Strong local contingent for Expedition Africa
ADVENTURE racing action is set to kick into high gear this weekend as the 2018 Expedition Africa is set to be battled out on the Namaqua West Coast in the Western Cape.
A large contingent of East London athletes have entered this year’s event, showing the growth of Adventure Racing in the city.
A few of those athletes are also former champions of the race, including Donovan Sims who has won the race three times with his team Merrell Adventure Addicts in 2011, 2012, 2015, and were runners-up in 2016.
The other East Londoners taking part in this year’s event are Craig Powell, Garth Peinke, Michelle Powell, Fjord Jordaan, Michelle Schlebusch, Athena Sims, Peter van Kets, Kim van Kets, Daryl Wittstock and Nolan Lottering.
“For the size of this race and the amount of competitors from little old Slummies it is a huge contingent. You would have to look at Joburg to find the next closest place to have that many racers coming from one town,” said Sims.
“The big thing for us in East London is we feed off the Lilyfontein race. That is where I got my first taste of adventure racing back in 2003 and I have been racing since.
“Now we have Out The Green box involved with their smaller races, and we have the race that Won Adventures and Bruce Viaene puts on out at Wavecrest, so it is a sport in our Eastern Cape area that is developing and growing magnificently, and to have this many East Londoners racing at this event is fantastic.”
This is the eighth edition of the Expedition Africa event, and from all the competitors that have completed it from across the world, only six have done all seven to date, with three of them being East London locals, in Sims, Powell and Peinke.
“We hope to do 10 in a row, as the organisers have said that anyone can do 10 in a row will get a free race on the 10th one, so that is the game plan,” said Sims.
In all an impressive entry field of 52 teams from around the world have entered this year’s event, that will see close to 200 ultra athletes battling it out for the title.
Teams are coming from the USA, Switzerland France, Japan, Ireland, United Kingdom, Argentina, Spain and many other countries.
“This year we have a massive international contingent coming down. There will be 22 different countries represented and we have three very strong South African teams who will be vying for top spots,” said Sims.
“We cannot have any more teams entering, so it is going to be a very fun race and I believe everyone is looking forward to it.”
The action is set to get under way on Sunday morning, with the winners expected to finish within three days, just over 70 hours, while other teams can take up to six days to complete the race.