Seibeb and Steyn triumph at Klein Aus Vista Challenge

Raul Costa Seibeb and Irene Steyn were in a class of their own as they walked away with the overall victories in the elite men and women’s full marathon (70 kilometer) during the Klein-Aus Vista MTB Challenge last weekend respectively.

The race through the Aus Mountains in southern Namibia, marking the beginning of this years KIA MTB series, was spread out over two days.

The event was sponsored by Standard Bank, Kia Namibia, Maerua Superspar and Gondwana Collection. Nearly 100 cyclists from across the country took part.

During the first race day on Saturday, Seibeb made his intentions clear as he came in first in a time of 3:35:22, followed by Herbert Peters in 3:41:25.

On Sunday, Seibeb repeated his winning performance, clocking in at an almost identical 3:35:11. With a combined time of 7:10:33 hours, Seibeb celebrated another win in 2015. Peters had to settle for second place in a total time of 7:19:57.

In the women’s division, Steyn also posted an impressive victory. She already led the field (4:19:43) with a nearly 40 minute advantage on second-placed Hester Prins (4:59:00) after day one. The following day, Steyn continued where she left off, finishing the gruelling 70 km in 4:20:36 giving her a total time of 7:54:50. Prins eventually held on to the second overall place (9:57:10).

The sub-veteran men’s class was won by Philip Steyn (7:54:50), while Heino Windisch (8:06:19) and Heino Boois (10:57:32) had to settle for second and third places respectively.

Ian Grassow was the top rider in the men’s veteran class with a time of 8:10:40. Hilko Marschall (9:21:44) came in second and Steve Prinsloo (9:41:56) third.

In other action, the juniors also went head-to-head on a track that many consider to be the scenically most spectacular on the entire Namibian race calendar. Armin Schonmarz won the junior men’s half marathon (2 times 35 km) in 3:50:37. Alexander Miller followed in second (4:11:36) and Thomas Miller in third (4:30:25).

Meanwhile Anke Janik was victorious in the junior women’s race. She clocked in at 5:12:31 after the two days, leaving Lara Winterbach (5:35:37) and Desiree Erwig (6:17:17) behind her.

Overview of other results:

Master men (Full marathon):

1. Eckard Waldschmidt 


2. Herklaas Viljoen 


3. Frank Snyman 


Rhino men (Full marathon):

1. Sven Tegethoff 


2. Volker Engling 


3. Arne Stier 


Elite men (Half marathon):

1 Timon Kohli


2 Ben Saayman

3. Matheus Simon

Sub-Veteran men (Half marathon):

1. Haverinus Nakale 


2. Alejandro Martinez 


Sub-Veteran women (Half marathon):

1. Benita Kasch 


2. Thersia van Zyl 


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