Howick – Hundreds of trail running and Enduro mountain biking competitors took to Karkloof’s renowned trails on Saturday, getting the 2016 Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival underway with a bang and setting the tone for Sunday’s second day.
The morning’s 21km, 10km and 5km trail runs attracted over 400 competitors with Mdu Zondi holding off Racefood’s Owen Bengo in the men’s clash and Jennifer Coppinger claiming the longer event’s women’s spoils.
Zondi, who completed the grueling Comrades Marathon in just 6h34 less than a week ago, was thrilled with his effort and thoroughly enjoyed being part of the trail events’ debut at the Sappi Karkloof Classic.
“I came here just to loosen up my legs after Comrades but luckily enough I felt good and managed to push; winning was a major bonus for me!” beamed Zondi.
“I did the Three Cranes stage race, which goes through a similar area , but this was my first time running in Karkloof,” he added. “The course’s single track was great and it was very well marked!”
Bengo, who started strongly and was comfortably sitting with Zondi early on, suffered a fall after just three kilometres and after falling off the leader’s remarkable pace, was in a race for second from then on.
“When I got up after my fall suddenly there were four other guys with me again so I told myself ‘No, this is not me; I must run like I know I can’ so I made a move and when I looked back they were gone,” said Bengo. “I’m very happy with my result though and it was a great race!”
Manuel Ordonez rounded out the men’s podium while Merchants Change a Life Running Team duo Mthobisi Mzolo and Siyabonga Ngcongo’s fourth and fifth placed efforts completed the top five.
Coppinger’s women’s race victory comes as the first of her career having enjoyed strong form in the build up to the event however the bubbly, easy-going competitor was pushed all the way to the line by the experienced Sue Chapman and third place finisher Emily Yeo.
“I finished third at the Hilton College event recently and second at the iNsingizi Trail Run in April so I’ve been feeling good but this is my first win, which is quite nice,” said Coppinger.
“It was such a beautiful route and hats off to the organisers for putting together such a great route!” she added.
The 10km event’s men’s and women’s spoils went to Bongani Makhatini and Jessica Maitland-Stuart while Mark MacKenzie and Nondumiso Khoza reigned supreme in the 5km clash.
Saturday afternoon’s STIHL Karkloof Enduro was a dry, dusty affair but the change in course location and fresh trails worked a treat as Tiaan Odendaal claimed his third consecutive title at the event while Kathryn Fourie raced to her first ever Enduro victory.
Odendaal charged out the blocks on the testing, technical opening stage and as the subsequent runs got smoother so he got quicker as he powered his way to four stage victories and the overall crown.
“It was really great to get a clear win this year and I was really happy with the gap I opened up over the rest of the guys,” said Odendaal. “While I wasn’t focusing on winning my third title coming into the race, it was also cool to win three in a row.”
“I actually worked quite hard for this win and was pretty broken at the end so it was quite a satisfying result.
“A big thanks to Brian Bentley for his assistance with a bike and then also to Hylton Turvey and the guys her at Karkloof, the tracks were phenomenal and I’ve never ridden anything so good.
“Stage one was quite difficult to get a rhythm with all the rocky, technical sections but stage two was then really fast flowing with all the berms and jumps and that put me in a bit of a happy zone which I looked to stay in until the end,” he added.
Odendaal was chased across the line by the experienced Craig Paul and Heiko Redecker while U18 talent Keira Duncan finished fourth and Tim Bentley fifth.
The women’s duel saw a stage one crash by double defending champ Kim Westbrook pave the way for Fourie and junior flyer Sabine Thies to battle it out for the title with the former ultimately getting the better of the emerging star by 21 seconds while Westbrook claimed third.
“I had a knee op six weeks ago and a bad bout of flu in the build up to the race so I’ve just been trying to focus on building again and just trying to keep up with Kim and ‘Beanie’ (Thies) so I’m really, really stoked to get the win,” said Fourie.
“I do a lot of riding in the area but I haven’t actually ridden those particular trails in a long time so I bounced off quite a few rocks during the first stage and there were quite a few new sections that are obviously still a bit loose so you had to be careful of not sliding out but overall it was just great!
“Enduro is really growing and it’s great to see so many new ladies giving it a go from so many different provinces and other disciplines and hopefully we can see that continue going forward,” she added.
Sunday’s second day of the 2016 Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival, includes 60km, 40km, 20km and 10km mountain bikes events, gets underway at 07h30. More information can be found atwww.karkloofmtb.co.za.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
2016 SAPPI KARKLOOF CLASSIC TRAIL FESTIVAL
21KM TRAIL RUN
Men
1.Mdu Zondi 1:20.53
2.Owen Bengo 1:24.19
3.Manuel Ordonez 1:29.03
4.Mthobisi Mzolo 1:29.12
5.Siyabonga Ngcongo 1:30.14
Women
1.Jennifer Coppinger 1:42.00
2.Sue Chapman 1:43.14
3.Emily Yeo 1:49.18
4.Jen Theron 1:50.10
5.Natasha Papini 1:50.48
10KM TRAIL RUN
Men
1.Bongani Makhathini 49.53
2.Phaka Gwala 49.59
3.Sabelo Zwane 50.00
Women
1.Jessica Maitland-Stuart 58.10
2.Sbusiso Njilo 1:01.42
3.Andrea du Preez 1:18.23
5KM TRAIL RUN
Men
1.Mark MacKenzie 31.21
2.Vusi Mseleku 32.11
3.Kevin Rainier 32.26
Women
1.Nondumiso Khoza 37.39
2.Mandisa Mkhunya 38.50
3.Natasha Chick 39.05
STIHL KARKLOOF ENDURO
Men
1.Tiaan Odendaal 11:48
2.Craig Paul 12.24
3.Heiko Redecker 12.28
4.Keira Duncan (U18) 12.28
5.Timothy Bentley 12:30
6.Hilton Frost 12.38
7.Jonathan Philogene 12:44
8.Christopher Philogene (U18) 12:46
9.David Hogan 12:52
10.Charl van Zyl 12:58
Women
1.Kathryn Fourie 15:26
2.Sabine Thies 15:47
3.Kim Westbrook 16:26
4.Tamika Haw 17:59
5.Michele Reynolds 18:27
