Energizer Night Relay – what mist ?!
The question on everyone’s lips leading up to the Energizer Corporate Adventure Night Relay was: what if it rains ? That questioned was answered on Friday 9th October when, after a beautiful start to the day, the predicted cold front arrived in the afternoon and the infamous Hilton mists rolled into the green landscapes of Hilton College creating an eerie yet energized atmosphere as over six hundred athletes lined up with Energizer headlights a blazing for the fifth running of this unique event.
Ikhwezi AC (Khulelani Ngubane, Sandile Zuma, Lindelani Zuma and Sbonelo Duma) made their intentions clear from the start, setting a record split of 18min17sec on the first lap and continuing the cracking pace – in the dark and the mist over a testing trail run - with all their runners recording splits under 19min30sec to take the victory in a time of 1h15min29sec. Following nearly one minute thirty back were the Groundcover team (Xolani Mabida, Perfect Dlamini, Masende Nbele and Sboniso Sohela) with multisporters TriA4some (Lance Chapman, Andre Booyens, Aiden Nugent and Craig Carter-Brown) claiming third. The women’s category was won by ‘The Jeep Fillies’ (Jean Hackland, Kerry Koen, Abbie Adie and Hillary Pitchford) in an impressive time of 1h36.59, just outside the top ten overall while Team Jeep (Darren Goddard, Craig Turton, Sean Jones and Carry-Anne Smith) were winners of the Mixed category.
The conditions certainly added a new dimension to the mountain biking relay as riders faced slippery tracks, poor visibility and associated mechanicals. Leading the field were Team Jeep SA (Craig Paul and Brandon Davids) who broke the tape in 1h31min43sec. However, they were kept under pressure by the mixed team of Candice Neethling and James Reid (Mr Price / DCM chrome) who finished second overall less than three minutes back. Third place went to Team Jeep’s Matthew Goetsch and Per Lofstrand. Eszter Erdelyi Cluer and Amy-Jane Mundy (Team Jeep) took the honours in the women’s category.
Feedback from competitors was positive:
We as Team Palm Dune, would just like to thank everyone who put together last night’s night relay at Hilton. It is the first time we have ever done something like that and it was fabulous. (A definite ‘do again’ experience.) It was well organized and a really enjoyable evening.
Mary Dugmore
Just a quick note of thanks and well done to all who organized Friday evenings race. Organisation, and the whole event was really fantastic, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and can guarantee attending next year, we have to win it next time! Hopefully the weather will play along next year, but nevertheless a great evening overall.
I run many races, and go to many sporting events, and the organization and running of the event definitely ranks up there with the best of them.
Thank you to you and the team.
Craig Fry. Media & Communications Manager - Comrades Marathon Association
Far from dampening spirits, the organisers were amazed at the 98% arrival of the pre-entries (aside from the late entries submitted on the day) and the unbelievable vibe of everyone out there relishing the seemingly miserable conditions.
RESULTS – RUN Relay, Men’s Teams: Ikwezi AC 1h15.29, Ground Cover 1h16.58, Tri A 4 some 1h26.24. Women’s Teams: The Jeep Fillies 1h36.59, Pink Ladies 1h42.04, aQua Bodyworks 1h47.00. Mixed Teams: Jeep Mixed 2 1h27.29, Mr Price Mixed 1h36.54, Team Spunk 1h44.52.
MTB Relay, Men’s Teams: Team Jeep SA 1h31.43, Team Jeep 1h38.31, Jeep 41 1h46.50. Women’s Teams: Team Jeep Ladies 2h03.25, ChitChat 2h58.24, Benchwarmers 3h44.07. Mixed Teams: Mr Price / DCM chrome 1h34.40, Wsquared 2h06.26, aQua Bodyworks 2h10.10. |