Hog Charge 2005
The Hog Charge was first held in 1999 and is thus Kenya’s first mountain bike
competition. It is designed to raise money for the Rhino Ark, a charity engaged
in building a game-fence around the Aberdares National Park. This Park is
contains the sources of most of the major rivers in Kenya and hence it is
vitally important to the water supply of much of the population. It is critical
to the future of the country that the Park is safeguarded. The fence has the
additional benefits of preserving the wildlife within the park and of keeping
this wildlife out of the farms bordering the Aberdares – a boost to both the
tourism and agricultural industries.
In the six years of the event, the Hog Charge has raised over KShs 6 million to
further these aims.
 The Hog Charge is a team competition. Teams consist of four riders and may
enter in either the Under-14, Under-16 or Open classes and as either all male,
all female or mixed teams. In order to enter, teams must raise a minimum of KShs
16,000, but many raise considerably more and there is a trophy for the team that
produces the most sponsorship.
There are eleven checkpoints on the course. Teams start at their designated
checkpoint and must navigate to all the other ten before returning, to finish,
at their starting point. Teams are timed between the checkpoints and the team
with the shortest aggregate time wins. The event lasts for four hours and in
that time, Open teams may have to cover 40kms! The younger teams have much
shorter routes. Teams may rest and repair their bicycles for up to 20 minutes at
each control.
All Hog Charge money is channelled to the Rhino Ark via the Rhino Charge. The
money acts as sponsorship in that event for the Hog Charge Car; Car 35 driven by
Mark Tilbury. Thus, children who are otherwise too young, can play a part, if
indirectly, in a prestigious international competition.
For every KShs 2,000 collected in sponsorship, Hog Charge teams are given a
ticket in the Rhino Charge Raffle where they may win some of the hundreds of
fantastic prizes. In 2004, one Hog Charge team won a return, business class, air
ticket to Bangkok.
The event is organised by Peponi School and co-sponsored by Brookside Dairy
and Peponi School. As before, the Hog Charge is held on Sukari Ranch; a
44,000-acre area of open bush that is the home to the School and the Dairy. The
headquarters for the weekend are at the Nicoll Club where camping facilities and
refreshments are available for competitors and spectators.
Other sponsors operate the checkpoints and provide food, drink, shelter and
support to the teams. This year, checkpoint sponsors include:
- East African Chains Ltd,
- ShadeNet Ltd,
- Kijito Windpumps,
- Peponi House Preparatory School,
- SOCFINAF Ltd,
- Delta Electrical Ltd,
- And Heritage Hotels Ltd.
All marshals, officials and sponsors give freely of their time and no
operating expenses are taken.
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