Munnik Meerkat boasts record number of entries

Despite the cold and wet weather, this year’s Munnik Meerkat Mountain Bike Race on Saturday, 22 March, attracted a record number of almost 600 entries.

The event is annually hosted by the Munnik Farmers Association, in conjunction with the P&L Cycling Club, with the 70 km and 35 km races serving as Limpopo-colours qualifiers. Year after year, this race is growing in popularity, as is evident in the annual increase in entries, and once again it lived up to expectations as being one of the most enjoyable MTB races on the provincial sporting calendar.

In the gruelling 70 km race, 75 cyclists managed to complete the event. In the men’s category, Alan Gordon cycled home in first place in a respectable time of 02:42:37. His time was just more than two minutes quicker than that of his nearest rival, Mario Ferreira, who finished second in 02:44:58. It was, however, a sprint to the finish for Ferreira with a mere second separating him and Eddy Texeira, who finished third in 02:44:59. Texeira boasted a second place in last year’s race, but with a much slower time of 02:51:06.

In the women’s race there was no contest for first place with Melanie Melville crossing the finishing line in first place in a time of 03:17:27. Louwrina Dando came in six minutes later in second place in a time of 03:23:44, with Dorothy Rood cycling home in third place in a time of 03:39:10. Rood also boasted a third place in last year’s race.

The 35 km race saw the largest number of entries of close to 350 cyclists entering and 323 finally completing the race. The men’s race was dominated by the youngsters with first, second and third place going to high school students. Few will forget local star cyclist CP van Wyk’s impressive winning time of 01:14:49 last year. He has since turned pro and moved to Stellenbosch where he is studying. This year’s race saw that record being shattered by almost two minutes, with a Louis Trichardt  High School student, 16-year-old Kombo Bere, winning the race in a blistering 01:12:33. Fellow team mate Marco Roets (18) took second place in a time of 01:14:54, with Gustav van Veyeren (17) in third place in a time of 01:18:14.

In the women’s 35 km race, last year’s winner Robyn Cronjé was back to defend her title. This year, however, she only managed a third place in a time of 01:33:37. Top honours this year went to Ashley Murray, who completed the course in a winning time of 01:28:39. It was also a sprint to the finish for Ashley, with a mere second separating her and Soretha Lubbe, who finished in a time of 01:28:40 in second place.

The 10 km fun ride proved popular as every, attracting 120 entries. The men’s race was won by 14-year-old Johann Bezuidenhout in a time of 00:34:27, with seven-year-old Chante van Wyngaardt winning the women’s section in a time of 00:39:14.

Sport - Date: 28 March 2014

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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