PERFECT DAY
Ideal conditions make for a great race this year
Mgubo, Pollock take honours at Surfers Marathon
The winner of the women’s main event at the 45th Discovery Surfers Challenge, Jessica Pollock, reflected in the aftermath of the race on what a perfect day out it had been.
That certainly was the type of sentiment for the majority of the contestants over the traditional Surfers, the shorter version from Gonubie, the Paddlers race on the Indian Ocean and the Juniors Surfers foot race encompassing Bonza Bay and Nahoon.
The weather conditions were probably the most ideal in the last decade or more and this also boosted crowd support, particularly at the Gonubie River crossing, along Oceanway and Southend Road in Gonubie.
Pollock, running proudly in the colours of UCT, won her second Surfers – the first was when she was still a schoolgirl in 2010.
To do so she had to fight off the attentions of three-time winner Myrette Brink of the Pretoria branch of Easy Equities Born 2 Run and the 2017 winner, Andrea Ranger, of the East London branch.
Pollock won in one hour and 22 minutes which was 19:21 faster than her previous win, in admittedly much more difficult conditions.
Brink was second and although she was in striking distance of Pollock in Gonubie, that all changed on the beach and Pollock powered away to beat her by 2:49.
A former East Londoner, now based in Gauteng, Sam Bieske, was the surprise package, finishing strongly in 1:27:31 and Ranger was fourth in 1:29:39.
The men’s race turned out to be an easy victory for BRAC’s Bulelani Mgubo in 1:09:48 whle , Nkosinathi Nzingo of Nedbank AC finished in second.
The third man home was Simphiwe Mjiki in 1:14:06.
While the leading runner beat the paddlers, he was the only one to do so. Matt Fenn and Andrew Birkett were first out the ocean on a double-ski, finishing in 1:13:01.
They were followed by Andrew Carter and Brendon Thompson in the doubles category.
In the singles race, Josh Fenn won ahead of Bevan Manson and Hennie Roos.
The Surfers 10, run over 11.5km, had its fair share of tough competition.
While Luthando Hejana of Old Mutual cruised to the men’s victory, Born 2 Run’s, Nikelo Lolwana and Athi Sikweza fought with passion for positions two and three.
Born 2 Run sisters Caryn Lategan and Lauren Ranger raced shoulder to shoulder to take first and second in 48:44.
They were followed by the enterprising and promising young runner Megan Bunting in 53:42.
The Junior Surfers was a good deal quieter than the other races, but some excellent talent was still on display.
Luke Tinhoff would have been the pre-race favourite and he lived up to his billing with a 19:20 win.
Second was an impressive Benjamin Arnold in 19:48 while Jayden Boucher finished third in 20:58.
The girls were a little more spread. Rachel Troskie is credited with the win in 23:18. Kate Boyens finished second in 24:07 and Keelynne van Heerden finished in third position in 25:08.