“We were overwhelmed by the response of the first race. We had a gradual increase in participants over the past three years but it suddenly doubled this year,” says race director Bernie Smit, PenQuin International. “We had to be stern and cap the entries at 125 teams, which were all filled in a week!”
The event rules specify that the driver of the team's vehicle ‘must, will and always has to be female'. “Changing the status quo and asking females to drive their boyfriends and husbands under pressure is hilarious,” Smit explains.
For the first time, a four-person team, on mountain bikes, entered the race. “What a fantastic event!” says team leader Lisa de Speville. “The team covered almost 50 kilometres and although we did not complete the entire course, we will definitely do it on bikes again.”
The competitiveness of the teams is a grand spectacle to watch as they manoeuvred through alleys and try to outfox each other. Teams try to use any and every tool as a competitive edge from GPS Units, Laptops, dictionaries and smartphones. The previous race had many spectators and supporters flock to the starting point to witness this extremely entertaining event and party with the teams afterward. The race in April raised over R75 000, donated to the SOS Children's Village.
For more information, please visit www.penquin.co.za/race.
