Company Announcement - ELB is proud to announce that “The ELB Extreme Road Challenge” was again a huge success with teams completing the epic journey in record time.  ELB employees, and invited friends from the general industry got together for the second ELB Extreme Road Challenge when 40 Runners (5 x 8 teams) challenged 50 Cyclists (5 x 10 teams) over 500 km, to raise much needed funds for St Vincent School for the Deaf.

Numerous legends, including Gift Kelehe, Terence Parkin, Thomas Ngidi, Linda Doke, Shaun Meiklejohn, Willie Mtolo, Andrew Kelehe, Hazel Moller and Johan van der Merwe, to name a few, were part of the Runner and Cycling teams and the pressure to perform was heavy on the athletes.  We thank these great athletes and look forward to having them on-board in 2016. ELB’s Extreme Road Challenge kicked off early on the morning of 14 October 2015.  50 Cyclists arrived at Villiers to commence the epic journey.  At 07:30 the journey started for the Cyclists, they were off and on their way to Bethlehem.  The conditions were perfect.  Warm, but with good tail winds. The route on Day 1 for the Cyclists was Villiers to Bethlehem.  Day 2 was Bethlehem, Clarens, then Golden Gate to Oliviershoek Pass.  Day 3 was Oliviershoek Pass to Mooi River, and Day 4 was Mooi River to Pietermaritzburg.  Finally as a bonus, the riders did the Amashova to Durban.

A 28km/hr average was maintained, for the average cyclist group.  Eventually the riders arrived in Bethlehem, where they were treated to a nice warm shower, hot meal and comfortable bed, recharging their batteries for the next leg from Bethlehem to Drakensville.  Unlike the Runners who only got one opportunity at Little Switzerland to have the luxury of a hot shower.  The Cyclists did not have the luxury of regular stops and change over’s like the relay Runners, however they knew that at the end of each day, they could re-gather their strength and enjoy a few cold drinks. The first cycling team in at Bethlehem was team Phakisa who covered the 149km in 3 hours 54 minutes.  With an average speed of 38km/hr.

The Runners started at Villiers, then on to Bethlehem, Clarens, Golden Gate, Little Switzerland, Bergville, Winterton, Estcourt, Mooi River, Notingham Road, Howick, finishing at the Tsogo Sun Golden Horse Hotel in Pietermaritzburg, totalling a distance of 500km, aiming to break 40 hours. On Thursday morning, 15 October 2015, 40 Runners and their support teams took off from Villiers.  Many of them Comrades and Washie medal holders and previous winners, went about packing their gear and discussing their different strategies for the 500km challenge that lay ahead of them.  Apprehension was in the air! It was going to be a race within a race, as the 8 Running teams (5 Runners per relay team) were ready to embark on the challenge.  With names like Team Scud, Team St Vincent, Team Peri, Team ELB Superstars, Team Delta Cranes, Team Morning Runners, Team Modern Athlete and Team Duzi Rats, we knew we were in for exciting times. At 15:00 on Thursday, the Runners were off and right away “Team Scud” and “Team St Vincent” took off and left the other teams behind, the race was on. 

For all our Runners, Cyclists and Support Teams, the overall conditions were far from perfect, weather conditions varied from extremely hot during day time, to icy cold at night, with a blustery head-wind.  The dedication, determination, passion and “vasbyt” shown by the Runners and Cyclists were of the highest order. Runners had to each run 100km to make up the 500km, and through the pain, guts and glory a warm cup of milo and coffee was an added bonus.
During day 2, the cyclist supporters, handed out clothing and sweet hampers to the under privileged kids in the Estcourt area.  This small gesture was well received and appreciated by the kids. Lots of planning and organisation went into successfully arranging this event and we are extremely grateful that everyone returned safe and sound.  Keeping our Cyclists and Runners safe on the roads was our first priority and we thank everyone for their cooperation in this regard. 
So many people and organisations contributed to the success of our second ELB Extreme Challenge.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them; Traffic Departments in the different regions, Medic support, our Sponsors and Supporters. 

We also thank the various hotels and establishments for your kindness in accommodating our athletes and support teams. St Vincent School for the Deaf is close to our hearts and the commitment from our friends in business, towards this great cause, was heart-warming.  The community at large can be proud of their support contributions in making a difference to a child’s life.  After many gruelling kilometres it was amazingly close as to who won the competition.  Eventually Team Phakisa (Cyclists) beat Team Scud (Runners) by the narrowest of margins.  At the end of the epic 500km journey, the difference was only 12 minutes which separated Runner from Cyclist! What an amazing effort by all members of the challenge.  The winners floating trophy was handed to “Team Phakisa” on Saturday evening, at the prize giving dinner, where the ELB Engineering Group CEO, Dr Stephen Meijers thanked all supporters and contestants for their efforts. So where to from here?  The interest shown has been overwhelming for a follow up challenge next year. 

“Team Phakisa” is also ready to defend their floating trophy and of course the Runners would like to change their second place into a 2016 win.  ELB looks forward to arranging a bigger and better ELB Extreme Road Challenge next year.  Let’s keep doing it for St Vincent School for the Deaf! “Challenge yourself with something you know you could never do, and what you’ll find is that you can overcome anything”  -  Anonymous.