XTERRA South Africa to hit Grabouw

The final leg of the gruelling Totalsports XTERRA SA Series, presented by Nissan and Due South, will hit Grabouw on Saturday, 25 March 2006 in the form of the XTERRA South Africa Championship.

South Africa's top triathletes have been competing for the title of XTERRA champion since December 2005 when the series kicked off in Richard's Bay, KwaZulu Natal.  Athletes chasing the coveted title of XTERRA series champion needed to participate in at least three of the four events with the Grabouw event compulsory.    

Renowned for its A-grade mountain bike leg and challenging trail run, athletes can look forward to experiencing the true spirit of XTERRA in Grabouw.  Lieuwe Boonstra is the hot favorite to take the individual men's title, while Michelle Lombardi is considered the top contender for the individual women's title.

This will be the first time since the start of the series last December that South African athletes will have the opportunity to test their mettle against their international counterparts.  To date, the overseas entries include two athletes from Switzerland, Othmar Bruegger (44) and Sibylle Matter (32), one athlete from Holland, Royce Kortekaas (29), one athlete from Finland, Riika Kelja (37) and one athlete from Germany, Nico Pfitzenmaier (34).  "All these athletes have impressive track records and it will be very interesting to see how South Africa's best match up.  This is a great opportunity for South African athletes to showcase their talents against international rivals and I'm confident that this battle will make the event even more exciting," says Dezroy Poole, event organizer of Totalsports XTERRA South Africa.

Events include the XTERRA off-road triathlon (1.5 km swim / 32 km bike ride / 12 km run), individual disciplines like the New Balance XTERRA Scramble (12km) and Swim (750 m or 1500 m), and XTERRA Kids (200 m swim/ 5 km bike ride/ 1 km run).    Athletes will also be able to participate as a team in the Totalsports XTERRA team event.  This event forms an exhilarating part of the excitement as teams of three are allowed to battle it out over the three disciplines, namely a 1.5km swim, a 30km mountain bike or 10-11km run.  The onus lies on the team to decide which member will take part in which discipline.  This allows participants to form reasonably strong teams as a strong swimmer, an extreme mountain biker and a strong athlete join forces.  

This event forms part of the XTERRA GLOBAL TOUR, which consists of a series of 90 events held in 14 countries around the world.  Athletes participating in the national championships stand the chance to qualify for the Nissan Xterra World Championship in Maui, Hawaii.  

For more information on dates, events or to enter on-line, please visit www.xterrasa.com or contact Top Events at 021 511 7130.

© 2013 TEAM Unlimited LLC