24 August 2016

Jeep Team take podium at Jeep Warrior Hazeldean

Submitted by: Viv Quann
Jeep Team take podium at Jeep Warrior Hazeldean

PRETORIA EAST, HAZELDEAN VALLEY, 23nd August 2016 – This past weekend, the 20th and 21st of August, saw Round 5 of the Jeep Warrior Series kick off on a cold fresh morning, fast becoming a hot and gruelling race for the approximately 4 000 athletes competing at Hazeldean Valley’s Cowhouse Market venue in Pretoria East. Jeep Team’s fit-and-fast Black Ops Elite athletes, Thomas van Tonder, Carina Marx, JJ Deysel and Joshua Masundi, knew it was going to be brutal when eyeing up the usual suspects on the start line. All of South Africa’s top OCR athletes were present, looking buff and tough. It was going to be war to the end.

The Black Ops Elite course presented 30 obstacles over a 20km trail, each challenging either your mental or physical limits in the longest Warrior Black Ops Elite race to date. The terrain was fairly flat giving hardened runners the edge between obstacles. After fighting it out for over 90 minutes, Jeep Team OCR star and Jeep Warrior series leader, Thomas van Tonder, succumbed to second place in a time of 01h40, a few minutes behind eventual race winner, 39-year-old Claude Eksteen (Ex-World Triathlete), who returned to the series and claimed top spot in 01h37. Louis Smit came 3rd in 01h43. Jeep Team’s JJ Deysel and Joshua Masudi took seventh and eleventh places respectively.

The Jeep Warrior brand radiates quality and equality as you are judged only on your mettle to compete and finish. All genders race together over the same course, giving a fresh take on women helping men, and vice versa, over and out of mud pits and the like. Jeep Team’s top female OCR athlete, Corina Marx, put in an impressive fight against the top women OCR athletes in the country. Marx eventually finished 3rd in 02h33, climbing two positions from Jeep Warrior Race 4 in Ballito, where she placed fifth thanks to a hamstring injury. The highly efficient Hanneke Dannhauser took top spot in 02h19 with super-strong Trish Bahlmann in second in a time of 02h27.

Jeep Warrior’s Carina Marx, said “It was truly a runner's race. Our stamina and endurance were really pushed to the limits. This is an incredible series and I’m proud to compete alongside top athletes like Hanneke (Dannhauser) and Trish (Bahlmann). Dannhauser was an absolute machine today. No one was going to catch her.” Marx is currently lying 4th in the overall series standings behind Bahlmann, Dannhauser and D’Oliveira. Coming into the Jeep Team fold around 6 months ago with lots of potential but short on experience and relevant fitness levels, Marx has shown incredible improvements, and will go much further once she accepts the warrior within, and lets it out, taking no prisoners.

The Jeep Team will be competing in the next Jeep Warrior Race 6, which takes place from 24 - 25 September 2016 at Kwanyoni Lodge in Nelspruit.

RESULTS

BLACK OPS ELITE - MEN

  1. Claude Eksteen - 01:37:18
  2. Thomas van Tonder - 01:40:18
  3. Louis Smit - 01:43:18
  4. Trevor Lagerwey - 01:47:02
  5. Bradley Claase - 01:50:13

BLACK OPS ELITE - WOMEN

  1. HANNEKE DANNHAUSER - 02:19:25
  2. TRISH BAHLMANN - 02:27:44
  3. CARINA MARX - 02:33:15
  4. MICHELLE MEYER - 02:46:33

COMMANDO ELITE - MEN

  1. ANRICH ZIMMERMANN - 00:52:18
  2. BRANDON HULLEY - 00:54:20
  3. GARETH MARQUISS - 00:57:13
  4. DARREN MARQUISS - 01:00:53
  5. ADAM REID - 01:07:44

COMMANDO ELITE - WOMEN

  1. SAMANTHA GILCHRIST - 01:20:36
  2. NIKKI CAROMBA - 01:22:44
  3. CINDY WILLS - 01:29:33
  4. MARISKA UYS - 01:41:48
  5. ANNEMARIE SCHOLTZ - 01:49:33

ROOKIE ELITE - MEN

  1. TORIN TORRENTE - 00:43:20
  2. ZANDER LOUW - 00:43:40
  3. JOSHUA DE JAGER - 00:44:15

ROOKIE ELITES - WOMEN

  • LAUREN DAWS - 00:50:42
  • KIRSTY VAN DER MERWE - 01:03:43
  • DANIELA WILKIE-WATSON - 01:08:40

Editor’s Notes
All photo credits: ZC Marketing Consulting

ABOUT THE JEEP WARRIOR SERIES
The Jeep Warrior Race is South Africa’s largest obstacle course race series that spans eight events across four provinces. The series burst onto the scene in 2013 and immediately spearheaded the meteoric rise of obstacle racing in South Africa. It quickly grew to up to 9000 participants per event and remains at the forefront of the growth spurt in the new sport of obstacle racing with its larger than life obstacles and innovative courses to challenge South Africans. What makes Jeep Warrior Race so popular, is that anyone can participate - all you need is a pair of old running shoes and a great sense for adventure.

To find out more, go to the Jeep Warrior website - 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.

  • Jeep #Warrior6 - Nelspruit – Kwanyoni Lodge 24 Sept – 25 Sept
  • Jeep #Warrior7 - Meerendal, Western Cape 22 Oct -23 Oct
  • Jeep #Warrior8 - Pretoria - Legend MX 19 Nov – 20 Nov

Issued by Hot Salsa Media on behalf of Jeep Team SA.
For more information, interviews or high resolution images, feel free to contact Viv Quann: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Sports Range