Brookhouse International School claim Hog Charge title
Brookhouse International School carried the day in both the girls and boys open cycling categories at the 22nd edition of the annual Hog Charge held at Peponi School yesterday.
Hog Charge is Kenya’s national mountain bike competition for school teens and serves as a charity event whose proceeds go towards supporting the Rhino Ark which is involved in a conservation project that focuses on Mt Kenya water towers particularly the Aberdares.
Photo/PD/RODGERS NDEGWA
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. It was a tough test particularly on stage six which had hill climbs and final stage that had hay with the competitors expected to go round before finishing off in the splash as teams fought for favourable times on the board.
In the girls’ open race, Brookhouse’s team, “The Mosquitoes” weathered the hot and dusty conditions at the Sukari Ranch to triumph in 11.54:00, while their boys’ counterparts, the “Ram Riders” hit the tape in 12.00:00 to emerge victorious.
In the under 12 race category, Kenton College lifted the boys’ diadem in 10.57:00 while the Banda School was second in 11.00:00. Peponi House Preparatory School was third placed in a time of 11.08:00.
Gilgil’s Pembroke School clinched the boys’ under 14 race in 10.42:00, ahead of Banda School (10.49:00) while Nairobi Academy was third after returning a time of 10.58:00.
Peponi House captain Patrick Wachira, 10, was in buoyant mood despite his team finishing fourth. 
“The adrenaline was the most fun part and we did enjoy as a team. Competition was tight but we fought well throughout the stages,” he said.
Peter Wasonga, Brookside Dairy’s marketing manager and Peponi School’s marketing head Ngina Pratt-Mburu, hailed the high turnout at this year’s event.
“The competitors have shown extreme resilience in navigating this year’s race course which saw over 600 cyclists navigate through a host of route obstacles including braving a mud bath at the dreaded gauntlet at Peponi School,” Wasonga said.
Over Sh4 million was raised this year through participation of the various schools and the number of sponsors also grew with Brookside Dairies continuing to be a key player in the project.
