Big ups for Klein Karoo Dust 4 Glory Challenge

KLEIN KAROO NEWS - The inaugural Klein-Karoo Dust 4 Glory obstacle course challenge that took place over the weekend at Wilgewandel situated 5km outside Oudtshoorn turned out to be an exhilarating experience as the participants overcame some interesting and gruelling hurdles on their way to the finish line. Approximately 500 spectators turned up to cheer the 250 contestants on.

One of the obstacles that were noticeably challenging was the 15m hardboard mounted at an angle of 90 degrees with three tyres at the bottom and five tyres at the top of the board as the only assistance available for the athletes to get to the top.

The athletes had to run with a quick burst of speed to gain momentum to reach the top tyres if they wanted to complete this obstacle. Some of the contestants weren't able to gain the momentum needed to advance, but luckily teamwork prevailed when contestants formed a human chain of hands to lend aid to those unable to reach the top tyres.

Another testing military-like hurdle was the two shallow pool obstacles covered with a heavy farm gate of five meters.

The contestants formed a human chain of hands to enable the athletes to complete this teamwork obstacle. Photos: Wyndham Ewerts

Here contestants were required to swim on their backs and gasp for air through the mesh of the gate. This particular obstacle was only compulsory for athletes that competed in the pro-division category.

Overall it is safe to say that none of the 20 obstacles presented by the KK Dust 4 Glory team was a walk in the park.

Those who weren't able to complete the obstacles had to exercise several burpees depending on the difficulty of the challenge they had to overcome.

Bert Verlinde, the winner of the pro-division category, was simply outstanding on all of the obstacles and breezed through most of the challenges.

In this obstacle, the contestants had to swim on their back with a steel gate on top.

The organiser of the event and also the owner of Wilgewandel, Pienaar Muller, said that the number of entries exceeded his expectations and that the massive turnout of spectators bodes well for next year's Dust 4 Glory challenge. Some of the participants also donated clothing items for charity purposes.

According to Muller the Klein Karoo Dust 4 Glory team in collaboration with Chaingang Events also intends to keep continuing using the obstacle course in the future for team-building purposes that involve rugby, corporate & school groups.