Michaelis Challenge a monumental success

The Michaelis Challenge took place over the weekend of November 22 and was a fantastic, well supported event for Vryheid.

A big thank you to the main sponsor McCarthy Inyanga. The event was truly something for the whole family. We were blessed with a lovely day with ideal weather for the athletes. Thank you so much to everyone that participated and made this event such a huge success.

Over 120 people participated in the 5km Fun Run/Walk and over 70 participants either walked or ran the 10km Trail Run, which took athletes around the dam. 42 athletes participated in the 20km Forest Trail Run, running through beautiful pine plantations on ‘mountain bike’ single tracks and running the famous and very special “krans” route. As the 20km run athletes started returning, over 120 mountain bikers lined up for either the 20km or 50km mountain bike route.

There was also a 10km Fun Bike Ride which was well supported and provided an opportunity for the very young and budding little athletes to take on the beautiful scenic route around the dam. We also had a 350m and 700m swim this year, which we hope will grow into a well supported part of the event as well. Thank you to our local Vryheid Swimming Club for their support.

Congratulations to local mountain biker Zauco “Norris’ van den Berg, who fought an epic battle against Klaas Meintjies from Dundee, beating him to the finish of the 50km MTB and Sandra Haywood, the ladies’ winner of the 50km MTB, successfully defending her title.

The men’s and women’s division of the 20km MTB was also won by local athletes, Riaan Swanepoel and his wife, Lize Swanepoel. Congratulations to Bongani Msimango (Nedbank Club, Vryheid) for taking first place in the 20km Forest run and Ingrid van Niekerk (Vryheid Athletics Club) for taking third place in the Senior women’s division in the 20km run.

Please join our facebook page “Michaelis Challenge” to view the photos and tag yourself and your friends. More local running results are available elsewhere in the paper and on our website www.michaelis-challenge.co.za.

There are so many people that we would like to thank, especially the Vryheid Boating Club for providing such a fantastic, neat venue. We were proud to host our event in such beautiful surroundings. Thank you for providing tasty, fresh food, served with a smile.

Thank you to our many sponsors: McCarthy Inyanga; BMG; Pannar; Odendaal Boerdery; Omnia; Zululand Water; WSSA; CBE Technicians; Plumber Boyz; Shelhein Farms; Ingrid Kusel Physiotherapy; GJ Vonkeman Attorneys; Vrypet; Sparrow Computers; Remedia Pharmacy; Ashila; Ossies; MTN; Ernst Cloete and Associates; Spur; Promo Direct; Bivane Dam; Total Select and aQuelle.

Thank you to Empire Dairies for the cold water and juices on the day. We would also like to thank the farmers: Hagen Gevers; Horst Hellberg; Ryan Volker; Des Lemmon-Warde; NCT Forestry and Paul Pannaver for allowing us to take our routes through their farms.

We would also like to give a special thank you to Jacques Odendaal and his team of workers who build, add on and clear our routes for us every year.

As one mountain bike athlete said, our routes compare to Karkloof in Pietermaritzburg. Wow!

Many thanks to our waterpoints: Mascor; Total Select; Ernest Cloete; PG Glass; Bundu Outdoor; Farmtrac and Protea Tyres.

The parents of The Michaelis School are proud to host this event every year and we thank all the athletes for their support.