Konrad Marais rubs Namibian triathletes’ noses in the sand – again!
South African ultra-athlete, Konrad Marais was the top performer in last weekend’s FNB Sandman triathlon hosted at Swakopmund. In the women’s camp, Risa Dreyer and Bennita Kasch gave sterling performances.
The day started with the Ultra event comprising 1.9 km in the sea, 90 km on two wheels and 21 km on foot. Some 34 athletes lined up for this ultimate test of endurance.
In the men’s Konrad only managed a seventh spot out of the water but he quickly caught Horst Neumann in the first lap of the run and then kept on opening up the gap. Konrad won the men’s elite for the second time in a row, beating his personal previous record by 9 minutes. He completed the course in 4h38. David Gardner, again won the Veteran category in 5h03 followed by Paul Brinkman in 5h20 and Rene Graf in third. The Masters category was won by Neil Clark in 5h08 followed by Adrian De la Harpe in 5h12 and in third Zimabwean Colin Colegrave.
In the female category Bennita left the water 7 minutes ahead of her competitors, setting up a very good lead. Bennita who is a great runner, knew that it would be hard to keep Risa off her heels. Risa is an exceptional ultra distance runner. On the first 7km Risa decreased Benita’s lead to 2 minutes 45 and on the second run lap Risa overtook Bennita. At the finish Risa had gained a 10 minute lead over Bentia. Risa finished the 21km run segment in 1h30. Bennita Kasch completed her 21km run in 1h45. The final result for the full distance was Risa in 1st in 4h59 and Benita second in 5h09.
In the Standard race, which comprised a 1.1km swim, a 40km ride and a 10 km run, national champ Divan du Plooy took pole position from start to finish.
The female vets was won by Charmaine Shannon with Bronwen Chase in second position and Marion Schonecke third. Karin Brockmann won the Masters Female with Berrit Graf in second place, while Jean Marais took the Masters Male with Harald Preschel second and Riaan Burger third.
The Sprint category saw Hilde-Marie Olivier win the female elite, in a new record of 1h01, beating Sonja Obholzer’s previous record of 1h06. Corrily Yates was second in 1h03 also beating the previous record and Tania Wiese third. The Male Elite Sprint was won by Wiehan Kohler in 1h03 with Louis Burger second and JD Visser third.
Yvonne Brinkmann from OTB Sport, the organisers of the event, said that the race had an excellent vibe. “The race is now very popular and we literally had hundreds of triathletes taking part in the various races and distances. The problem with triathlon is that it requires a lot of logistics and we are coming to the point where we just don’t have enough equipment and space to host many more people. This year we had to, for the first time, close entries as we could not accommodate more participants. The only reason we have got to this point is because FNB has been a consistent sponsor, handing out high quality technical sport shirts, about N$50,000 in cash prizes as well as
The day’s full results can be viewed at www.otbsport.com.
