Hill snaps up Sharks trail victory
Riders and runners thoroughly enjoyed the reversed tracks at this year's STIHL Sharks Trail Adventure.
PHOTO: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media
ANDREW Hill extended his reign as the King of the STIHL Sharks Trail Adventure as he claimed his fifth title in six years at the 40km mountain bike race.
The Hillcrest resident considers this his home event and described the race as “a great way to end the competitive year.”
“I am actually really pleased with how the race went, because it came at the end of a very hard week of training, and I could feel real fatigue in my legs,” said Andrew.
The layout was reversed for the 2017 edition of the popular event and Andrew Hill set out to create a sizeable buffer between himself and the rest of the elite contenders. He reached this goal about halfway through the 40km race.
“I was able to stop at one of the watering tables and catch my breath, and I could see the others some way back on the switchbacks,” he said.
He praised the decision of course builder, Andrew van Rensberg, to reverse the layout, even if it did create a long hard climb up to the finish at the Summerveld Estate.
Cayde Muldoon took second place and Ndumiso Dontso secured the last place on the podium. The women’s race was comfortably won by veteran Brenda Potts. Thami Kunene won the 20km MTB race by more than two minutes.
The Cell C Sharks players handed out cold aQuellés at the finish line. The team’s mascot, Sharkie, was the centre of selfie attention and also helped the youngsters in the 2km Sharkie fun ride that brought the curtain down on the day’s activities.
