Time Freight Multisport Festival Race Report

RACE REPORT
7^th – 9^th October, Albert Falls Dam, KZN

Three days of perfect weather, spring in all it’s glory at a venue made for outdoor games made for a successful weekend of multisport at the Time Freight Multisport Festival.


The games began with the Energizer Night Race on Friday evening; a prelude to the event proper in Johannesburg on Saturday 15^th October. Athlete’s took advantage of the warm evening and relished the trails carefully groomed by course designer Nick Floros as they ran and cycled in the dark.
Craig Fry’s world class Kenyan runners were no match for the rest of the Trail Run Relay field with John Birgen having placed second at the Milan marathon in 2h09, Lameck Kipligat a track specialist with a 72 minute 21km and Jacob Yano clocking 2h15 in his debut marathon in Cape Town and Thomas Rutto making up the fourth member. Despite finding themselves on the 10km mountain bike route at one point, they still clocked a winning time of one hour, eight minutes and 18 seconds for the 4x 5km trail run. Second place went to Team Innit2winnit (1h22.20) with Jeep Mixed placing third (1h26.35).
The MTB Relay was won by Jeep / BMC’s Travis Walker and James Reid in one hour, eight minutes and three seconds for the 3x 10km relay. Second place went to Future Jeep (Justin Porteous and Evan van der Spuy) in 1h12.28 with Team Jeep Vets (Grant Macpherson and Crispen Brien) in 1h21.51.

What better way to start off the day than taking a jog in the wilderness. This event was not so much about being competitive as enjoying the opportunity to run in such beautiful surrounds.  First place home in the 10km went to Cape Town athlete Bertus van Zyl (43:57) ahead of Piet Vorster (45:27) and Jason Tame (48.42). Jenni Patrick was first home in the women (51:02) with Monique van Deventer (53.48) and Angela Egeland (57:17). Justin Porteous used the 5km as a warm-up ahead of Sunday’s Multisport race with Evan van der Spuy second and Duncan Purtell third. Penny Bicard, Hayley Smith and Megan Smith arrived in quick succession in the women’s 5km trail run.

The final event of the three part Time Freight Multisport Series was beefed up by the Ultra Course options – specifically for those preparing for the Triple Challenge on 6^th November. Fresh off his seventh place finish at the Fish River Canoe Marathon, Andy Birkett returned to Albert Falls Dam to take the honours in the Multisport Ultra Course. The extra length course covered a 7.5km trail run, 38km bike and 7.5km paddle which was made extra challenging in the heat. Birkett took the lead from top multisporter Justin Porteous who led the race off the bike leg to take the win in two hours, forty-four minutes and 24 seconds. Carl Folscher placed third behind Porteous. Jean Hackland won the women’s race.  The Multisport Long Course was won by junior Craig Jarrett who outsprinted veteran Ewan Cochran to take the win in a time of one hour, thirty-eight minutes and 31 seconds. Jordan Pilkington and Alyson Scheepers were the respective winners of the Multisport Short Course.
In the Multi-X Ultra, Tyronne White showed his class with a convincing win over the 7.5km trail run, 38km bike and 5km trail run to break the tape in two hours, twenty-eight minutes and 31 seconds. White will be travelling to Kona to race in the forthcoming  Xterra World Championships and has shown fantastic form this season. Gareth Harrington placed second (2h43.14) with Bryce Jackson third (2h44.10). Robyn Adendorff and Sarah Gray had a close tussle in the women’s race with Adendorff just finding the reserves to surge ahead and take the honours in a time of two hours, fifty-three minutes and 27 seconds. Bertus van Zyl notched another win for the weekend when he claimed the Multi-X Long Course (1h29.50) ahead of veteran Jaco Kellerman (1h33.34) and Werner Jonas (1h34.05). Top three women all crossed the line in quick succession with senior Angela Egeland claiming first (1h50.20) ahead of junior Gena Lofstrand (1h52.59) and veteran Cindy Marquiss (1h54.18) in third. Competition amongst the juniors in the Multi-X Short Course was fierce with Gareth Marquiss taking the win (47:43) ahead of Corbin Mann (49:21) and Darren Marquiss third (49:57). Mikaela Jonsson was a clear winner in the women’s race (51:35).
Multisporters can now gear themselves towards the Triple Challenge which celebrates it’s tenth birthday on 6^th November. This uniquely KwaZulu-Natal event takes athletes between the start in Pietermaritzburg to the finish at Inanda Dam over a 20km trail run, 53km mountain bike leg and a 18km paddle on Inanda Dam (for the Multisport race) or a 7km trail run (for the Multi-X race). A new introduction this year is the option for individuals to take on the stand-alone 20km Challenge Trail Run or the 53km Challenge Mountain Bike. More info on www.triplechallenge.co.za

RACE REPORT
Sunday 9^th October, Albert Falls Dam, KZN

It was not dubbed ‘the fast one’ for nothing ! The inaugural Time Freight Express MTB Race took place on a glorious summer’s day at Albert Falls Dam, attracting a field of over three hundred participants over the various race distances (35km, 20km & 10km).
Sub-veteran  Mathew Goestch (Team Jeep) showed his road racing speed over the fast bushveld tracks as he clocked the winning time of one hour, thirty-three minutes and 9 seconds over the double lap of 19km. Second place went to Darryn Purtell (1h36.32) with Hilton Frost claiming third place (1h37.02). Nedene Cahill posted a fast time to win the women’s race in one hour, forty-six minutes and 22 seconds with Jackie Church second (1h59.42) and Jillian Galway third (2h10.24).
The 20km race was well supported and the honours went to Travis Deacon breaking the tape in under an hour to clock fifty eight minutes and 6 seconds. Murray Church placed second (1h00.35) with Andrew Edwards close behind in third (1h00.59). Kayla Edwards was first home in the women’s race (1h07.47).
In the 10km ride it was Brandon Follett and Bianca Follett taking the respective men’s and women’s wins.
With the event taking place in Msinsi’s Albert Falls Reserve, wildlife is abundant. However, it was a shock to race organiser’s Max Cluer Sports Marketing when Team Jeep rider Evan van der Spuy was struck off his bike by a fleeing antelope on the mountain bike route just a few kilometres from the start line. Van der Spuy was taken to hospital for concussion but the damage to his helmet indicates he was fortunate not to sustain more serious injury. The animal escaped unharmed. In eight years of hosting event’s at Msinsi Resorts, Max Cluer reported this incident was a first and a rare moment of ‘bad timing’ – Go Pro footage from the rider following behind was lucky enough to film the footage which is available to watch on You Tube.

Released by Max Cluer Sports Marketing.