For most people, the rugged mountain trails of the Northern Drakensberg would be daunting enough, but for Union High School Grade 11 learner ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ท๐ถ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐๐, they became the setting for a noteworthy achievement.
Benji recently took part in the ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ผ, a gruelling three-day off-road motorcycle race regarded as the largest Hard Enduro event in South Africa and the second largest in the world.
Drawing more than 1 200 competitors, the event challenges riders to conquer hundreds of kilometres of unforgiving terrain, including river crossings, rock slabs and steep, technical climbs. Competing in the Iron Category for the very first time, ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ท๐ถ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, finishing 25th out of a field of 337 riders.
To take on an event of this magnitude requires a lot of skill and perseverance, making Benjiโs result all the more impressive.
๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ.

