On Saturday 20th January, 12 pupils from Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 traveled to Nairobi to compete in the 20th Annual Hog Charge. They took part in the mountain bike race in three teams of four; The Quick Riders, The Skittles and The Risky Riders. Each team had to ride between seven checkpoints on the Sutaria Ranch, next door to Peponi Senior School.

 
The aim of the Hog Charge is to raise money for the Rhino Charge, an annual charity event raising funds for important conservation projects in Kenya.  The conservation activities are implemented by Rhino Ark, a charitable trust that develops sustainable solutions to the challenges facing mountain forest ecosystems and threatened areas of biodiversity areas.
 
The Turi pupils traveled to Nairobi early Saturday morning and arrived in good time to register the teams. The first challenge was to keep the Hog Charge white t-shirts clean before the event. Unfortunately they failed! By the time they had set up their tents on the camp site, the t-shirts had patches of brown allover. After tent pitching, it was then time to test the bikes on a training ride to get used to the terrain.
 
After a good meal and a few songs by Mr Besley around the campfire, the group settled into the tents for an early night. The next morning they were up bright and early and cycled to the start of the event where they were given the instructions and maps. A quick strategic planning meeting was held before setting off to the starting checkpoints. At 9am the charge started. They had three hours to cycle between seven checkpoints as quickly as they could. Punctures, split tires, bumpy terrain, swamps, deep holes and dusty tracks were just some of the challenges in store. Luckily each checkpoint provided refreshments, shade and sometimes entertainment.
 
With the finishing line in sight they prepared themselves to enter the ‘gauntlet’, an obstacle course of logs, ditches, hills and hay bales. The ultimate test of teamwork was the ‘water obstacle’ which involved cycling waist deep in water, climbing over a mud bank and dropping back into the water, before scrambling to the finish line!
 
This was an amazing experience. Everyone had a lot of fun and an incredible sum (72,000 Ksh) was also raised for the Rhino Ark Charity.