It was a day of mud and sweat, but there were no tears on Saturday morning at the Tempe Motocross track on the outskirts of Bloemfontein during the first leg of the inaugural Vodacom MX Trail Jam Relay series.
On a perfect morning to getting a thorough workout and getting dirty, 36 teams tested their mettle on the 2,6-km course of loose ground, inclines, declines, slip-and-slides, mud-baths and leopard crawls.
The race started in a unique fashion, unlike that has been seen before. Just before the competitors were heading to the starting line, three skydivers boarded an aeroplane. As soon as the third skydiver touched down, the race was on.
The event was enjoyed by young and old and one has to give a special mention to Eunice Girls’ Primary School for entering a total of five Muddy Monsters teams. The only other two primary schools teams were the Cool Cats and the Bull Dogs, making it a total of 28 youngsters competing.
On the day the Ultimate Boot Camp Warriors was the team that claimed the bragging rights and they seriously made light work of the course. Hot on their heels was the Sports Performance Clinic team of Gerhard Beukes, Helena Combrinck, Herman Liebenberg and Zi-mari Shaw. With the quality of athletes in SPC team, one thing is for sure, they will not settle for second best next time around.
The Not Fast, Just Furious team also delivered a solid performance to claim third overall, while the Fourie + One, and the Ultimate Boot Camp Buffaloes teams claimed fourth and fifth respectively.
What would a race in Bloemfontein be like without the evergreen Tannie Willemien Smuts putting everybody to shame at the tender age of 77-years-young? Fresh off her final Two Oceans marathon, Tannie Willemien was the oldest competitor in the field, but without a doubt the youngest at heart.
Vans & the Clan, Mudder Buffers, Cool Cats, Bull Dogs and Alpha rounded off the top ten teams to finish, and along with the top five, are the teams to beat during the second leg on 9 June.
With the first leg turning out to be a major success, it would be fantastic to get it up to at least 50 teams next time around.
The final two legs of the series will take place on 25 August and 27 October 2018. – MORGAN PIEK
