Cyclists take on muddy challenge for charity
The fifth annual "March Hare" Dunblane MTB Cycle Challenge, which was organised by the Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn, took place on March 2.
Although more than 500 cyclists had pre-entered, fewer than 400 pitched on the day, due to the adverse weather conditions.
However, the MTB fanatics enjoyed the challenge and, at the finish, there were bright smiles on the muddy faces.
Results: (Full details on the websites of Cycle Events and Finish Line Cycles.)
- 60km men:
First place: Henry Uys, second place: Brad Reid and third place: Nico Botha.
- 60km women:
First place: Chrisel van der Merwe, second place: Carmen Grobler, third place: no finisher due to weather.
- 35km men:
First place: Grant Mason, second place: Cornelius van Eyk, third place: John Allan.
- 35km women:
First place: Corne Lategan, second place: Gina Potgieter, third place: Bianca Cooper.
- 10km men:
First place: Heinrich Kamffer, second place: Johan Kamffer, third place: Kai Florschutz.
- 10km women:
First place: Natasha van Eyk, second place: Charlene Potgieter, third place: Yolande Collins.
The Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn would like to thank the following people for helping to make this event possible:
The Karels Family Trust, the Dunblane Homeowners Association, Finnish Line Cycles, Cycle Events, SA Cycling, Sportsmans Warehouse, FIT, all the cyclists who participated and all the Rotarians, Rotary Anns and Rotary friends who assisted with marshalling and other tasks.
This event constitutes the Benoni Van Ryn Rotary Club’s second biggest fund-raiser and all funds raised here will be used in the club’s 2014/2015 financial year for a number of projects, of which the main one is the Stem Cell Foundation of South Africa.
This organisation treats and sponsors individuals from all walks of life who need stem cells to combat many health issues.
The challenge with this issue is the cost of accommodation of patients during the treatment period; usually about six months for children and a family member.
Without this assistance at least four lives could be lost on a daily basis.
The trust fund set up by Benoni Van Ryn will address accommodation costs during the treatment period, as well as the training of staff who will work in the programme.
