Runners(majority Nedbank members) vs Cyclists – They did it for St Vincent School for the Deaf
The Challenge : 503 km in 50 Hours!
ELB is proud to announce that “The ELB Extreme Road Challenge” was a huge success with all teams completing the epic journey in record time. ELB employees, and invited friends from the general industry got together for the inaugural ELB Extreme Road Challenge when 25 Runners of which the majority was from the Nedbank Running Club challenged 30 Cyclists over 503 km, to raise much needed funds for St Vincent School for the Deaf.
ELB’s Extreme Road Challenge kicked off early on the morning of 8 October 2014. 30 Cyclists arrived at ELB Engineering premises, to load bikes, check gear and proceed by bus to the start at Stone-haven on Vaal. Two sporting legends, being Malcolm Lange and Nick Bester were part of the cycling squad and the pressure to perform was heavy on the weekend riders! A moving tribute was held to remember a cycling team member and friend, Louis Du Preez, who failed to recover from the Comrades Marathon 2014, and could not join us for this challenge.
The route for the Cyclists was slightly different from the Runners, due to road works. The Cyclists rode from Stone-haven to Reitz, on day 1. Day 2 was from Reitz to Bethlehem, Clarens, then Golden Gate to Oliviershoek Pass. Day 3 was Oliviershoek Pass to Mooi River, and Day 4 was Mooi River to Pietermaritzburg. Finally as a bonus, the riders did the Amashova to Durban.
The Runners started at Stone-haven on Vaal, then on to Heilbron, Petrus Steyn, Reitz, Kestell, Little Switzerland, Bergville, Winterton, Estcourt, Mooi River, Notingham Road, Howick, finishing at the Tsogo Sun Golden Horse Hotel in Pietermaritzburg, totalling a distance of 503km, aiming to break 50 hours.
At 08:00 the journey started for the Cyclists, they were off and on their way to Reitz. The conditions were harsh! Extreme heat of 36 degrees and strong cross winds set the tone for the trip.
A 24km/hr average was eventually maintained, but with a huge effort. Eventually the riders arrived in Reitz, where they were treated to a nice warm shower, hot meal and comfortable bed, recharging their batteries for the next leg from Reitz to Drakensville. Unlike the Runners who only got one opportunity at Little Switzerland to have the luxury of a hot shower. The Cyclists did not have the luxury of regular stops and change over’s like the relay Runners, however they knew that at the end of each day, they could re-gather their strength and enjoy a few cold drinks.
Early Thursday morning, 9 October 2014, 25 Runners and their support teams arrived at ELB Engineering Services. Many of them Comrades and Washie medal holders, went about packing their gear and discussing their different strategies for the 503km challenge that lay ahead of them. Apprehension was in the air!
It was going to be a race within a race, as the 5 Running teams (5 Runners per relay team) were ready to embark on the challenge. With names like Team Fit, Run like a Girl (Our Ladies Team), Team Scud, Team-WTF? (Where’s The Finish?), and Modern Athlete, we knew we were in for exciting times.
At 10:00 on Thursday, the Runners were off and right away the ladies team “Run like a Girl” took off and left the other teams behind, the race was on.
For all our Runners, Cyclists and Support Teams, the overall conditions were far from perfect, weather conditions varied from extremely hot during day time, to icy cold at night, with a blustery head-wind. The dedication, determination, passion and “vasbyt” shown by the Runners and Cyclists were of the highest order.
Runners had to each run 100km to make up the 503km, and through the pain, guts and glory a warm cup of milo and coffee was an added bonus.
During day 2, the cyclist supporters, handed out sweet hampers to the under privileged kids in the Estcourt area. This small gesture was well received and appreciated by the kids.
Lots of planning and organisation went into successfully arranging this event and we are extremely grateful that everyone returned safe and sound. Keeping our Cyclists and Runners safe on the roads was our first priority and we thank everyone for their cooperation in this regard.
So many people and organisations contributed to the success of our inaugural ELB Extreme Challenge. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them; Traffic Departments in the different regions, medic support, our Sponsors and Supporters.
We also thank Poelanies Guesthouse in Reitz, Hlalanati Lodge, Little Switzerland, Stay Easy and Tsogo Sun Golden Horse for your kindness in accommodating our athletes and support teams.
St Vincent School for the Deaf is close to our hearts and the commitment from our friends in business, towards this great cause, was heart-warming. The community at large can be proud of their support contributions in making a difference to a child’s life.
After many gruelling kilometres it was amazingly close as to who won the competition.
The first running team home did the journey in 2430 minutes, whilst the cycling peloton of 20 riders took, 2457 minutes. So at the end of the epic + 500km journey, the difference was only 27 minutes which separated Runner from Cyclist!
What an amazing effort by all members of the challenge. The winners floating trophy went to “Team Fit”. Congratulations to Team Fit’s Wolfran Rennie Abbot, Collen Gibbs, Avril Barkhuysen, Jaco de Jager, Pieter Swanepoel, the Team Manager-Michael Atkins and Team Fit’s-Support Team, your strategy worked well. The Cyclists came second, 27 minutes after Team Fit, followed by Run Like a Girl, Team Scud, Team WTF and last but not least, Team Modern Athlete.
On Saturday evening, a prestigious prize giving dinner was held at the Tsogo Sun Golden Horse Hotel, where the ELB Engineering Group CEO, Dr Stephen Meijers (Himself a Runner) thanked all supporters and contestants for their efforts.
So where to from here? The interest shown has been overwhelming for a follow up challenge next year. Team Fit is also ready to defend their floating trophy and of course the Cyclists would like to change their second place into a 2015 win. ELB looks forward to arranging a bigger and better ELB Extreme Road Challenge next year. Let’s keep doing it for St Vincent School for the Deaf!
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will”. Mahatma Gandhi