Saturday, April 12, 2008

George XC National 12 April 2008

With my race only starting last- 13:30! I used it to my advantage and relaxed the entire morning. At 11:30 we left the house, and took a slow drive to the venue, which was only a couple of kilometers down the road.

After having been at George for the past week, I was fairly confident; I was loving the course and was hoping I was in as good form as I was last year.

Half an hour before the race I left and went to warm up, trying to get in the zone. 10 minutes before the race we were called up to the start. I was seeded 8th, which was the second row, off the start there was a mad dash (about 500m) to the first single track. My start was terrible after I had got boxed in, and now had to fight my way through the field. I entered into the single track 9th place but had worked myself up to 7th after the first kilometer..

Over the course of the first lap I managed to work my way up to 2nd and came through the feed zone feeling really strong. I settled into third place for the second and was constantly trying to close the gap on 2nd place, but half way through my third lap the current S.A. champ Arnot Du Toit caught and passed me . I tried to hang on as long as possible, but he was just too strong.

On the fourth lap, I pushed really hard, putting in a big effort, but I could not close the gap and finished 4th, my best national result for the year.

I was really happy with the result .The course was really awesome, great single track, with really technical root gardens, and fast flowing sections and some really cool drop offs. Great organization went into the race, well done to the organizers.

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