March 8, 2016

United in sport – from the Argus to the Two Oceans

South Africa is a sporting nation. Our amazing climate, diverse landscapes and passionate people lend themselves to massive global events like the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons, the Midmar Mile, the Cape Epic and Cape Town Cycle Tour (a.k.a. the Argus).

The latter took place on Sunday, 6 March 2015, with many people from the insurance industry and the CN&CO network participating.

“Participating in any sport or physical activity is a great start in achieving work-life balance,” says CN&CO’s Carel Nolte. “It helps to relieve stress (although for some people, sports like golf have the opposite effect!), builds business and social networks, and impacts on your health and energy levels.”

David Harpur preparing to ride his 22nd Argus in Cape Town on 6 March 2016. The "21" jersey is awarded to Argus riders on completion of their 21st cycle tour.

David Harpur preparing to ride his 22nd Argus in Cape Town on 6 March 2016. The “21” jersey is awarded to Argus riders on completion of their 21st cycle tour.

For David Harpur, CEO of the Insurance Institute of South Africa, last weekend’s Argus was his 22nd.

“For me the Argus is the highlight of the road-cycling calendar in South Africa,” he says. “It not only provides a point of focus in terms of my training, the day itself is always a reminder of the passion that we have as a nation for sport and camaraderie.

“There are distinct lessons that you can draw from these events to apply in business – goal-setting, preparation, teamwork-in-competition, achievement, reward and celebration. Not to mention the freedom and the beauty you experience riding in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.”

As a long-distance runner, Carel says he uses his time on the road to focus on what’s left once the screens and the people aren’t there.

“People are, of course, hugely important in business, as is technology,” he says. “But I find the best way to gain perspective is to remove yourself from the most important things for a few hours and then come back and have another look. It’s incredible what you see.”

The next big event is the Two Oceans Marathon, which will be held in Cape Town on the Easter weekend. CN&CO’s Rob Christian will be running the marathon… with a twist. He and his fellow members of fundraising group Mad2Run will be running relay-style from Joburg to Cape Town, arriving the day before the marathon, and then running the marathon itself.

Mad2Run aims to raise R500 000 for Francois Pienaar’s Make A Difference Leadership Foundation.

“So far we’re at R400 000, with only nine days to go,” says Rob. “The atmosphere is nail-biting at Mad2Run central as we put in our final effort to get the last R100 000 in!”

If you’d like to contribute to the Mad2Run initiative, visit the Mad2Run donations page. (It’s really cool… you can even donate using SnapScan.)

For highlights of the Argus, visit the Cape Town Cycle Tour Twitter feed.