Trailseeker race victory a career highlight for Venter

Janice Venter was elated to have won the women’s Trailseeker Series event in Wellington yesterday, her first elite win in a marathon race.

She won the 70km race comfortably, beating Lehane Oosthuizen into second place by just over eight minutes.

Venter said before the race that she would use the contest to gauge her fitness, but that she did not know what to expect.

“The feeling when I crossed the line was indescribable,” Venter told In the Bunch today. “I was so happy with myself and how my body reacted.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Winning this race was definitely a highlight for me as it was my first win as an elite, so it will be a great confidence-booster going forward.

“I went into the race wanting to give my best and I’m glad my best was good enough.”

She said the race got off to a fast start which was “perfect” in order to set the pace.

“It was the perfect pace for keeping some of the riders on our tail,” she said. “Then after about 10km three other riders and I managed to break away.”

She noticed her breakaway companions were taking some strain at the 30km mark but decided to maintain her pace.

“I knew there was still a while to go [until the finish]. The last few kilometres were quite brutal, but knowing by then that I was able to win helped me move forward and push on.

“I then went even faster, while having [up till then] kept a steady pace and stuck to my game plan. I’m glad it paid off.”

After winning with relative ease in the end, Venter admitted she would have liked to see the likes of Robyn de Groot, Amy McDougall and Candice Lill taking part in order for her properly to gauge her form.

However, the SCOTT Sports ambassador thoroughly enjoyed the route.

“The organisers did a fantastic job in selecting the perfect route. I will definitely say I loved the single-track.

“The route, and the race, were spectacular as a whole.”