The obstacle racing craze that has taken South Africa by storm is proving to be much more than a flash in the pan.

At the forefront of this drive is the Jeep Warrior Race with its eight events across the country. The event boasts up to 9000 participants per weekend, with the most recent held in KZN.

Local lass Natalia van der Merwe finished seventh overall and fifth in her age category in the toughest race style, ‘Black Ops Elite’, in what has been described as South Africa’s toughest race.

Talking about the race, she highlighted the difference to other races she has taken part in. “Black-Ops elite involves a lot more upper-body obstacles throughout the race, plus more obstacles than normal, 30 of them in a 16km race,” she explained. “It is way more intense than races I have done before.”

Doing the ‘Black Ops Elite’ category makes this local lass one tough cookie.

The growing media interest and coverage surrounding the events, combined with some serious prize money, has sparked a more professional approach to the sharp end of the race.

Professional athletes building seasons and even careers in obstacle racing aren’t only after the R100,000 prize purse for the grand finale or even driving a Jeep till the next event, but also the honour of representing South Africa at the Obstacle Racing World Championships.

In 2014, the Jeep Warrior Race sent its top athletes to compete and achieved some excellent results. This year will interesting, with an even stronger field and to top it off, the Warrior Company is in talks with organisers to potentially host OCR World Champs in South Africa in the near future.

But for Natalia, it is about testing herself and enjoying the race with her husband, Marnus, as a family.

What makes the Jeep Warrior Races so unique is that absolutely anyone can participate. “All you need is a pair of tekkies”, Fritz Pienaar, Warrior Company director, commented. “We have various options for various fitness levels, ranging from Black Ops for the hardcore to Commando for intermediate and Rookie for beginners,” Pienaar added. The addition of a Bratz event for the kids, which boasts child-minding facilities, makes the events even more attractive to entire families.

Last year’s race in video – to give you some idea on how tough the race is…