Jeep Team's Thomas Van Tonder Tames 'The Savage Beast'

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, April 16, 2015 (Newswire.com) - An action-packed weekend past for Jeep Team’s OCR athletes saw Thomas van Tonder tame the inaugural ‘Savage Beast obstacle course race’ on Saturday (11 April), claiming top podium in a time of 1h5m2s, one second ahead of Eduan Neeb (1h5m3s), with Willem Erasmus in third (1h5m4s), also just one second ahead of Neeb.

The Beast is South Africa’s newest OCR series that took place at the picturesque Amanzingwe Lodge in Broederstroom, North West Province. The race offered a range of events to suit all fitness levels, including the elite-category Savage Beast, consisting of 30 obstacles over approximately 15km.

I managed to take the win at the end but more importantly enjoyed a good day out with fellow OCR athletes and it's great to see the sport growing with another OCR event.

Thomas Van Tonder, Jeep Team OCR Athlete

Said Van Tonder, “We were about 50 athletes in the Elite start, eager to take on the misty morning hills, not knowing what to expect. The terrain was technical and made for some great trail running, but the obstacles were not as challenging as the Jeep Warrior races.

“I managed to take the win at the end but more importantly enjoyed a good day out with fellow OCR athletes and it’s great to see the sport growing with another OCR event.”

Jeep Team’s Claudia Richard just missed the podium coming 4th in the Women 10-km Wild Beast event. On Sunday, she also placed 3rd in Kinetic Gear’s 25-km Adventure Race, which took place in Fourways, Johannesburg.

In Cape Town, the team’s other OCR warriors - Dominique D’Oliveira and Jay Jay Deysel – competed in Race#2 of the Impi Challenge.

D’Oliveira fought hard for a 3rd place finish in 2h15m1s, only minutes behind Trish Bahlmann in 1st (2h5m1s) and Hanneke Dannhauser in 2nd (2h13m). Deysel placed 10th in the competitive Men’s Elite race.

Track & Field

In Bloemfontein, Jeep Team’s Mikaela Jonsson competed against the country’s future champions at the South African Sub-youth, Youth, Junior and U23 Track & Field Championships. Jonsson achieved a 5th place finish racing for the first time in the Junior Women’s 800m event.

Cycling

In Gauteng, Jeep Team’s MTB athlete, Thinus Redelinghuys, raced to a 3rd place finish at Event #3 of the USN MTB Cup series, which took place at the Avianto Sports Grounds on Saturday. Redelinghuys finished the 50-km race in 1h55m31s, behind Guylin Van den Berg (1h53m18s) and Alan Gordon (1h54m5s).

On Sunday, Jeep Team’s Alex Dolman (15) earned a 2nd place in the Elite finals of the Germiston BMX Club Points Meeting.