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
- Claude Eksteen 01:37:18
- Thomas van Tonder 01:40:18
- Louis Smit 01:43:18
- Trevor Lagerwey 01:47:02
- Bradley Claase 01:50:13
BLACK OPS ELITE – WOMEN
- HANNEKE DANNHAUSER 02:19:25
- TRISH BAHLMANN 02:27:44
- CARINA MARX 02:33:15
- MICHELLE MEYER 02:46:33
COMMANDO ELITE – MEN
- ANRICH ZIMMERMANN 00:52:18
- BRANDON HULLEY 00:54:20
- GARETH MARQUISS 00:57:13
- DARREN MARQUISS 01:00:53
- ADAM REID 01:07:44
COMMANDO ELITE – WOMEN
- SAMANTHA GILCHRIST 01:20:36
- NIKKI CAROMBA 01:22:44
- CINDY WILLS 01:29:33
- MARISKA UYS 01:41:48
- ANNEMARIE SCHOLTZ 01:49:33
ROOKIE ELITE – MEN
- TORIN TORRENTE 00:43:20
- ZANDER LOUW 00:43:40
- 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