Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 98, September 2017 | Page 37
3 ELB EXTREME ROAD
CHALLENGE – THE RACE IS ON!
rd
The 2017 ELB Extreme Road Challenge will take place in Lesotho,
so come join us for a 408km race between runners and cyclists.
E
LB Engineering is hosting the 3rd ELB Extreme Road Challenge to raise
awareness for the deaf community and to assist the St Vincent School
for the Deaf raise the much-needed funds required to meet the needs
of its learners.
The ELB Extreme Road Challenge had humble beginnings some six years ago
when a few ELB cyclists and their buddies would ride down to Pietermaritzburg
each year and then take part in the Amashova. In 2014, Dr Stephen Meijers, the
CEO of ELB, decided to challenge these cyclists by including some long distance
runners in the mix, and so the ELB Extreme Road Challenge was born.
This year ELB was determined to step it up a notch by tackling the unforgiving
terrain of the Lesotho Highlands. The new route will see a peloton of die-hard
cyclists take on the toughness of experienced runners in the ELB Extreme Road
Challenge Lesotho from 19 to 22 October 2017.
TAKING ON THE HIGHLANDS
The 408km route will start at the Basotho Cultural Village in Golden Gate
National Park, pass Clarens and cross into Lesotho near Ficksburg, then up
to Katse Dam before heading up to the finish at Afriski Mountain Resort. The
cyclists and runners will aim to determine once and for all who is the fastest
over the route of 408 kilometres.
For the challenge, the cyclists will be broken into teams of five cyclists who
will each compete not only against each other, but also against teams of five
runners. So that the athletes arrive at the finish at more-or-less the same time,
the runners complete the distance in a non-stop relay format with one runner
per team on the road at all times. Each runner is expected to run at least 70
kilometres.
Meanwhile, the cyclists take on the distance in three stages, with overnight
stops at Ficksburg and Katse Dam Lodge. The first stage from Golden Gate
National Park to Ficksburg is 126km long. Stage two is a 156km journey through
the Lesotho Mountains and ends at Katse Dam Lodge, and the third stage of
126km includes a 45km gravel road section, which will present the cycling teams
with another challenge, deciding whether to continue on their road bikes or to
switch to mountain bikes for that stretch.
UNIQUE CHALLENGE
During the previous two ELB Extreme Road Challenges, which saw runners and
cyclists compete on the roads between Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg,
a running team won in 2014 and a cycling team won in 2015. In both cases,
the first running and cycling teams finished within 10 minutes of each other,
showing that the formula for determining the overall winner is fair for both
sporting codes.
Each cyclist is encouraged to raise R4000 and each runner R3200 as their
personal entry fee, and the proceeds of the event will go directly to St
Vincent School for the Deaf. The school was established in 1934 and today
accommodates learners in its pre-school, primary school and high school,
as well as the Vocational Training Centre, and there is also a Special Needs
Programme to assist learners with severe learning disabilities. This educational
institution requires a far higher level of teacher support per pupil than schools
for children without disabilities, and the aim of the ELB Extreme Road Challenge
is to support and create public awareness of the special needs for all St Vincent
pupils.
BE PART OF THE ELB CHALLENGE
There are still entry slots available, both for team and individual athletes, and
there are also a number of sponsorship opportunities available, including
an overall sponsorship of the event and advertising opportunities on event
clothing, trophies, branding at the start of the event, the medical support and
their vehicles, goodie bags for the athletes, as well as monetary contributions to
the event and to St Vincent School for the Dea f.
To enter the Challenge, make a donation or to become a sponsor, contact Danielle Djurdjevic on
011 772 1570 or [email protected]. More info at www.facebook.com/ELBextremechallenge
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