The MiWay Midlands Ultra Triathlon, set to take place at Midmar Dam on the 27th November is set for an absolute cracker of an event. A host of the country's top triathlon stars have entered with the pace at the front expected to be extremely hot as the triathletes via for the R90 000 prize purse.
Leading the charge will be the SA Long Course Triathlon Champion, Matt Trautman. Trautman won this title convincingly at the MiWay Ultra event that took place at the same venue in March of this year. A diagnosed stress fracture shortly thereafter curtailed Trautman’s season forcing him to miss the World Ironman Championships in Kona that took place in October. His competitors can expect him to be fresh and hungry to get back into the action and one would be hard pressed not to back him for another win come Sunday 27th November.
He will not have it all plain sailing as a host of athletes will try and un-settle him and hope that his comeback is still short of his best performance. Leading the charge is a perennial top 3 at the Ultra Series, Clinton Gravett. Gravett has a good swim, a solid bike and a powerful run as part of his armoury and he will no doubts be there or thereabouts throughout the 113km distance. Travis Johnston is another athlete in top form having won the MiWay Cape Ultra in September. He will be a hard man to beat and will definitely be going after Trautman on the bike and run sections. Kent Horner and Rudolf Naude are another two top contenders who will fight for the top podium spots on the day
Amongst the ladies, the defending champion from the March event, Anna Watkinson is back and she looks to be the class of the field as she contests another Midlands Ultra race that will see athletes tackle an extremely demanding bike course. Watkinson is a powerhouse on the bike and the course is well suited to her strengths. A solid run from her normally backs up the performance on the bike so any lady wishing to challenger her will have to be close by on the bike and hope that she fades away on the run. Magda Niewoud and Corinne Berg will be pushing her all the way as they hope to un-seat Watkinson who has had a stellar season on the international racing circuit. Another KZN local, Teneal Featherby will also be looking at that top 3 finish slot which should make for a very tight and interesting ladies event.
Apart from the Ultra Event, the MiWay Midlands Ultra also hosts a shorter sprint distance event in conjunction with the main event. This sprint event has proved to be extremely popular with atleast 500 athletes racing for wins over the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run course. The Sprint Distance event is normally the domain for the top juniors in the country to dominate and we can expect from furious racing amongst these spring chickens as they normally race hard from the gun start. Local Junior and current SA Junior Triathlon Champion Ben De La Porte should be in the mix as well the two Marquiss brothers and Finn Elliot with a number of other athletes travelling from Gauteng and the Western Cape also expected to be in the mix. Amongst the ladies, local Tegan Gore and Amber Schlebusch will be looking to keep the title at home but will be hard pressed to stay in front come the end of the 5km run discipline.
Racing gets underway at 7am with the Sprint Athletes off first followed shortly thereafter by the Ultra athletes. A full day’s entertainment is guaranteed with an expo area and hospitality area set to keep the crowns entertained while the athletes do their thing.
For more information, visit www.ultratri.com or www.bactive.com
News supplied.
