A Gamble that didn’t pay off

There was great excitement at Nelson Mandela Bay’s unique Town Lodge Business Night Relay on Tuesday evening when defending champions Gamble Pharmacy got beaten for the first time since 2014.

The warm winters evening resulted in fast times with SPAR Eastern Cape DC Men pulling out all the stops to see their last runner pulling ahead and crossing the line first in a time of 56 minutes 59 seconds, just 12 seconds ahead of the Gamble Pharmacy team which hadn’t lost a Night Relay race since the end of the 2014 season and only their 4th loss since the inception of the Series in 2011. The team from Motor Vehicle Spares, in their first race of the season, finished 3rd in a time of 1 hour 12 minutes. SPAR EC also dominated the Ladies race, winning in 1hr 18min ahead of the girls from Friedman Scheckter Crusaders and PWC Excelerators whilst Gamble 2 won the mixed category ahead of Teambbk Alpha and Varsity College 2.

In the keenly contested Walking category, it was the team from Concord Cranes that won in a time of 1 hour 18 minutes ahead of ETA College PE 1 and ETA College PE 2.

“Despite several companies not being able to field their teams due to illness, we saw another great turnout and an electric atmosphere at the Stadium with Resound offering some terrific music and Score Energy Drink the post race hydration. ” said Zsports Marketing Manager Niel Du Preez.

The Series offers a fantastic training opportunity for companies wanting to take part in the upcoming Train Race on the 18th August and teams also get to enjoy one of the most exciting lucky draw prize giving ceremonies around when each race night they stand a chance of winning fanstastic lucky draw prizes with a combined value of over R15,000.

The Town Lodge Business Night Relay takes place on the 2nd Tuesday of the month with the next round taking place on Tuesday 9th July and entries are already open on the website. Running teams are to comprise of 5 runners whilst working teams are for 3 walkers with each team member having to complete a 3.5km loop within the stadium precinct.

Further information, results and photographs are available on the website www.zsports.co.za/nightrelay.

2019 Town Lodge Business Night Relay
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium
Tuesday 11th June 2019 – Round 2

Men Runners
1 SPAR Men’s Team (0:56:59); 2 Gamble 1 (0:57:11); 3 Motor Vehicle Spares (1:12:19); 4 Die Hard Artwork For Youth (1:18:44); 5 Teambbk Bravo (1:20:16); 6 Pwc Auditaurs (1:28:48); 7 Airbag Team (1:31:25); 8 Axxess Fibre (1:33:18); 9 Motor Vehicle Spares (1:39:01); 10 The Darters Artworks For Youth (1:41:10); 11 Baby Road Runners (1:44:55); 12 Town Lodge Road Runners (1:47:29); 13 Chcsa Concrete Floors (1:51:31);

Women Runners
1 Spar Ec Club (1:18:43); 2 Friedman Scheckter Crusaders Ladies (1:29:18); 3 Pwc Excelerators (1:36:14); 4 Varsity College 5 (1:39:18); 5 Varsity College 1 (1:41:29);

Mixed Runners
1 Gamble 2 (1:09:34); 2 Teambbk Alpha (1:12:57); 3 Varsity College 2 (1:16:08); 4 Eta College PE (1:19:48); 5 Puma Crusaders (1:21:49); 6 That Was Not 3Km (1:26:24); 7 City Lodge Ninjas (1:26:31); 8 City Lodge Night Panthers (1:27:26); 9 Woodridge 1 (1:27:46); 10 Woodridge 2 (1:28:41); 11 Bridgestone Runners (1:30:34); 12 Spar Mixed Team (1:30:49); 13 Mazars Champions (1:35:05); 14 Plu (1:35:14); 15 PKF 2 (1:35:37); 16 Varsity College 4 (1:35:38); 17 PW Harvey 2 (1:36:54); 18 Kpmg Striders (1:38:23); 19 Pw Harvey 1 (1:38:50); 20 Varsity College 3 (1:39:03); 21 Teambbk Charlie (1:40:03); 22 Auxilium Risk Solutions Team 1 (1:40:34); 23 Kael Consulting (1:44:29); 24 Pkf 1 (1:47:29); 25 Galloping Tortoises (1:50:23); 26 Mazars Warriors (1:58:39);

Walking Teams
1 Concord Cranes (1:18:00); 2 Eta College PE 1 (1:24:02); 3 Eta College PE 2 (1:24:48); 4 The Hares Artworks For Youth (1:25:17); 5 Town Lodge Walkie Talkies (1:27:14); 6 Lynn (1:30:25); 7 The Tortoises Artwork For Youth (1:31:25); 8 PW Harvey Walkers 2 (1:33:13); 9 PW Harvey Walkers 1 (1:34:44); 10 Axxess Mobile (1:34:52); 11 Auxilium Risk Solutions Team 2 (1:37:40); 12 No Rush Striders 1 (1:37:58); 13 Team Tigers (1:38:34); 14 Axxess Voice (1:39:16); 15 No Rush Striders 2 (1:41:24); 16 Tourvest Travel (1:42:28); 17 Axxess Hosting (1:44:06); 18 Tourvest Too (1:44:43); 19 Courtyard Walkie Talkies (1:45:35); 20 Bridgestone Walkers (1:49:18); 21 Tiffany (1:51:33);