Tuesday’s first round of the About IT Triathlon Summer Series in Port Elizabeth is expected to draw a record entry and an exciting tussle between some of the region’s top triathletes.
Undefeated Series ladies champion, Liza Kingston (nee Bright), who has dominated all rounds of the Series since first taking part in 2010 is once again the 2014 favourite for the Series and will be looking to start off with another gold in Round 1 which is the traditional Summies to Schoenies triathlon. A 750m swim at Pollok Beach starting at 8am followed by a fast 20km cycle to Schoenmakerskop and finished with a tough 5km trail run along the Sacramento trail is what awaits 100 or more triathlete’s on Tuesday morning.
2013 defending Men’s champion, Nathan le Roux of East London, will be looking to go one better than last year by starting with a win on Tuesday. Le Roux, one of SA’s top triathlete’s, placed 2nd last year behind Cape Townian Stuart Marais in the first round and then went on to win both rounds 2 and 3 to claim the Series title.
Whilst the top participants will be trying to break the course record set by Rynard Tissink in 2011 with a time of 1hr 4min and 7secs, the bulk of the field will be happy to finish between 1hr 30 and 2hrs. The sprint distance triathlon is the ideal start into the multidiscipline sport as it’s achievable by most whilst those total novices can always take part in the team event and do one or two of the 3 disciplines.
Entry into the Series is just R180 for individuals, R300 for teams with a temporary license fee of R40 applying to none TSA registered participants. Online registration is advised but late entries will be take on race day but a R20 late entry fee will apply. Tuesday’s first round starts at 8am and will be followed by another round on Sunday 21st at Pollok Beach and then the Series finale on the 26th at Port St Francis. A development triathlon for children between the ages of 8 and 11 years will take place at 6pm at Pollok Beach on Monday 15th and Saturday 20th at an online entry fee of just R80.
Alan Straton
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