The mid-South Coast hub of Scottburgh recently hosted a successful bumper weekend of the 2022 Sappi Scottburgh MTB and Trail Weekend.The runners and riders used the same network of trails, starting and finishing at the Scottburgh main beach.
It was a successful debut for Stuart Marais who won the MTB coveted 40 kilometres overall marathon title while Hayley Smith won the women’s race.
Despite having a challenge with his bearings which made his race more difficult, Marais showed his class to fight back and win the overall title by over a minute. “There were two of us that got away early and then we took a major wrong turn.The marshal told us to rejoin the course and when we got back on track we were miles behind,”said Marais.
Marais added that the experience was amazing despite a number of mistakes that he made during the race.
“I took another wrong turn which lead to the other participants catching up. Leading to the finish lane I eventually managed to get ahead and my focus was on finishing the race ahead,” Marais added.
Despite the mistakes along the route, Marais was full of praise for the trails that were prepared for this year’s event.
