HB Kruger and Amy McDougall took no prisoners in the Fedhealth MTB Challenge +- 60km\/Marathon at Boschendal Farm Estate (The Retreat) on Sunday, 16 September 2018.<\/p>\n
With three events to choose from (a +-60km\/Marathon; a +- 30km\/Half Marathon and a 15km Fun Ride), the 4th<\/sup> annual Fedhealth MTB challenge catered for all levels of mountain bikers, delivering plenty of mountain biking challenges, heaps of family fun and a scenic day out of the city.<\/p>\n Crossing the finish line in 02 hours 31 minutes 01 second, Kruger was very happy to successfully defend his title on the day.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a beautiful day today,\u201d says Kruger.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m a local and actually train at Boschendal often so I know the routes.\u00a0 We pushed hard after the 5km mark with four of us riding together.\u00a0 My bike had a mechanical at round about the 10km mark with my chain falling off.\u00a0 I chased back and managed to catch Nicol Carstens and Dylan Rebello.\u00a0 We rode together for approximately 20km.\u00a0 I went hard after Skyfall and managed to open a gap.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNicol and Dylan are really good in the single track, that\u2019s where they put me under pressure,\u201d continues Kruger.\u00a0 \u201cAfter the last water point I just rode at my own pace. \u00a0The Fedhealth MTB Challenge is really well organised.\u00a0 It\u2019s a fun, family day out.\u00a0 Entering is a no brainer really.\u00a0 I\u2019m also a Fedhealth member, so taking the win is an awesome feeling.\u00a0 The event is definitely one of my favourites.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicol Carstens came in second, while Dylan Rebello finished third.<\/p>\n Making her Fedhealth MTB Challenge debut on the day, Amy McDougall secured victory in the women\u2019s +-60km\/Marathon <\/strong>in an impressive time of 03 hours 03 minutes 22 seconds.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve recently moved here from Johannesburg and have only heard good things about the event.\u00a0 I went as hard as I could from the start, but had a bad crash at round about 40km.\u00a0 I was a bit shaken, but had so much fun.\u00a0 The event organisers have put a lot of effort into the trails.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautiful.\u00a0 I\u2019m really happy to win today.\u201d<\/p>\n Marleen Lourens came in second, while Frankie du Toit finished third.<\/p>\n Defending champion, Jamie Penfold was the rider to beat in the men\u2019s +-30km\/Half Marathon <\/strong>crossing the finish line first in 01 hour 08 minutes 46 seconds.\u00a0 \u201cI competed at the Fedhealth MTB Challenge for the first time in 2017.\u00a0 This year the routes were different, I think they\u2019re actually better.\u00a0 The single track was nice while the atmosphere is really chilled and relaxing.\u00a0 Winning today feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n Johan van Zyl came in second, while Leon Claassen finished third.<\/p>\n Natia van Heerden was the rider to beat in the women\u2019s +-30km\/Half Marathon<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cThe scenery was spectacular,\u201d says van Heerden.\u00a0 \u201cThe trails were great, with free flowing single track.\u00a0 The river crossings were amazing, just lovely to see.\u00a0 The Half Marathon is definitely a novice friendly route.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t too hard, but it still featured single tracks that flowed into berms.\u00a0 Overall it\u2019s a good mix.\u00a0 It was amazing to see the amount of youngsters that were out on the trails today.\u00a0 The girls rode really well.\u00a0 Representing Fedhealth just makes the win extra special.\u201d<\/p>\n Van Heerden crossed the line in 01 hour 25 minutes 28 seconds.\u00a0 Oliva Penfold came in second, while Caela Whall finished third.<\/p>\n Jeandre Ungerer crossed the finish line first in the men\u2019s 15km Fun Ride<\/strong> in a time of 33 minutes 41 seconds.\u00a0 Helgardt Nortje came in second, while Robert Phillip Nieuwenhuizen finished third.<\/p>\n Megan Scholtz was the first rider home in the women\u2019s 15km Fun Ride<\/strong> in a time of 40 minutes 11 seconds.\u00a0 Zoe Green came in second, while Eryn Marais finished third.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThank you to everyone who joined us at the fourth Fedhealth MTB Challenge at Boschendal Farm Estate! We hope you enjoyed the trails, the scenery, and the atmosphere\u2026 and that you got to relax post-race in true Boschendal style. Apart from the fitness aspect, our aim with this event has always been to create an opportunity for families to enjoy quality time together whilst embracing a healthy lifestyle. I\u2019m delighted to see so many youngsters join their parents \u2013 keep up the good work!\u201d says Jeremy Yatt, Fedhealth Principal Officer.<\/p>\n The 2018 Fedhealth MTB Challenge is sanctioned by Cycling SA.<\/p>\n Once across the finish line, all mountain bikers were treated to a foot massage in the Falke Foot Zone<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Festival Village was a hub of excitement with riders enjoying a Flying Fish beer<\/strong> with a mouth-watering Spur Burger <\/strong>while listening to a live performance<\/strong> by Newton & Co<\/strong>.<\/p>\n SPECTACULAR SPECIALIZED PRIZE UP FOR GRABS<\/u>:\u00a0<\/strong> This year, two lucky riders took home a whopping R10\u00a0000 gift voucher (each) compliments of Specialized Bicycles Africa, a proud partner of the 2018 event.<\/p>\n Additional sponsor prizes that were up for grabs included:\u00a0 Squirt Bike Lube hampers, THULE lucky draw prizes and four BMT Bike Shop vouchers to the value of R2500 each compliments of Fedhealth.<\/p>\n TURBO E-BIKE CATEGORY<\/u><\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/em>This year the<\/em> Fedhealth MTB Challenge, in association with Specialized Bicycles Africa, also boasted a Turbo E-bike category.<\/p>\n FREE ENTRY<\/u>:<\/strong> Fedhealth members could enter free of charge \u2013 simply by typing in their membership number when entering online!<\/p>\n Facebook:\u00a0<\/strong> Fedhealth Medical Aid<\/a> \/ Stillwater MTB Events<\/a> For more information on the Fedhealth MTB Challenge, contact Stillwater Sports on 082 991 0045 or email entries@stillwatersports.com<\/p>\n ENDS<\/p>\n Issued by:\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0NEWSPORT MEDIA<\/a> HB Kruger and Amy McDougall took no prisoners in the Fedhealth MTB Challenge +- 60km\/Marathon at Boschendal Farm Estate (The Retreat) on Sunday, 16 September 2018. With three events to choose from (a +-60km\/Marathon; a +- 30km\/Half Marathon and a 15km Fun Ride), the 4th annual Fedhealth MTB challenge catered for all levels of mountain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":58746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3260,1206],"tags":[3716,2726,2725,2573,2727],"class_list":["post-22319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","category-press-release","tag-amy-mcdougall","tag-fedhealth","tag-fedhealth-mtb-challenge","tag-hb-kruger","tag-mtb-challenge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTwitter:\u00a0<\/strong> @Fedhealthmed<\/a>\u00a0 \/ @Stillwater_MTB<\/a>
\nWebsite:<\/strong>\u00a0 www.stillwatersports.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\nOn behalf of:\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0FEDHEALTH<\/a> and STILLWATER SPORTS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"