Raynard Tissink, SA’s leading contender for the Ironman South Africa title this year, was in superb form and came in to win the Duel Ultra Triathlon at Midmar last weekend in seemingly effortless fashion. Completing the 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run in an impressive time of four hours, Tissink literally set out on a victory lap after breaking the tape – all in the name of training for the marathon run of Ironman distance.
Not discounting the chase for second in which the highly regarded David Hyam ran home ahead of Storm brothers Brad in third and Carl in fourth, while James Cunnama placed fifth amongst an elite crop. A rare one for the record books was the youngest of the three Storm brothers, Anton (22) placing ninth overall.
In the women’s race, competition was fierce with Cathryn Cronje taking the overall honours after a good start in the swim, and continuing with solid performances both on the bike and run to take the victory just over three minutes ahead of veteran Claudia Feige. A ding-dong battle ensued for third
place with Carla Germishuys finding the legs to pass Robyn Adendorff in the final stages of the run. Melanie van Rooyen concluded the top five women home.
Pietermaritzburg multisporters Jean-Paul van der Linde and Landy Taylor were convincing winners of the respective men’s and women’s titles in the Canoe Ultra Tri, in which a 7.5km paddling leg substituted for the swim. Van der Linde took the lead from early race leader Sakkie Meyer during the cycle leg, with Meyer eventually settling for second ahead of Deon Braun.
For the rest of the field of over five hundred athletes, the mid-summer heat as the day progressed did little to ease the challenge of conquering the testing half-ironman event. By the 3pm cut-off most of the athletes werehome, giving aspiring Ironman contenders a taste of what lies ahead come the 18th March. The Duel Ultra Triathlon made a huge impact in its first year and is sure to become an annual highlight on the triathlon calendar.
Swim Triathlon
Elite Men:
Raynard Tissink 4h00.01
David Hyam 4h12.17
Brad Storm 4h15.15
Carl Storm 4h16.12
James Cunnama 4h17.11
Elite Women:
Cathryn Cronje 4h52.40
Claudia Feige 4h56.19
Carla Germishuys 5h02.25
Robyn Adendorff 5h05.20
Melanie van Rooyen 5h09.47
Canoe Triathlon
Men overall:
JP van der Linde 4h52.36
Sakkie Meyer 5h08.24
Deon Braun 5h17.41
Women overall:
Landy Taylor 5h56.00
Karin Strachan 6h30.25
Judith Grove 7h21.48
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)