Ballito to host Jeep Warrior #4 this weekend

Jeep Warrior Photo: Zoon Cronje

15 JULY 2016, DURBAN – This weekend, get to the KZN North Coast for Round 4 of South Africa’s biggest obstacle course race, the Jeep Warrior Series, which is taking place at Sugar Rush Park in Ballito from 16 – 17 July 2016.

This will be the second year that Sugar Rush is hosting a Jeep Warrior OCR. Sugar Rush is a beautiful venue set on a sugar cane estate, and the perfect place to host a spectator-friendly Jeep Warrior Race due to the nearby forest, single track, wide open spaces, and lots of jeep track to play on.

Says Jonathan Hart, Advendurance event organiser and Jeep Warrior Series Course Designer, “Warriors taking part in Race 4 in Ballito this weekend will be able to look forward to slightly warmer weather than Gauteng’s Warrior OCR. The team has been working flat out over the last few weeks to build an exhilarating course complete with new obstacles that will be unveiled on race day. Sugar Rush is an awesome venue, especially for spectators. There’s lots of wide open space and the sun is almost always shining in this part of South Africa. Bring on the weekend!”

Participants can look forward to a day of climbing, crawling, hanging and jumping as they attempt to take on some of the Gauteng favourites, which have been tweaked here and there, such as the 6m high Mamba obstacle that involves climbing to the top then sliding down half way then free-falling the rest of the way.

The even-higher Tower of Rage is not for the faint-hearted. Participants climb all the way to the top of this monster and then jump into a large dam of water. Not forgetting the old favourite, Xtreme Monkey, which is a sequence of monkey bars in different sizes and positions involving massive upper body strength and quick thinking.

The Pit is another favourite brought over from Gauteng, with a little tweak, and consists of a large hole in the ground surrounded by a mud mound with ropes hanging into the pit. Participant have to drag themselves out from the mud pit and over the mound using the ropes.

Last but not least, warriors need to get through the Power Rings. These steel rings are ‘seemingly’ scattered whereby participants have to move between each steel ring using only their hands. Between each steel ring there is a vertical bar, which they need to use to alter their grip to the next ring. Each obstacle is a test of strength, skill and sheer determination.

In an exciting development for obstacle course racing in South Africa, the Jeep Warrior Series has announced a partnership with Reebok that sees the global leader in OCR gear come on board as the series’ official apparel sponsor.

Reebok are international pioneers of professional OCR gear, having designed the world’s first OCR specific shoes – the All-Terrain Series. The new official Jeep Warrior gear will be on sale at Sugar Rush, as well as online and in store.

Reebok will also be sponsoring a new Jeep Warrior Series obstacle, which will be unveiled at Sugar Rush on Saturday.

With a grand prize purse of R100 000 up for grabs at the end of this year, competition in the pro-level Black Ops Elite race is sure to be fierce heading into Race 4, which also marks the half way point of the eight-race series. Black Ops Elite presents the toughest of courses, set over 15 – 20 km with 30 obstacles, and matching world OCR standards.

Currently, 2013 Jeep Warrior Series winner, Michael Joubert, tops the men’s Black Ops Elite leaderboard with 11 032 points. Joubert has performed consistently well over the 2016 series, placing 2^nd in Race 1, 5^th in Race 2 and 1^st in Race 3.

Jeep Team’s Thomas van Tonder is second, with 10 873 points, after winning Race 1, placing 2^nd in Race 2 and finishing  5^th in Race 3. With 10 282 points, Greg Avierinos is 3^rd Male overall.

Says Van Tonder, “For me, Jeep Warrior in Ballito is the one to win. Last year, I came 4^th here so I’m really looking to improve on that position, especially considering it’s the halfway point in the series. I’ve been racing mostly in Gauteng this past month, so I’m also really looking forward to some warmer weather on the weekend! Good luck to all the competitors taking part – it’s going to be fierce.”

In the Women’s Black Ops Elite standings, Trish Bahlmann heads the leaderboard with 9 919 points. Bahlmann won Race 1, finished 3^rd in Race 2 and placed 4^th in Race 3. With 8 680 points, Dominique D’Oliveira is 2^nd overall, followed by Hanneke Dannhauser in 3^rd with 8 000 points. Jeep Team’s Carina Marx is in 4^th with 7 035 points.

A less-challenging alternative to the extreme Black Ops course is Warrior Commando, which covers 10 – 14km with 15 obstacles. This course is the perfect team-building experience for couples, friends and work colleagues.

Warrior Rookie is for beginners and the ideal introduction to OCR, presenting 15 simple and fun obstacles over 5-8 km.

There’s still time to enter Jeep Warrior Ballito. To do so, head online to www.warrior.co.za.

To keep up with the action, like Jeep Warrior’s Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/thewarriorrace – or follow the event on Twitter – https://twitter.com/thewarriorrace.

Use the hashtag #BeBrave to join the Jeep Warrior social media conversation.

Jeep Warrior Photo: Zoon Cronje

Jeep Warrior Photo: Zoon Cronje

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/warriorracesa/feed