I could feel my earlier efforts taking effect as fatigue slowly started to rear its head.
This eventually led to Ischen catching up with me. We stayed together for a while but Ischen proved to be stronger towards the end leaving me behind to settle in my own manageable pace.
At the end it was Ischen who crossed the line first to take the victory with me following in 2nd place. Karien van Jaarsveld also had a strong ride rounding off the podium at Cullinan.
If I can describe the route then I will have to say testing, testing, testing! There were a lot of different factors testing ones abilities to the limit.
The biggest test for me was receiving a test paper which I didn’t expect. I thought the route would stay very similar to the Nissan Cullinan race but I couldn’t be more wrong.
On Friday I was looking forward to race on a familiar route and on Saturday during the event, especially towards the end, I was thinking why change a good course…
All I can say is that the new course with its freshly cut grass, rocky parts and untested routes provided quite a challenge.
It was one of those races you only start enjoying once you’ve crossed the finish line.
Final Results:
1st Ischen Stopforth (Team Bizhub)
2nd Yolandi du Toit (Team Bizhub)
3rd Karien van Jaarsveld (USN)
4th Sanet Smal (Team Ghost/BBT)
5th Caitlin de Wet (Mr Price/ Specialized)
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