Fantastic turnout for the opening event of the 2011 BSG Energade Triseries

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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 16:08

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BSG Energade Triseries gets off to storming start

The first event of the 2011 BSG Energade Triathlon Series race took place on Sunday, 2  October at Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria and despite the rainy weather all competitors were in high spirits, making the opening event a huge success!

The 2011 Triseries has a completely new race format, with one of the changes allowing for an Elite start wave with a longer distance on the swim (750m), making it an ITU half standard distance. With 23 Elite athletes competing in Sunday’s event, the competition in the Elite Men’s category was fierce with Richard Murray proving that he is in peak physical condition as he took the gold. He was closely followed by Erhardt Wolfaardt and Abrahm Louw. Rudolph Naude and Theo Blignaut achieved fourth and fifth respectively.

In the Elite Ladies’ category, defending champion Andrea Steyn once again proved why she is queen of triathlon, as she claimed the gold almost two minutes ahead of Carlyn Fischer with Tayla Glover claiming third. Vicky van der Merwe and Riana de Lange rounded off the Elite Ladies top five.

Elite Men’s Category Race Results:

1 Richard Murray 0:55:05

2 Erhard Wolfaardt 0:55:28

3 Abrahm Louw 0:55:41

4 Rudolf Naude 0:56:31

5 Theo Blignaut 0:56:34

Elite Ladies’ Category Race Results:

1 Andrea Steyn 1:03:16

2 Carlyn Fischer 1:05:13

3 Tayla Glover 1:05:48

4 Vicky van der Merwe 1:06:24

5 Riana De Lange 1:06:39

Over 725 athletes, down from the 900 entrants mostly due to the weather, competed in age group categories, starting on the heels of the Elites, in four start waves. Wilhelm Steyn had the fastest time of the day in the Main race (600m swim) winning the 30 – 39 age men’s category with a time of 0:59:02, second fastest was Tiaan Rossouw also racing in the 30 – 39 age category in 1:01:09, with young Samuel Stephens the third fastest man in the Main race, winning the Junior category (15-19 age) in a time of 1:01:13. The fastest lady in the Main race was Minette Bell, who took gold in the 30 – 39 age category in a time of 1:09:12, Minette was followed by Mnandi Weber who won the Junior category (15-19 age) with a time of 1:09:19. Charne Prinsloo was second in the Junior category, as well as being the third fastest lady in the Main race, with a time of 1:09:27.

In the BSG Energade Triseries Challenge in association with Discovery Vitality, points are accumulated based on the aggregation of finishing positions for all entrants across the Corporate, Tertiary and School institutions. The first event at Roodeplaat showed why this initiative is going to captivate the hearts and minds of the athletes, as they race for pride in attempting to elevate their institution up the Triseries Challenge leader boards.

Kicking off the 2011 Triseries Challenge in style, St Mary’s DSG just beat out Tyger Valley College to take top spot in the Schools category. St Mary’s DSG also nabbed the R 5,000 cheque for the school with the most entrants on the day, edging out the Colin Mann School who historically have consistently won this accolade.

The University of Pretoria reigned supreme in the Tertiary category as they banked almost double the points achieved by their closest rival the University of Witwatersrand – it will be interesting to see which of these two Gauteng giants take the top honours at the next event at Hartebeespoort on 9 October.

Deloitte attained a massive 1413 points as they moved convincingly into first position in the Corporate category, but it remains to be seen who will challenge them for the overall title of Top Corporate in the 2011 Triseries Challenge!

With huge momentum already evident with regards to the Triseries Challenge, don’t forget to include the details for your school/tertiary/corporate when you enter, so that you register your institution for participation in the BSG Energade Triseries Challenge. You will earn points based on your finishing position within your category, for your school/tertiary/corporate towards the Triseries Challenge, brought to you by BSG Energade in partnership with Discovery Vitality.

The Triseries Challenge Leader boards:

School’s Challenge

1 St Marys DSG 294

2 Tyger Valley College 293

3 Ashton College 145

4 St Dunstans College 122

5 Colin Mann School 41

Tertiary Challenge

1 University of Pretoria 1290

2 University of Witwatersrand 737

3 University of Johannesburg 264

4 Tshwane University of Technology 252

5 Varsity College 233

1 Deloitte 1413

2 Investec 473

3 Standard Bank 375

4 Sasol 244

5 SABMiller 219

Participants are also reminded that the BSG Energade Triathlon Series in association with First Ascent have launched the MyPledge initiative which enables Triseries athletes to help raise funds for the LEAP Maths and Science School. The LEAP School provide opportunities for education for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds within South Africa.

Triseries athletes can participate in MyPledge by activating the functionality on the BSG Multisport website (www.bsgmultisport.co.za) which will send requests to the participant’s networks of friends, colleagues and family to sponsor their participation in one or more of the events. This sponsorship is in the form of a pledge on behalf of the respective athlete, with all moneys collected, going directly to LEAP schools.

The growth of this ever popular sport was especially evident in the large number of participants who completed their first ever triathlon as well as the aspiring young athletes who competed in the BSG Energade Kids Triseries. All the children got to enjoy the new dedicated Kid’s area powered by Jungle Mini Bar, which kept the children safe and entertained while their parents were competing in the Main race. Congratulations to all the enthusiastic triathletes who competed on the day.

As the triathletes prepare themselves to compete at this Sunday’s event at the Islands Estate, Hartbeespoort, event organisers remind all participants to ensure that they get their online registrations in early as for safety reasons NO “on the day” entries will be accepted.