{"id":11282,"date":"2012-06-09T11:06:23","date_gmt":"2012-06-09T09:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/06\/rhodes-trail-run-wild-card-entrant-drawn-in-port-elizabeth\/"},"modified":"2012-06-09T11:06:23","modified_gmt":"2012-06-09T09:06:23","slug":"rhodes-trail-run-wild-card-entrant-drawn-in-port-elizabeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/rhodes-trail-run-wild-card-entrant-drawn-in-port-elizabeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhodes Trail Run Wild Card Entrant Drawn in Port Elizabeth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Ford Motor Company<\/a> of Southern Africa (FMCSA<\/a>) has confirmed its place as the vehicle sponsor for the 2012 Rhodes Trail Run, one of South Africa\u2019s most arduous and legendary trail races.<\/p>\n

The 52 km run is staged in the tranquil beauty of the southern Drakensberg mountains surrounding the village of Rhodes and, naturally, the immensely challenging terrain of the Lesotho border.<\/p>\n

In line with Ford\u2019s \u2018Go Further\u2019 brand philosophy, the company will be supplying the organisers with four All-New Ranger 4x4s to be used as support and logistics vehicles for the race, which takes place on Saturday 14 July.<\/p>\n

Now in its 24th year, the UTi Rhodes Trail Run is limited to 300 entries, with participants coming from as far afield as the United States, France and Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe race has achieved legendary status in the running world, and is considered one of the most challenging events of its kind,\u201d says Evie Raubenheimer, race director of the Rhodes Trail Run.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the field strictly limited to 300 competitors, we effectively have a waiting list of eight years for people eager to participate,\u201d she says.
\nThis, therefore, places a huge premium on each confirmed entry, despite the fact that there\u2019s no prize money \u2013 just the personal satisfaction of tackling and, hopefully, conquering one of the world\u2019s toughest athletic challenges.<\/p>\n

However, as part of Ford\u2019s vehicle sponsorship, a lucky draw was conducted for a single complimentary entry for the Rhodes Trail Run, which was linked to the event\u2019s website (www.rhodesrun.za.net) and Twitter account (@RhodesTrailRun).<\/p>\n

The highly anticipated draw took place on Wednesday 6 July at Ford\u2019s Eastern Cape Motors dealership in William Moffett, Port Elizabeth, and was conducted by Raubenheimer and Alan Percy, the dealer principal.<\/p>\n

Cecile Balkema from Fresnaye in Cape Town<\/a> was drawn as the lucky \u2018Wild Card\u2019 winner, and was awarded the coveted complimentary invitation to the 2012 run.
\nShe was elated with the news, and is eagerly looking forward to being one of the 300 athletes lining up at the start in the middle of July.<\/p>\n

It will be an extreme challenge indeed, with drastic changes in elevation a key feature of the rough, mountainous terrain, as the race starts at 1\u00a0800 m and reaches its highest point at 2\u00a0680 m. And there\u2019s typically thick snow, ice and freezing rivers to cross, as well as sub-zero temperatures to contend with too.<\/p>\n

The Rhodes Trail Run was first run in 1989 as a high-profile initiative to put the small village of Rhodes back on the map, and has developed legendary status over the past 23 years. <\/p>\n

It is professionally organised by Evie and Darrell Raubenheimer from Port Elizabeth, and boasts experienced mountain rescue paramedic crews, a dedicated support team and the great backing and family-oriented participation from the residents of Rhodes.<\/p>\n

Along with supplying the vehicles, the Rhodes Trail Run crew who will be driving the All-New Rangers will be treated to dedicated on-road and 4\u00d74 driving instruction provided by Ford\u2019s innovative Driving Skills for Life driver education programme.<\/p>\n

\"Evie<\/p>\n

Rhodes Trail Run race director Evie Raubenheimer and Alan Percy, dealer principal of Eastern Cape Motors, conducted the highly anticipated ‘Wild Card’ invitation entry draw for the 2012 event.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) has confirmed its place as the vehicle sponsor for the 2012 Rhodes Trail Run, one of South Africa\u2019s most arduous and legendary trail races. The 52 km run is staged in the tranquil beauty of the southern Drakensberg mountains surrounding the village of Rhodes and, naturally, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1289,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-11282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mype","8":"tag-port-elizabeth-2","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}