Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 58, May 2014 | 页面 39

Race Report

SPRINTING Around Gauteng
T

here have been some familiar faces popping up at our
various Sprint Series events, thanks mainly to competitors
earning points according to both their position and
participation, and counting towards the awesome luckydraw prizes from adidas, The SweatShop and TomTom.
With distances ranging from 8km and 4km, and even
down to 2km for younger club members, our Sprint Series
encourages everyone to hit the road, whether they want to
work on their speed or just take it easy. The evening events
are further revved up by having RunTalk SA’s Brad Brown
on the mic and playing some cool
tunes, so with more than just PB’s on
the line, the Modern Athlete Sprint
Series has really injected a bit of
excitement into the normal time trial
scene, and turned them into a fun
evening out!

COMING SOON TO YOUR CLUB!
Make sure you catch the next Sprint Series events this
May. Be there just before 6pm, and remember to wear
your ChampionChip to qualify for the great prizes.
6 May – Pirates, Greenside, Johannesburg
8 May – Phobians, Queen’s Crescent, Pretoria
For more info, go to www.modernathlete.co.za
and keep tabs on our Facebook page.
Images: Richard Laskey & Lauren Van Der Vyver

In March and April, the Modern
Athlete team visited a number of
running clubs in Jo’burg and Pretoria
with the idea of timing these clubs’
time trial events using ChampionChip,
with runners earning points for
participation, which definitely put
a competitive streak in Gauteng’s
runners!

Advertorial

Action-packed
Anniversary

Images: Chris Hitchcock

The 10th anniversary of IRONMAN South Africa
threw up some exciting contests as Nils Frommhold
triumphed in the men’s race with local boy Kyle
Buckingham securing a runner’s up place, while
the women’s race mirrored that of 2013, with Jodie
Swallow dominating proceedings only to be beaten
right at the death.
With perfect weather conditions at the start, Germany’s Nils
Frommhold left the water first after 48:16, closely followed
by countryman Faris Al-Sultan and Dutch pair Edo van
der Meer and Bas Diederen. Georg Potrebitsch (Germany)
took the lead after 30km of the bike, but lost ground when
he stopped for medical attention, allowing countrymen
Frommhold and Al-Sultan to make their move. At this point
SA’s Kyle Buckingham, racing his first full IRONMAN as a
professional, also moved up to join the leaders. After 135km,
Frommhold pushed on, entering transition five minutes ahead
of Buckingham.
The German would maintain his lead to win in 8:26:06, but
all eyes were on Buckingham as he delighted the PE crowd
by claiming second place in 8:32:28, ahead of Al Sultan in

8:33:18. The local lad had found an extra gear in the last 5km
to show that he will be a real contender on the Pro IRONMAN
circuit.

The Flying Swiss

As expected, Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow dominated the
swim, exiting not only first amongst the women, but second
overall! Lucie Reed (Czech Republic) and Simone Braendli
(Switzerland) were second and third out of the water. Swallow
made light work of the bike in the early morning’s favourable
conditions, but Reed started dropping back halfway through
the bike and eventually dropped out of the top 10 completely.
Denmark’s Michelle Versterby temporarily took over second as
another Brit, Lucy Gossage joined the chasing pack.
Entering T2 with a lead of over eight minutes, Swallow found
herself being chased down by Gossage and Braendli. Starting
the second loop of the run, Swallow was desperately holding
on to a two-minute lead as the flying Swiss overtook Gossage
for second place, then passed Swallow for the lead at 37km
and went on to win in 9:31:53. Gossage also passed Swallow
to take second in 9:33:58, as Swallow clung on to third in
9:36:06.

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