Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series

04/09/2023

THREE WEEKS AND COUNTING ....

Just under three weeks to go until trail runners and MTB riders get to experience the sublime trails of the Scottburgh MTB & Trail Run on Saturday, September 23.

This popular event has an exciting new start / finish venue at the Premier Resort Cutty Sark.

5km and 12km for the runners and 12km, 20km or 45km for the MTB riders.

Entries at https://roag.org/events/event-info/3977/sappi-scottburgh-mtb-trail-run

Scottburgh Mtb & Trail Run Weekend
Sappi Southern Africa
Ward Events

27/05/2023

The sixth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series began today with Linda Zondi and Carla van Huyssteen taking victories in the 21km trail runs on the opening day of the Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival.

25/05/2023

The sixth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series takes place in conjunction with the Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Fefstival this weekend. If you have not got an entry yet, you can still enter on the day.

See you on Saturday and/or Sunday !

LATE ENTRIES ACCEPTED AT REGISTRATION

Entries for the 2023 Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival have officially closed, but do not despair if you missed the deadline. You can still take part in the event on South Africa's top-ranked trail network over the weekend.

Late entries will be accepted at registration on Saturday and Sunday. All we ask is that you register on the ROAG system (visit ROAG.org and sign up) - it is free and makes the entry process over the weekend so much quicker and easier. If you have ever taken part in a ROAG-administred event before, you should already be signed up and can just arrive and enter.

Karkloof Classic Races
SATURDAY 27th MAY
07h30 - 21km Trail Run
08h00 - 9km Trail Run

SUNDAY 28th MAY
07h30 - 60km MTB
08h15 - 40km MTB
08h45 - 9km Trail Fun Run
09h20 - 20km MTB
09h15 - 10km MTB

Karkloof Country Club
Karkloof Country Club Bike Shop
Sappi Southern Africa
aQuellé

10/05/2023

A bit more info on the fourth MTB leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series taking place in conjunction with the aQuellé Tour Durban this weekend. Online entries close today.

Tour Durban MTB set to excite this weekend

The 2023 edition of the aQuellé Tour Durban MTB powered by Cycle Lab on Saturday is set to be another action-packed, fun-filled edition as the single-track-minded adrenalin junkies enjoy the various routes that have been laid out for them.

The MTB arm of the aQuellé Tour Durban has only recently become part of the weekend’s entertainment and the EMBA Trails around Cornubia Mall have become a popular playground for the off-road enthusiasts.

Previously the event used to incorporate what was labelled a cyclo-cross event, but was in reality more of a hybrid MTB / road race. With the popularity of mountain biking, organisers made the decision to have a dedicated mountain bike event and it offers riders of all abilities a chance to enjoy the trails with a 40km, 20km and 10km option, and this year it has been incorporated into the ROAG Series to add prestige.

In the men’s race, defending champion Brent Yelland is back for another shot at the top step of the podium and it seems like it will be a battle between the youngsters with a number of Under 23 entries making for a spicy lineup.

Chasing Yelland down this year will be young 18 year-old and 2022’s third place finisher Tayne Rudling, who will be hoping to pip the defending champion, with another Yelland, Sean, also out for race honours.

With some late entries expected to add to the intrigue, the 40km marathon will be an exciting tussle with the youngsters also lining up against a handful of experienced riders, with the likes of Adriaan van Schoor and Jedson Tooms amongst the entrants for the shoot-out.

With the long road ride the focus for the weekend, the Sandton City Cycle Nation road team will also be present at the MTB race on Saturday, with Upper Highway local Bridget Theunissen amongst the entrants for the 40km ride and the likely favourite among the pre-entries.

The 22-year-old will be joined by her team-mate and defending champion in the road race, Joanne van de Winkel, as the team look to produce a pair of wins over the weekend.

The 2023 MTB will still have a strong racing element to it and riders will be out to claim the overall honours on what should be an exciting course.

10/05/2023

The fourth MTB leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series will be taking place in conjunction with the aQuellé Tour Durban this weekend. Online entries close today, so don't miss out on the discounts and enter now.

LAST CHANCE FOR ONLINE PRE-ENTRIES

Online entries for the aQuellé Tour Durban and aQuellé Tour Durban MTB powered by Cycle Lab close tonight (Wednesday).

No discounted entries will be accepted after today and riders who want to take part in KZN's favourite weekend of cycling will have to play the late entry fee at registration on Friday or Saturday.

So, head over to https://roag.org/events/event-info/3995/ and enter now.

Remember all proceeds for this event go to the official race beneficiary, The Domino Foundation

Registration and late entries at Cycle Lab store at Cornubia Mall.
Friday 12th May: 9am-5pm (MTB and road)
Saturday 13th aMay: 6am-7.30am (MTB only)
Saturday 13th May: 9am-3pm (Road only)





aQuellé
aQuellé ViV
Cycle Lab
The Domino Foundation
East Coast Radio
The Domino Foundation

06/05/2023

The fourth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series is under way ...

03/05/2023

Entries close tonight for the fourth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series, the New Hanover MTB & Trail which takes place on Saturday.

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER ONLINE

The last-minute has arrived for all you procrastinators ... today is the final day for online pre-entries for the New Hanover MTB & Trail. If you miss the midnight pre-entry deadline tonight you will have to get up that little bit earlier on Saturday, stand in the late-entry queue while your mates fly through the pre-entry tables, pay an extra late-entry fee, and then start in the final batch.

You will still get to ride or run on the sublime New Hanover trails in what is predicted to be perfect weather onditions, and you will still get to eat the delicious post-race food and drink supplied by the New Hanover Prep School, but you will just have to pay a bit more, not get your free pair of socks, and have the stress of a late entry.

Come on, head over to https://roag.org/events/event-info/3998/new-hanover-mtb-trail-run and enter now and make your life a bit easier.

This event is the fourth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series for both mountain bikers and trail runners and the first of three series events in May.

New Hanover Mtb & Trail

30/04/2023

Just six days to go until the fourth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series ... enter now.

LESS THAN A WEEK TO GO ...

Tick tock, tick tock - the days are passing and you now have less than a week to go until the New Hanover Mtb & Trail. You know you want to be part of this fantastic event, so why not head over to ROAG.org right now and enter.

Go to roag.org/events/event-info/3998 and you can see all the info you need and find a link to enter. Online, discounted pre-entries close at midnight on Wednesday.

See you on Saturday at New Hanover Prep School!

29/04/2023

IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN ...

Just one week to go until the New Hanover MTB and Trail and the beginning of a month jam-packed with mountain biking and trail running action.

The popular New Hanover event takes place on Saturday, May 6th, and riders and runners are in for a treat with the always popular event once again preparing to give entrants a day to remember.

The trailmasters are doing the final prep on the trails to make sure everybody has fun out on the course, and the ovens of New Hanover are working overtime to make sure the post-race snacks at the traditional festival are as good as ever.

Go to https://roag.org/events/event-info/3998/new-hanover-mtb-trail-run and enter today.

23/04/2023

Want to create your own piece of Strava Art? Well, if you are a trail runner you can "paint" your own Mona Lisa by taking part in the 14km trail run at the New Hanover MTB & Trail. The run itself is wonderful mix of cane paths, gravel roads and forest tracks, but the art you will create is a beautiful lady. So to impress your Strava mates and become an athletic Leonardo da Vinci, head over to ROAG.org and enter the New Hanover event today.

And of course, don't forget this is the fourth leg of the Quattro ROAG KZN MTB Marathon Series.

Entries at https://roag.org/enter/event/3998 and more info at https://roag.org/events/event-info/3998/

16/04/2023

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

Durban - The North Coast Boys team of Andrew Hill and Brent Yelland kept their composure and cruised home to a third stage win from three on Sunday, and so claimed the overall title at the inaugural Emilgroup / Ergon North Coast Challenger stage race at Holla Trails.

While the 41-year-old Hill and his 20-year-old partner were managing things out front in the team event of the MTB Race presented by CeraGran, William Piat from Mauritius was equally in control of the racing in the solo race and duly held on to win despite a storming final day from runner-up Josh Metcalf.

The mixed category saw the talented Rouxda Grobler and husband Jacques celebrate their good fortune from the second day with a third consecutive stage win and a healthy 25-minute victory over Carl Adendorff and Karyn Southgate.

Rouxda Grobler suffered from "chain suck" for a large portion of the second day's racing and after the finish, asked a mechanic to have a look at the derailleur setting before the final day's racing. He reported back that the derailleur was fine, but half of one of the links in her chain had broken off completely. Incredibly, the link never snapped completely, so the mixed team leaders were able to finish the stage without even realising how close they came to a major mechanical drama.

The women's race saw Kerry-Lee Holland and Claire Cochrane (Team Tegman Ladies) continue in their dominant form on Sunday to also secure a hat-trick of wins and secure the overall title.

The two-day Trail Run Stage Race presented by Salomon provided a perfect transition to off-road running for well-known Gauteng road running champion Ingrid Koster. The talented veteran, who won the women's category at the Nedbank Runified 50km in February, cruised home unchallenged in her first ever trail running race.

"This is my very first trail run ever," said an elated Koster after wrapping up the win. "I came all the way from Pretoria to do this event and yesterday it was nice and kind of easy, but today was a lot more technical. It was nothing like anything I have ever run or trained on before.

"A friend of mine does mountain biking and lives in Ballito and he said I should come and do this event ... I will definitely be back."

The men's trail run was won by Jacque Mare who, like Koster, was dominant on the final results. However, he did have a tough race before being awarded the inaugural title.

Nkosinathi Dumobala entered and easily won the short event on the opening running stage on Saturday, but for Sunday he inexplicably ran -- and "won" -- the longer distance. The Nedbank sponsored runner could not be included in the results of either race he switched races mid event.

Andrew Hill as full of praise for the event and sees a big future for this first-time stage race.

"There were a lot of sections which Holla trail had mixed and matched and reversed, and so the home guys like myself did not have as much home-ground advantage," said the happy race winner. "This also made the route seem completely different -- you felt like you could be in Karkloof, or you could be in Kamberg, or even Joburg.

"In general, for the all-round excitement and enjoyment factor, I think this race was a 10 out of 10. Well done to all invloved and I think this is going to grow and it is going to become a repeatable race on the calendar."

Provisional Results

MTB: Full Distance
Team
Men
1 Andrew Hill / Brent Yelland (North Coast Boys) 5:03:37 (0:45:09, 2:35:00, 1:43:27)
2 Sanele Shabalala / Paul Shackleton (Team PS) 5:21:49 (0:48:44, 2:42:54, 1:50:10)
3 Matthew Elliott / Adriaan Van Schoor (Shakas Rock Racing) 5:38:13 (0:51:52, 2:52:09, 1:54:05)
Mixed
1 Jacques Grobler / Rouxda Grobler (The Groblers) 5:45:04 (0:52:02, 2:57:44, 1:55:17)
2 Carl Adendorff / Karyn Southgate (Bikes And Wine) 6:10:36 (0:54:51, 3:07:57, 2:07:46)
3 Julian Bryant / Natalie Bergstrom (Moobs & Nuts) 6:25:43 (0:58:26, 3:18:50, 2:08:24)
Women
1 Kerry Lee Holland / Claire Cochrane (Team Tegman Ladies) 7:21:23 (1:05:09, 3:48:58, 2:27:00)
2 Cheryl Robinson / Kerry Campbell (Double Spoke) 8:11:13 (1:12:36, 4:11:00, 2:46:51)
3 Linda Erskine / Sandy Van Rooyen (Queens Of The Night) 9:31:59 (1:20:07, 5:00:50, 3:10:49)
Solo
Men
1 William Piat 5:19:43 (0:47:54, 2:40:09, 1:51:39)
2 Joshua Metcalf 5:21:14 (0:47:58, 2:48:26, 1:44:49)
3 Shaun Scott 5:22:05 (0:50:36, 2:41:46, 1:49:42)
Women
1 Tracey Quin 7:27:30 (1:07:05, 3:51:47, 2:28:38)
2 Ilsa Van Niekerk 7:58:19 (1:09:45, 4:01:27, 2:47:06)

MTB: Lite
Team
Men
1 Evan Grant / Calan Goetsch (Bandworx/Big Decks) 3:43:36 (1:10:38, 1:29:50, 1:03:07)
2 Shane Wollenschlaeger / Jonathan Hein (Bloemendaal) 3:55:43 (1:13:38, 1:35:55, 1:06:03)
3 James Scott / Kobus De Vrye (Rivers) 4:07:36 (1:16:24, 1:42:02, 1:09:03)
Mixed
1 Rochelle Van Eck / Craig King (Health Hustlers) 4:30:30 (1:25:59, 1:53:03, 1:11:27)
2 Debra Barker / Torben Herridge (Team Blu) 5:24:52 (1:58:49, 2:06:20, 1:19:42)
Women
1 Pene Vogt / Sally Skewis (Sheffield Sprinters) 4:33:45 (1:20:56, 1:57:12, 1:15:36)
2 Bronwen Bowley / Lauren Patricia Hein (Trail Blazers) 5:57:44 (1:52:56, 2:29:36, 1:32:14)
3 Tanya Luttig / Cheryl Coetzee (Dirt Divas) 6:36:01 (2:17:20, 2:40:26, 1:38:09)
Solo
Men
1 James Close 3:04:22 (0:55:33, 1:12:00, 0:56:48)
2 Stuart Meyer 3:36:07 (1:08:03, 1:28:04, 1:00:00)
3 Gert Muller 3:43:59 (1:10:43, 1:30:03, 1:03:12)
Women
1 Kylie. Harborth 3:28:09 (1:03:30, 1:24:41, 0:59:57)
2 Sophie Bircher 3:47:02 (1:07:13, 1:36:44, 1:03:03)
3 Paula Dollman 4:13:52 (1:19:06, 1:44:46, 1:09:59)

TRAIL RUN: Full Distance
Men
1 Jacques Mare 2:42:45 (1:21:16, 1:21:28)
2 Juan Botsis 2:47:03 (1:22:34, 1:24:28)
3 John Macartan 2:53:38 (1:25:50, 1:27:47)
Women
1 Ingrid Koster 2:56:21 (1:27:21, 1:29:00)
2 Zoe Papadakis 3:09:20 (1:35:45, 1:33:34)
3 Frances Mccarthy 3:16:12 (1:38:20, 1:37:51)

TRAIL RUN: Lite
Men
1 Caleb Gould 1:25:06 (0:44:02, 0:41:03)
2 Ewan Mcallister 1:25:08 (0:44:02, 0:41:05)
3 Will Olivier 1:27:33 (0:45:04, 0:42:28)
Women
1 Fiona Sutton 1:37:56 (0:52:46, 0:45:10)
2 Mandy Waller 1:39:36 (0:52:57, 0:46:39)
3 Chanel Basson 1:40:02 (0:53:13, 0:46:49)

PHOTOS: Ant Grote & Andrew McFadden

North Coast Challenger MTB / Trail Run Stage Race - Holla Trails

15/04/2023