Sloan’s dream triathlon adventure
Triathlete Susan Sloan, a former Benoni High School pupil, recently enjoyed a seven-week dream trip to the USA, where she raced the XTERRA US Championships in Ogden, Utah, and the Ultimate XTERRA World Championships, in Maui, Hawaii.
She finished as the 14th professional of 85 female triathletes who were selected to compete at the US Championships.
Following some training in Boulder, Colorado, Sloan set off for Maui where she finished finished as the 18th female overall.
Speaking about the Hawaiian event, she said: “It was a tough race and also very frustrating, with a lot of bottlenecks on the bike.
“Since the bike is a strength for me it was frustrating not to be able to use it to my advantage, as the age group men slowed me down, especially in the first half of the bike course, which is mostly uphill single track riding.
“Hopefully the organisers will learn from this and increase the start time gaps, so that the numbers of people don’t affect the results and race experience.
“All in all, though, it was an amazing experience to have been in Hawaii, racing with and against the world’s best Xterra athletes.”
