The annual Cableway Charity Challenge, which kicked off this past weekend, aims to raise funding to assist various organisations in Cape Town.
Due to the pandemic, this year's event will be virtual. A total of 133 athletes will participate over eight days. It ends on Sunday, April 18, 2021.
The virtual event encourages locals to support and sponsor participants to do as many laps as possible up Platteklip Gorge, summiting Table Mountain and descending from the top using the cable car. To track their progress, participants will be recording their laps on the free-to-use mobile app, Strava.
Since its inception in 2009, the Cableway Charity Challenge has raised more than R6-million for local NGOs, including Wilderness Search and Rescue, Ons Plek, Home from Home and the Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET).
The MD of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, Wahida Parker, said the challenge is the perfect illustration of how people can connect at virtual and hybrid events in a socially distanced manner.
“While we wait for South Africa to reach herd immunity against Covid-19, the online event revolution has made it possible for participants to connect with each other, and for people to live stream and engage in events.
"The initiative is a testimony of individual endurance and the power of collaboration. The event has made a significant impact in the lives of those less fortunate and is only possible because of the combined effort of everyone involved,” she said.
Tracy Le Roux, the treasurer at the JDI Foundation Trust – the official organiser of the race, said there have already been 432 laps completed with just under R700 000 raised to reach the R 1 million mark.
"The support has been incredible and we cannot be more grateful,” she said.
Visit https://charitychallenge.co.za/