Hill climbs to Sharks Trail victory

THE 2013 Stihl Sharks Trail Adventure was a memorable day for hundreds of outdoor adventurists and families as they cycled or ran around Summerveld before enjoying the family-orientated programme at Summerveld Estate in Shongweni.

Andrew Hill (TIB Insurance) narrowly beat training partner, Tyron Bird (X10siv/Sound Mechanix) to claim victory in the day’s feature event, the 40km MTB race. Hill and Bird enjoyed a close, hard-fought battle up front throughout the 40km clash.

“Tyron, David (Low) and I managed to get away from the rest of the field early on and then Tyron and I kept the tempo high which gave us a bit of a gap on David. We’ve done quite a bit of riding these past few days so Tyron and I could both feel it in the legs quite a bit, especially on the climbs, so we went at a pace a little quicker than marathon pace but slower than the normal Classic sort of pace. We both kind of knew it would come down to a bit of a sprint at the end and it was nice to be able to get the win,” said Hill.

“The Stihl Sharks Trail Adventure is a really great event and this year things have improved even more. It’s a brilliant day at the end of the year and really ends the year off perfectly,” said Hill. “The Shongweni Farmer’s Market, the mountain biking and the trail running taking place at the same event, the music, it all creates a really awesome atmosphere and everyone really does get festive,” he added.

The women’s race was dominated by Tamryn Taylor who claimed the win over Linda Potts whilst Gage Hansson and Sabine Thies were the first male and female competitors across the finish line in the 19km MTB event. A sprint finish saw Andrew Erasmus hold off Owen Bengu in the 18km trail run as they held off year’s winner Gareth Harrington (Team Jeep) who had to settle with third place.

Other highlights of the day included the opportunity to pose for a rare picture with the Absa Currie Cup and interact with The Sharks players and everyone’s favourite mascot – Sharkie.

“The Stihl Sharks Trail Adventure is a great event that gets the whole family outdoors and active,” said The Sharks captain, Keagan Daniel.”The chance for our supporters to pose with the Currie Cup and mix with The Sharks players is fantastic but it is also great for us, the players, to be here because it gives us an opportunity to give something back to our fans who mean so much to us.”

Summary of results:

40km MTB

Men

1.Andrew Hill 1:34.13

2.Tyron Bird 1:34.13

3.David Low 1:37.16

Women

1.Tamryn Taylor 2:01.04

2.Linda Potts 2:07.56

19km MTB

Men

1.Gage Hansson58.51

2.Cayde Muldoon 59.32

3.Dylan Howard 1:01.14

Women

1.Sabine Thies 1:06.11

2.Liz Alexander 1:15.47

3.Karen Bargate 1:17.28

18km Trail Run

Men

1.Andrew Erasmus 1:13.41

2.Owen Bengo 1:13.41

3.Gareth Harrington 1:15.24

Women

1.Xoli Madida 1:31.00

2.Patricia Dammann 1:35.31

3.Natasha Papini 1:40.34

9km

Men

1.Travers Pellew 40.12

2.Patrick Wynne 40.19

3.Deon Pretorius 40.23

Women

1.Daneil Feldmann 42.36

2.Kim Watchurst 42:39

3.Bianca Harper 45.48