The Expedition Africa 2016 ends off a huge success
After a gruelling 5 days and 22 hours 500km adventure race – volunteers, organisers, athletes, sponsors and supporters have officially begun wrapping up the 2016 edition of Expedition Africa.
The Garden Route had the pleasure of hosting the 6th annual event on the Adventure Racing World Series circuit. All 54 local and international teams gathered at Pine Lake Marina for this enduring race.
Teams made their way from the scenic Knysna Lagoon, through indigenous forests, untamed coastline, and the desert like region of the Klein Karoo, all the way to the finish line at Pine Lake Marina. This was an exceptional treat to many of the contestants, as most races like this don’t come close in terms of bio diversity.
The Race Village was packed once again for the Awards Ceremony held on Saturday the 21st of May 2016, but this time with very tired athletes who sat around fires sharing the highlights of their experience under a full moon.
The closing ceremony honoured their accomplishments no matter what placing. Team Featherbed Painted Wolf are the winning champions this year, but every athlete that took part in the 500km adventure race was honoured a hero. Teams laughed hard as they watched a slide show and video of their adventure – bringing back bitter, sweet memories.
Earlier that afternoon, athletes had gathered at the Sedgefield Mosaic and Outdoor market for the unveiling of this year’s community project. This exciting project has raised over R20 000 for the Masithandane Bursary Fund for Children and can be viewed in the market for many years to come sharing in the legacy of Expedition Africa 2016 and their host; the home of adventure.
Knysna & Partners CEO, Greg Vogt mentioned, “By Wednesday over 65 000 people were watching the event online. Statistics showed that by Wednesday just over 5.5 million people had been reached worldwide.” This is truly a remarkable exposure for the Garden Route.
Race Directors, Stephan and Heidi Muller, have truly done well in connecting the very best of the Garden Route for the teams to explore and visit while they took part in Expedition Africa 2016. The experience and focus of this dynamic duo has created one of the most sought after and elite races on the ARWS circuit.
On behalf of Knysna and the region, Knysna Tourism congratulated Mark Collins, John Collins, Jeannie Dreyer and Darren Berry for their spectacular performance and win at Expedition Africa 2016. They also sent out a big thank you to Featherbed for stepping up to sponsor them and a huge congratulations to all the local businesses, organisations and individuals who assisted in making Expedition Africa 2016 the success it has been.
Expedition Africa 2016 Slide Show
Expedition Africa 2016 – Kinetic Events Africa.
Expedition Africa 2016 Closing Ceremony
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