JOHANNESBURG 28 SEPTEMBER 2016 – After this weekend’s Jeep Warrior Black Ops Elite win and 3rd place at Race 6 in Nelspruit, Jeep Team’s Thomas van Tonder and Jay Jay Deysel are ready for the OCR World Championships in October 2016 in Canada.

OCR Team South Africa will be amongst the world’s finest athletes when the toughest and strongest athletes from across the globe fight it out at the third OCR World Championships from 14-16 October 2016 at the Blue Mountain Resort, Toronto in Ontario, Canada.

From the 116 South African qualifiers across all three elite categories namely Rookie Elite, Commando Elite and Black Ops Elite, South Africa has selected a ‘BIG SIX’ South African Black Ops Elite Team including Thomas van Tonder (Jeep Team), Bradley Claase, and Jay Jay Deysel (Jeep Team) for Men; and Hanneke Dannhauser, Carina Marx (Jeep Team) and Sabrina Daolio for Women.

To have qualified for OCR World Champs, athletes need to have achieved a Jeep Warrior Top 20 finish in an Elite category in their gender, or an Impi Challenge Top 20 finish in the Elite division in their gender.

Said Thomas van Tonder:  “It has been a gruelling season in order to qualify for the championships and I am thrilled to be part of Team OCR South Africa. I have worked hard and have pushed myself to the limits and hope my efforts pay off. How I fare against other contenders is yet to be seen. My training regime has focused mostly on building endurance, specifically my upper body in order to improve my grip on the rope obstacles.

” Van Tonder, over in the past 12 months, has achieved three wins, six 2nd places, and one 5th place. Marx, over the same period, has achieved four 2nd places, four 3rd places and two 5th places. Neither will know how they truly compare against the rest of the world until they are neck deep in mud in Ontario.

Said Carina Marx, “I am looking forward to seeing what I can do on the world stage. I have chosen to compete in the Elite Race so that I can go up against the best in the world, because I’m an all or nothing type of person. I’m just going to give it everything as it will be my first time representing my country.

” According to the event organisers, the OCR World Championships will put the world’s top athletes through the ultimate physical and mental challenge across a series of obstacles over a distance of approximately 13km and will marry natural elements with some of the most challenging obstacles in OCR history.

Said Jay Jay Deysel, “I’ve put in a lot of hard work in my training to get back on the podium and it’s really hard to describe the feeling of crossing the finish line in a podium position at South Africa’s biggest and toughest Obstacle Course Race. My focus is now on the OCR World Championships and to be the best that I can be for my Team and Country.

” While the OCR World Championship course will share some of the same terrain and obstacles our South African Team will be used to, a significant portion of the course and obstacles will be new to most foreign athletes and unveiled only on race weekend.

OCR World Champs is the first truly-independent global Championship for the burgeoning sport of Obstacle Course Racing. It is a singular event created to unify, promote, and increase participation in the sport of OCR, while celebrating its strong and highly-versatile athletes.

##Ends Other Jeep Team results PADDLING Hank McGregor News Eight-time World Champion and Jeep Team paddler, Hank McGregor, just returned from racing Ireland’s 57th International Liffey Descent with doubles partner, Lee Furby. They finished 5th overall against a large set of competitors from all over the world.

The race course was a tough 28.2 kilometres consisting of 10 Weirs and 1 portage and started at the K Club above Straffan Weir, Co. Kildare and finished at Trinity Rowing Club in Dublin.

Approximately a third of the entries were true racing classes and the remaining taken up with ‘fun’ paddlers with many canoe clubs from Ireland and internationally attending the event.

Said Jeep Team’s Hank McGregor, “What an adrenaline rush it was shooting the 10 weirs, which were a bit bigger than we had thought, but we loved every minute of it. Now onto the Hansa Fish Marathon.

” This year’s Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon is on 7 and 8 October and McGregor will be on the start line full of confidence after his double gold medal wins at the recent Canoe Marathon World Championships in Germany.

McGregor, who has won the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon six times previously, said, “Going to Worlds and retaining my title was obviously a big focus for the last while but now that that job is done, it’s good to come home and still be able to look forward to the Fish. With a guaranteed water release and great vibe, Fish is one of the biggest and possibly the best paddling races in South Africa, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

### Editors’ Notes Issued on behalf of Jeep Team SA by Hot Salsa Media This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.