Looser and Miller defend national marathon championship
2023 Nedbank Namibia National XCM Championship
Vera Looser and Alex Miller are once again the national champions in the UCI cross-country marathon elite categories.Saturday’s 2023 Nedbank Namibia national XCM championship saw the pair take on the 60 km route at IJG Trails Farm Windhoek in Kleine Kuppe.
Miller finished in a brilliant time of 02:16:31 to retain the title he won in a sprint finish against Tristan de Lange last year – this time by a more comfortable 14 minutes ahead of Xavier Papo, with Simon Kaita third.
Looser also delivered an outstanding performance with a time of 02:45:12 to beat Anri Krugel by five minutes, with Nicola Fester third.
The elite winners earned valuable UCI world ranking points. Additionally, they received Namibian national champion jerseys in which they will represent their country in international competitions.
On claiming the coveted title once again, Miller said: “I am very happy to have won and defended the title. It’s always an honour to get to represent my country in international competitions. I can’t wait for next year as it will be a big year.
“For now, I will be putting in the work for the off-season, making sure the body is strong for next year.”
Looser said: “Despite not having proper form at the moment, as I broke my hand five weeks ago, it was a good race. I am really happy to get the jersey and look forward to represent the country in Europe again next year.”
First-ever e-bike winners
The newly introduced Nedbank Namibia national marathon championship for e-bikes saw Christine Steinfurth and Frank Klosta claim the overall titles for the elite women and elite men, respectively.
The pair set the benchmark over 60 km as Klosta won in 02:12:36, while Steinfurth’s time was 02:44:51.
Klosta, who was one minute ahead of André Steinfurth, said: “This is my first time racing here on the farm. It was quite fun, and the weather was very nice today. Next year I want to compete again and win the championship.”
Age groups
The sub-veteran women’s category saw Mimi Hough claim the overall title, with Petrus Human going with the men’s title.
Other title winners were Irene Steyn (veteran women), Vernon Maresch (veteran men), Elanor Grassow (masters women), Carolin Janik (grandmaster women), Hans du Toit (masters men) and Eckhard Waldschmidt (grandmaster men).
Junior winners
The 38 km national championship half-marathon route saw Eden Spangenberg and Kevin Lowe claim the overall titles for women and men, respectively.
Spangenberg won in 02:15:50, while Lowe (01:22:42) was more than a minute ahead of Theuns van der Westhuizen.
Lowe commented: “I am really stoked about winning the junior championship. There were three national championships up for grabs this year and I am very happy to have claimed them all. I am very happy with my season thus far.”
In the U16 category, promising Delsia van Vuuren and Roger Surén added to their title collections.
Anne Cramer and Julius Braun came off best in the U14 race, while the U12 category saw Qara Volschenk and Micah Chase take the spoils.