Former SA pole vault star Okkert Brits and one-time Welsh rugby captain Colin Charvis, have teamed up to take on the monumental challenge of the 2013 Absa Cape Epic, in support of the JAG Foundation.

Apart from competing in one of the most arduous adventure races on the planet, their efforts will also raise funds and drive awareness of the JAG Foundation’s philosophy of using sport as a catalyst for change. 

Uitenhage-born pole vaulter Brits still holds the African record of 6.03m. He competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic games, finishing 7th in 2000. He also won gold at the 2002 World Commonwealth Games in Manchester, silver at the 2003 World Championships in Paris and bronze at the 1995 World Indoor Championships in Barcelona.  

Back-row forward Charvis is a former captain of the Welsh national rugby union team and also represented the British & Irish lions. Equally adept at flank or 8th man, Charvis became the world record try scorer for a forward in Test Match Rugby on 24 November 2007, with his 22nd international try, coincidentally against South Africa, at the Millennium Stadium. 

Colin Charvis 

The Absa Cape Epic takes place from 17 – 24 March 2013. The race is held over 8 days and includes a time-trial prologue. The route changes every year, and leads aspiring amateur and professional mountain bikers from around the world through approximately 800 kilometres of the unspoilt nature of the Western Cape and up approximately 15 000m of climbing over some of the most magnificent passes in South Africa.