Girls under 14 champions Banda School successfully retained the title as the 24th edition of the annual Hog Charge came to a close at Peponi School, Ruiru over the weekend.
The Hog Charge, which is sponsored by milk processor Brookside Dairy and Northlands City, is Kenya’s national mountain bike competition for teens.
The event, which is a team competition, saw groups of four riders navigate around a course of checkpoints in the shortest time possible on mountain bikes. The teams were entered in either the under-12, under-14 or open classes.
Over 600 riders braved the hot and dusty conditions at the Northlands Ranch to participate in the event, whose proceeds go towards supporting the Rhino Ark, which is involved in a conservation project that focuses on the Mt Kenya water towers.
Cheered on by a large partisan crowd, Banda hit the tape first for the 12km cycling circuit in 1hr 12 minutes. St Andrew’s Turi of Molo won in the under-14 mixed category in 1hr 16 minutes.
In the boys’ category, a combined team of Kenton College and the International School of Kenya carried the day after returning 1hr and 5 minutes, while Banda school were content with the second position, three minutes later.
Nairobi’s Brookhouse School braved the hot and dusty conditions at the Northlands Ranch to clinch the open boys’ category, while Peponi House Preparatory were declared victors in the open girls’ category.
The family challenge category saw Banda School triumph 1 hour 10 minutes, ahead of Kenton College came second 14 minutes later.
Nairobi’s The Storm Troopers were declared victors in the open mixed category after they cycled for 2 hours 13 minutes, ahead of Peloton, also of Nairobi, who registered 2 hours and 5 minutes.
Brookside Dairy’s corporate communications manager Wilson Okong’o and his Peponi School counterpart, Ngina Pratt-Mburu, hailed the high turnout at this year’s event, which saw riders take to the challenging course that included the dreaded gauntlet at the penultimate stage of the race.
