Hill 2 Hill named best event of the year

THE Sunday Tribune and Jeep sponsored Hill 2 Hill Mountain Bike Marathon was last weekend named as the best event in the 2014 Roag Series.

The Roag Series is one of the biggest mountain biking series in the country, with over 12 000 riders taking part in KwaZuluNatal’s nine top events spread from February to November. The Hill 2 Hill race from Hilton to Hillcrest in September, which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year alongside mainline sponsors The Sunday Tribune and Jeep Apparel, attracted almost 2 000 riders and was voted the best race of the year at the series award dinner last weekend.

The gruelling 100km Hill 2 Hill marathon was won by South African marathon champion James Reid, who was also the guest speaker at the awards dinner. Andrew Hill, the series champion, was the runnerup at the Hill 2 Hill, with Matt Beers third. In the women’s category, Candice Neethling beat Jeannie Dreyer into first place, while Dreyer clinched the women’s Roag series title with her second-place finish.

With R22 000 prize money for each of the overall champions in both the men’s and women’s categories, the Roag Series is South Africa’s highest paying series and rewards all categories from the young “sprog” riders up to the grandmasters division.

The Hill 2 Hill organisers developed the concept of the Roag series and were instrumental in the formation of the Roag race entry system, which is now used by 90 percent of all mountain bike events in the province and many other mass participation events.