Winning ways for Bluff warrior
The winning warrior says she’s had a lot of support from her family who all enjoy sport.
BORN and bred Bluffite Jet’aime Ribbink excelled at a Warrior race held at Hakahana trails Gauteng on 2 and 3 May.
Ribbink was the first woman to finish the race and placed 18th overall out of 82 Black Ops Elite competitors.
Delighted with her victory and her prize Ribbink said: “I finally got to drive home the Jeep.”
The 37-year-old says she started the sport by accident in June 2013. “I had just come back from IFBB world champs in Poland. I wanted to do something a bit different. And get away from the usual indoor gym session. I liked trail running, I was looking for some trail races when I came across ‘The Warrior Race’ and entered. I had no clue what I was getting myself into,” she said.
The ex-Grosvenor Girls High School pupil says obstacle racing requires discipline. “You need to be training for several different variables at any given time. What I love most about obstacle racing and in particular Warrior is that it is one big family. It attracts all levels of fitness, ages, gender and race. There is no discrimination,” she said.
The obstacle race enthusiast’s recent victory is even sweeter as it’s taken her 12 months to get back on to the podium. While competing in a Warrior Race in March last year, the athlete injured her shoulder. “I dislocated my shoulder on the ‘Wall of China’. I popped it back in and continued with the course, not realising the amount of damage I had done,” she said.
The winning warrior says she’s had a lot of support from her family who all enjoy sport. “They all understand why I love to do what I do, they understand my passion, and they have all contributed to my success. We all value and understand health and fitness,” she said.
This year Ribbink placed second in Jeep Warrior 1 and 2, dropped out of Warrior 3 due to an asthma attack. She now has Warrior 5 in her sights which will be held in Ballito in July. Thereafter she plans to tackle the Bear Grylls Elite Survival Race in London and and the Obstacle Course Racing World Champs in Cincinnati, USA in October.
