Paratus gives new gears to Namibia Cycle Classic
The highest number of entries and an unprecedented chain of new highlights made this year’s Paratus Namibian Cycle Classic last weekend a resounding success.Catering for everyone – from individuals to families, from the visually impaired to hand-cyclists – the cycle event was inclusive and appealed equally to sport, adventure, and fun enthusiasts.
Warmly welcomed as a radically reinvigorated post-Covid calendar fixture, the Cycle Classic notched up 1 086 entrants (an increase of over 10% on the last event held in 2021) from all over Namibia. The two-day event included a kiddies’ race, a 50km mountain bike race and a 100km road race along with a vast array of new features such as livestreaming of the results and a giant screen at the finish line, plus a wide variety of food and entertainment stands for everyone to enjoy.
Technical organiser of the event, Pierre du Plooy, said the entries reflected people’s willingness to come out and play and compete again. “It was wonderful to see people coming together and enjoying themselves. The fact that several milestones were created, in terms of the numbers, the diversity of participation and the overall positive response, means that we have raised the bar on this event. Paratus has helped by giving the necessary might and technological support required to take the event to a new level. We are very grateful not only to Paratus but also to The Namibian, to the City Police in Windhoek and to Mannie’s Bike Mecca and Cycletec, that both did so much to ensure the participants’ safety. We also thank the people of Windhoek for their patience and understanding while the races took place.”
Paratus Namibia MD, Andrew Hall, took part in the race and thought the vibe and high energy this year was marked.
“We are delighted to be able to bring new dynamics to the event – something that gives participants and spectators a new element of excitement in the form of livestreaming and instant results. This is the first event in our three-year sponsorship agreement, and we look forward to working closely with Rotary and all the stakeholders to make the Paratus Namibian Cycle Classic an even better event in the future. We could see how much people love this event and want to participate and we can only grow this and appeal to even more people next year.”
Paratus is working with the Rotary Club to give new impetus to the Cycle Classic as well as provide support to the charitable projects that Rotary is currently working on. “This sponsorship is greater than the sum of its parts,” Hall added.
“Not only are we making the main event totally inclusive, but we are also giving a leg-up to people in need and this fits well with our overall aim to transform Africa through exceptional digital infrastructure and service.”
Du Plooy added: “So many records were broken at the event this year. It’s great that so many impaired people took part and that our numbers increased – for example there were 35% more women in the 100km road race; we had a 20% increase in the children’s race, and many more entrants overall. People just want to participate and have fun. The vendors that took part were similarly delighted with the outcome and of course we have also created a whole raft of temporary jobs around the event – for example, our medals this year were all hand-made by Hans Kolberg. The good news just goes on and on and we couldn’t do any of this without the major support of this sporting event from Paratus.”