It is often said that sport has the capability to bring together a nation and change lives. The Change a Life Academy was started in 2008 when Martin Dreyer won his seventh Dusi Canoe Marathon alongside Thulani Mbanjwa. After four intense and vigorous months of training together, Mbanjwa became the first black person to ever win the race.

“Thulani lived in a very rural setting in the Valley of a Thousand Hills and did not have much of a support structure at the time,” says Dreyer. “His friends used to run barefoot with us when we trained twice a day.”

The following year my Change a Life Academy was started. “My goal was to try get ten of Thulani’s friends into the top 50 at the Dusi. I again, rigorously trained for four months down in the Valley of 1000 Hills, but this time I was able to provide them with a blueprint on how to win as well as additional support through supplements, clothing, and equipment.” Amazingly, all ten of the CAL paddlers finished in the top 356 out of 1 500 paddlers.

Three years ago, Dreyer started a mountain bike team and, earlier this year, he created a running team, which has subsequently been sponsored by Merchants. Merchants provides the team with everything they need to be successful, and has also sponsored a vehicle so that the team can travel to their required destinations.

Dreyer wanted to challenge the Merchants CAL running team and opted to focus on the gnarly Jeep Warrior Races, a series of eight obstacle course trail running races across the country. “Straight runs are too easy and we needed to up the ante in difficulty, to make it a proper challenge. It’s a tough goal for an athlete to complete the Black Ops Elite category, which is a 15-kilometre trail run race with 30 obstacles,” says Dreyer. He adds that the race organisers initially advised him to enter the athletes in the Commando division. “They said it normally takes a regular athlete a year before they are able to complete a Black Ops Elite race.

When none of the athletes completed the first two Black Ops Elite Warrior Races held in Krugersdorp and Ballito, Dreyer started questioning whether he had set the bar too high for the athletes. I organised with “Claude Eksteen, a seasoned OCR athlete and 2015 series winner, for my runners to train at his Obstacle Course Training facility once a week. With advice from an expert, their technique improved tremendously, along with their strength. As a result, three of my athletes finished the next Black Ops Elite Warrior Race in Pretoria in an incredible 9th, 10th, and 15th position overall.”

The athletes have since gained tremendous confidence and at the Warrior race at Meerendal Wine Estate in Cape Town, two of them amazingly cracked a top five overall, 4th and 5th and also 12th place.  “There is so much raw talent in the Valley of 1000 Hills. It just goes to show what providing a support structure, hard training and mentorship can achieve,” says Dreyer.

Kwanda Mhlophe, who came 4th at that Warrior Race in Cape Town, has been selected as the team captain. “My secret is to push my limits and test my mental power. I enjoy the unique obstacles, which are out of my comfort zone, and test my physical and mental capabilities. I'd recommend this event to others because it tests every person’s capabilities and boosts one’s self-esteem when you overcome an obstacle.” The Change a Life Academy supported Mhlophe in his sports management diploma, which he completed last year at Varsity College, to prepare him to take on a stronger leadership role within the Academy.

Hlelani Radebe came 5th in the same race. “I've grown to love this sport and it helps me persevere. I enjoy the challenge of the obstacles I come across. I would recommend it to other rural people because it is still new from where we come from and it’s not a typical choice of sport in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.”

Dreyer says it’s not always about winning, but rather participation for everyone. “There is so much discipline and hard work involved in this sport and it has really taught the athletes amazing life skills. They train twice a day and they are beginning to realise that what you put in, is what you get out.” He adds that the athletes receive food parcels to take home to their families, which gives them a sense of purpose and enables them to provide for their families. “This, in turn, gets the families to support that athlete to train and ensure they are eating healthy to maintain their training regime and races.”

“Merchants coming into the academy and supporting the running team has just given it wings. Now there is a team that travels around the country doing this national Warrior series,” says Dreyer. A group of 133 Merchants employees also participated in the Rookie division of the Cape Town Warrior Race. “It was humbling to see how the Merchants teams worked together, stuck it out and got to the finish line. It’s awesome that the company is providing this platform for its employees to be more active and participate in these races. It’s also great that they are aligning themselves through not only sponsoring the team but participating in the race as well,” he says.

“People and customers first is a message that you hear quite often, yet it’s a principle by which we live within Merchants. Our aim is to create meaningful and sustainable futures for our people and the communities that we serve. Our people have embraced the Change a Life Academy sponsorship, by actively participating in these races and improving their lifestyles,” says Jennifer Algie, People Director at Merchants. 187 Merchants employees will be taking part in the upcoming National series final Warrior Race taking place in Pretoria on the 19th of November.

JOHANNESBURG, 05 August 2016 – This weekend saw the Jeep Team Obstacle Course super stars, Thomas Van Tonder and Carina Marx take 1^st place in their categories respectively in the Battlerush Winter Charge at the Jozi X Adventure Centre on 31 July 2016. Jeep Team’s Joshua Masudi took 7^th place. The Battlerush Winter Charge is considered to be the ultimate obstacle course race, as it is designed by athletes for athletes. It took place over 10km consisting of 36 obstacles built in and around the Jozi X Adventure Centre, the PWC Bike Park and around St. Peter’s College. The obstacles were given names such as the Sternum checker, Irish table, Blades of walls, Traverse walls, Big walls, Peg board, Rope climb, Up container and Down container. With just 25 seconds between 1^st and 3^rd place in the Elite Men’s category, Thomas Van Tonder’s race was brutish and tight as he fought hard against well-known OCR athletes, Bradley Claase, Louis Smit and Greg Avierinos.

Van Tonder, having upped his training regime over the past couple of months, eventually took top podium in 50m13s with Claase in 2^nd in 50m25s, and 3^rd going to Louis Smit in 53m38s. Fourth place went to Greg Avierinos in 58m05. Jeep Team’s OCR women’s superstar, Carina Marx, has slowly climbed the ladder of success over the past year whilst being under the Jeep Team OCR banner. Her progress has been remarkable – a true test of a champion is to take defeat in hand and work it over until it is victorious. From the start of the Battlerush, Marx made her presence known and dug deep to the end against the toughest of OCR elite competitors, even creating minutes between her and Hanneke Dannhauser and Sabrina Daolio. Carina won the battle to 1^st place in the Elite Women’s category in a time of 01h07m30s, with Sabrina Daolio 2^nd in 01h10m48s, and Hanneke Dannhauser in 3^rd place with 01h12m35s. Jeep Team’s Joshua Masudi, came in the top 10 at a solid 7^th place, in a time of 59m49s.

RESULTS:

MEN:

1. Thomas Van Tonder 00:50:13
2. Bradley Claase 00:50:25
3. Louis Smit 00:53:38
4. Greg Avierinos 00:58:05
5. Willem Erasmus 00:58:44

WOMEN:

1. Carina Marx 01:07:30
2. Sabrina Daolio 01:10:48
3. Hanneke Dannhauser 01:12:35
4. Michelle Meyer 01:18:20
5. Natasha Deley 01:21:32

OTHER JEEP TEAM RESULTS Multisport DURBAN, KWAZULU-NATAL:

The KZN Duathlon Championship took place on Sunday, 31 July 2016 at the Dube Trade Port near King Shaka International Airport, with top athletes from all over KwaZulu-Natal competing for the Championship medals. The KZN Duathlon Champs consisted of run, cycle, run legs with a first running leg of 5km, a cycle of 20km, and a second running leg of 2.5km. Mikaela completed her opening 5km run in an impressive 20m19s with an equally solid 20km cycle in 44m46s, and final 2.5km run in 09m54s, with a total time of 01h16m03. This was good enough for Jonsson to win her age category 18-19yrs women, with Daniela Arrigo in 2nd in 1hr21m16, and Mikaela Sclanders in 3rd in 1hr28m50.

RESULTS:

WOMEN:

1. Mikaela Jonsson 01:16:03 (18-19)
2. Daniella Arrigo 01:21:16 (16-17)
3. Micaela Sclanders 01:28:50 (18-19)

MEN:

1. Gareth Marquiss 01:02:19 (18-19)
2. Ben De La Porte 01:02:23 (16-17)
3. Darren Marquiss 01:03:14 (18-19)
4. Raymond Radebe 01:06:34 (18-19)
5. Dean Packham 01:06:48 (18-19)

#JeepTeamSA Editors’ Notes
For more information please contact Bronwen Blunden on 079 060 1905 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

KWAZULU-NATAL, BALLITO, 19^th JULY 2016 – This weekend, 16-17 July, saw the Jeep Warrior series Race 4 of 8 take place in KwaZulu-Natal at Sugar Rush Park in Ballito, with over 3500 competitors all racing to get the opportunity to drive off in a brand new Jeep until the next Jeep Warrior event, should they hit the top spot on the podium in the Black Ops Elite category.

Sugar Rush Park saw some unusual rain prior to the race, making many of the obstacles slippery and immensely challenging, physically and mentally, but the Jeep OCR Team, Thomas Van Tonder, Jay Jay Deysel, Joshua Masudi, Carina Marx and Hlubi Mboya, faced up to the challenge and excelled.

In the Black Ops Elite Men’s Race, Jeep Team star racer, Thomas van Tonder, took top spot on the podium with a time of 01h40, over 30 minutes ahead of his biggest rival, KeyHealth Nevarest team racer, Greg Avierinos, in a time of 02h11, with fellow Jeep Team racer, Jay Jay Deysel, in 3^rd place in 02h13, rounding off the Jeep Team’s solid achievements in the top elite race.

Jeep Team’s Joshua Masudi, also raced in Black Ops Elites, but cramped half way ending his race for podium.

Women’s Black Ops Elites, who compete over the same course as the men’s Black Ops Elites, had Jeep Team’s up-and-coming OCR star, Carina Marx, competing and nursing an injury, but achieving a respectable 5th place overall in a time of 02h29.

Jeep Team’s celebrity competitor, Hlubi Mboya, competed in the Commando Elite Women’s Race, and says of her race, “This was one of the hardest Warrior Races I have ever competed in. It took me two hours but I refused to give up my band and be disqualified, even when it meant trying to complete an obstacle over and over again.” Mboya’s inspiring tenacity saw her just short of a Top 10 place in the Commando Elites.

The Jeep Team will be competing in Jeep Warrior Race 5, which takes place from 20 - 21 August 2016 at Hazeldean Valley in Pretoria.

RESULTS

BLACK OPS ELITE - MEN

1. THOMAS VAN TONDER - 01:40:07
2. GREG AVIERINOS - 02:11:32
3. JAY JAY DEYSEL - 02:13:26
4. CLINT PRETORIUS - 02:23:40
5. ANRICH ZIMMERMAN - 02:23:45

BLACK OPS ELITE - WOMEN

1. HANNEKE DANNHAUSER - 02:13:26
2. TRISH BAHLMANN - 02:15:43
3. DOMINIQUE DOLIVEIRA - 02:16:49
4. SABRINA DAOLIO - 02:23:32
5. CARINA MARX - 02:59:26

COMMANDO ELITE - MEN

1. MICHAEL ROSS - 00:51:42
2. CALEN HASTIE - 00:51:53
3. GARETH MARQUISS - 00:56:01
4. JASON FRIEDMAN - 00:56:01
5. DARREN MARQUISS - 00:57:28

COMMANDO ELITE - WOMEN

1. DANIELLA LUSHINGTON - 01:21:17
2. CINDY WILLS - 01:30:23
3. TARYN STRYDOM - 01:32:46
4. KAELEE LUSHINGTON - 01:33:07
5. AMOR BEYERSBERGEN - 01:33:42

ROOKIE ELITE - MEN

1. ADRIAN ROUSSEL - 00:31:41
2. SHELDON CROUWKAMP - 00:32:00
3. RICHARD EKSTEEN - 00:33:17

ROOKIE ELITES - WOMEN

1. CHANTE HABIB - 00:40:49
2. LEONIE VAN ZYL - 00:42:09
3. KRISTY VAN DER MERWE - 00:43:07

Jeep #Warrior5 - Pretoria – Hazeldean Valley - 20 Aug – 21 Aug
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

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.