Reigning Xterra SA champion Carla van Huyssteen was on fire in Elgin Grabouw (Western Cape), at the Totalsports Xterra South African Championship presented by Rehidrat Sport on Sunday, 24 February 2013.
“Today’s race was great. I had a knot in my stomach the whole way, as I really wanted this win”. For Van Huyssteen, the successful title defence was a-dream-come true. “I had to work hard the entire race,” she said.
Van Huyssteen lead from early on in the multi-code endurance cross-country series event, to complete the 1.5km swim, 27km mountain bike and 11km trail run first in the women’s category in a combined time of 2 hours, 51 minutes and 1 second.
“The swim was a bit chaotic in the beginning with me choosing the wrong line. I still had a good swim though, entering transition first. I knew I had to work hard as Shonny Vanlandingham is an amazing mountain biker.
“I managed to find good rhythm on the bike. Going into the run I knew I had to give my all as my husband wouldn’t be impressed with me if it looked like I was taking it easy,” laughs Van Huyssteen.
Susan Sloan came in second, while Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango, Colorado) finished third.
The Totalsports Xterra Grabouw was once again split over two days with the Totalsports Xterra Lite taking place on Saturday, and Carla Beyers was the women’s champion, completing the challenging course in an impressive time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and 11 seconds.
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