Pennypinchers Adventure Racing Team 2013
The year of 2013 is done and dusted. As a
Team we have had a real roller coaster of a year- highs of great results,
mother hood for one team member and the happy faces of people finishing our
events and as always lows, races that did not go our way, injuries and
disappointments. All these things go into the bank of experience and this is
one of our biggest assets as a Team. We know what needs to be done when and
how.
Summary
of 2013
January
2013:
Attakwas Extreme Mountain Bike Race 135km.
Jeff flies the flag and does well in his 5th Attakwas MTB Race considered the
toughest single day MTB ride in the country. Training began in earnest for
Expedition Africa 2013. Garth takes part in the annual Surfers Marathon in East
London and knocks a few minutes off his PB after getting a seeded start which
is a big help in this race.
February
2013:
The
month flew past with the Garden Route members (James, Netski and Jeff training
in the Knysna Forests and preparing the trails at Cairnbrogie for the Easter
Trail Run. We all meet at the Allermans Kraal Dam in the Free State for the
Double Moon Adventure Race (250km). After a really hot and interesting race we
finish a good second behind the Red Ants.
March/April
2013: March becomes a busy month with everyone
training and getting into organizing the inaugural Pennypinchers Adventure
Weekend scheduled to be part of the Discovery Plett Easter Games.
Good Friday 2013: The first Pennypinchers
Adventure Weekend. The Team organizes three events as part of the Discovery
Plett Easter Games. The Cairnbrogie Easter Trail Run starts the weekend off.
The weather is challenging to say the least with rain and wind keeping a few people
at home. . Of these the kids with special needs from the Sterreweg Day Care
Centre had their own route around the farm yard and past the claves. An amazing
experience for them all. We still have a great morning with about 200 runners
pitching up in all shapes and sizes. As the last runner crossed the line the
Team set about setting up the route for the first Mountain Bike Night relay to
be held at Cairnbrogie. 50 cyclists braved the single track route and had a
ball. We expect huge growth in this event. We donated R4000-00 to the Robberg
Coastal Corridor Conservation effort from the proceeds of the Cairnbrogie runs
and ride. We also had a great community
input with cakes, cool drinks and home bakes from the Griekwa Ladies
Organization.
Saturday morning saw us setting up for the
Pennypinchers Easter Surf ski Challenge at Central Beach in Plettenberg Bay.
The wind was pumping and the sea was on its head but the paddlers headed out
and Dawid Mocke and Michelle Eray claimed honors in a tough lap course around
the bay. From this we donate R2000-00 to the NSRI for their help on the day.
The weekend was a huge success despite the
weather not playing along for any of the events. 2014 looks to be bigger and
better.
May
2013
Expedition Africa. 500km expedition Adventure
Race. We travelled Mount Aux Sources for our third Expedition Africa. We went
in with a new girl due to stalwart Jeannette Wylie being pregnant and unable to
take part. The route, the teams present, everything about the race was going to
be tough, challenging and a once in a life time experience. For the Team it
proved to be one of our most challenging races as we never really got going and
were of the race pace very early on and never made up that time later on. It
was frustrating but I feel we all learned valuable lessons on the way and have
built more into the experience bank. We finished a disappointing 16th
but finished as a full team and that was one of our objectives.
June
2013
Jeff took on the Comrades and James was
supposed to join him. James decided that it was too soon after Expedition
Africa (two weeks) so did not go. Jeff was forced to bail in the hottest and
toughest Comrades to date. Our replacement girl Helena Ferreira had a good
Comrades despite only having two weeks to recover.
July
2013
Jeff takes part in the Knysna Oyster
Festival big 5 competition (taking part in 5 of the festival events in 8 days).
James ran the Full Marathon and joined Adrian Saffy who was on a Cancer Fund
Raising run and supported him taking pictures of his 20 press ups every 5km.
James takes part in the X-Lakes with junior cyclist Amy Williams, they finish
second in the mixed pairs category. At the end of July James and Jeff travel to
Lady Grey for the Winter Wartrail. 250km staged Adventure Race. After taking on
icy windy conditions James finishes 5th and Jeff 7th.
Good results all round
September
2013
The Team organizes its first Nite Run in
the Harkerville Forest... The event attracts a field of 63 runners who once
again braved the high winds and forecasted rain to attend. The run was a huge
success and we plan to have a Nite Series in 2014.
October
2013
Eden Duo (165km multisport. Garth and James
both picked up injuries in September and early October so it was up to Jeff to
carry the flag. He teamed up with Knysna based Svelka Sharpe . James seconds
the two as they have a tough day around George and Wilderness
November
2013 With Garth and James still injured Jeff headed
to the Sky Run. Once again the weather gods turned it on and the race had to be
called off after 65km as the conditions on the mountain tops become out of
control. Jeff was comfortable up till then but all the athletes will have that
thought of what if I had carried on.
December
2013
Kurland Summer Trail. We attract 100
Runners. GU and Pennypinchers brand the finish area. Donate R1500-00 to mind
the Gap Foundation (Crags based charity) and employ members of the Kurland
Neighborhood watch as marshals. The 21km new route is won by top trail runner
Kane Riley.
Jeannette gives birth to a daughter Amber
on the 9th of December.
The
Blog.
The blog continues to be well supported and
the face book page allows us to do live posting to the web from our phones
while we are at a race. The blog now tops over 14700 views despite it not being
as active as the Face Book Page. The Face Book page has become our main source
of media and has got a great following and during the Easter weekend we had
thousands of page views as we updated information for the races etc.
2014
With the whole Team being together over the
weekend of the Kurland Trail Run we were able to work out our main objectives
for 2014 and work out the best possible way of achieving these goals .
From an event point of view it was decided
that we would all continue to compete in as many local races as we can in terms
of trail running, mountain biking and canoeing as well as any multi sport
events that may occur. (Most of these dates and calendars are not finalized for
2014 yet).
The main focus of the Team for the first 6
months of this year will be The Expedition Africa 500km Race to be held in June
2014. In the Transkei .James, Jeff, Garth have decided to 100 % commit
themselves to this race and have in fact already entered.
The
reasons are as follows
1)
The race is now sanctioned by
the World Adventure Race Series and will attract quite a few overseas teams
,giving us the opportunity to compete against these teams.
2)
The race will be held in
Transkei an area that we have a big advantage with due to local knowledge and
language use
3)
It is the biggest race in the
country and all the top South African Teams will be there
4)
It is a true adventure race and
that is what we do
5)
We have got unfinished business
from last years race
6)
We have an opportunity to race
against numerous overseas teams
With this in mind we have plotted a route
that will include the local trail runs and mountain bike races and the Double
Moon 250km Adventure Race as build up. With Jeanette still not in the running
we have been we have got some great potential girls in the mix and are looking
forward to that challenge. The second six months of the year will include the
Trans Baavians, The Eden Duo and the Salomon Sky Run as key events.
Event
Organizing
This extra arrow to our quiver is turning
out to be really successful. This last year we hosted 2 trail runs with a total
of just under 400 runners taking part. The aim was to host a family fun filled
day with a choice of routes for everyone to enjoy, young and old. The addition
of a Niter Run was great to give people a glimpse of what our sport is about.
This year we will once again organize 7 events. Over Easter we will host the
Cairnbrogie Easter Trail Run, mountain bike relay and Easter Surf ski Challenge
and expect huge growth from this. We also plan to have a series of three Nite
Runs on the Garden Route. At the end of the year we will once again hold the
Kurland Summer Trail Run
These events have three objectives
1)
To create an awareness and
promote our sponsors using, branding ,media and a quality event
2)
To raise some funds for a local
charity close to the event venue
3)
To promote the Pennypinchers
Adventure Racing Team brand
4)
To introduce and show case the
world of adventure type sports to the Garden Route which is already becoming
known as the Adventure Sport Capital of South Africa.
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