The End of the Beginning

Indeed the 2016 Team of MAD2Run is only 24 hours away from the 1 500km send off out of Jeppe Boys in Joburg for the run to Cape Town in a 24/7 relay effort to raise funds and awareness for education and the future leaders of our beautiful country, South Africa. Mixed emotions of anxiety, excitement, fear, delight, enthusiasm,  suspense and determination fill the hearts and minds of the 2016 Team.

It has been a short but grueling road for the team which has in a little more than 5 months raised R450 000.00 in between all members holding down full-time jobs. There has been an incredible synergy among the group which  has coordinated successful fund raising events (Comedy Evening and the Golf Day), secured generous and compassionate sponsors (Multichoice, Let’s Play, WeChat, Sovtech) and expanded a huge network of friends, families and possibly foes into donating to our cause ;). Team Shake ‘n Bake would like to take this opportunity to thank MAD2Run’16 for being such amazing, caring, energetic and loving people who certainly make this world go round. You guys have been an absolute pleasure to work with, play with, train with and possibly run down to Cape Town with, time will tell 😉

These guys ‘n girls (and some not shown) be AWESOME!!!! – We are one lean, mean, green finely-tuned athletic running machine!!!

When we started our little mission for MAD2Run we always imagined the actual run being the grand finale of our contribution to the Make A Difference Leadership Foundation and MAD2Run organisation. However, our magical journey with the organization has only installed a love and passion for what the charity does and has grown the MAD family into a 3rd generation of MADSTERS!

Some advice that I think we can all relate too 🙂 MWA xxx

In line with the title of this post, it is not the end for team 2016 – it is simply the end of our beginning. The 2016 team will not be a memory of MAD2Run after this year’s run. We will form part of a greater MAD family to only further spread the wings and dreams of the organization’s ability and vision to bring transformation  to the youth of South Africa in the years to come. The journey is far from over but… I guess its time to put your money where our mouths were – and smash this run in the face!!!

An orthophotic view ( we think) of our route from the International Space Station 😉

On a lighter note – some of you may have seen a beautiful fairy pouncing along William Nicol on Tuesday. The green fairy (with no association to Absinthe) was non other than MAD2Run’s Andrew “Cooler” Chouler. The fine specimen challenges Handsome Rob in looks and Thor in strength. But his efforts were not in vane – Cooler’s sacrifice was a selfless act in a final effort to raise some funds and awareness (Because things seem to always sell better when you do it half naked). We hope you at least whistled if not hooted for the trooper. Just in case you missed this once in your life time opportunity, here is a sneak peak of the beautiful bugger!

The Sexiest Green Fairy in Town!

Team Shake ‘n Bake would like to finish this post off by saying a sincere thank you to every single one of our regular readers as well as our occasional Facebook drop-ins. The word of mouth marketing is exponential.The reach of our social media efforts has exceeded our expectations and the generosity of the human spirit in supporting another ridiculous Shake ‘n Bake adventure as part of the MAD2Run family has been simply phenomenal. We hope to make you all proud and we will ensure that your generous donations are utilized as we have disclosed – to enable a talented and deserving child the opportunity to secondary and tertiary education so that they too can Make A Difference.

Wise words from a man who completely understood the meaning and significance of Transformation.

 

If you would still like to donate, Give and Gain is still running up until we finish our run on the 25th of March. We are only R50 000.00 away from reaching our R500 000.00 set goal with 7 days to spare 😉

For a quick donation, please click on the link:

Give ‘n Gain (MAD2Run 2016)

Its a 123 secure online payment and every Rand makes a difference.

We will do our best to keep the blog up to date on the run. (But do expect shorter to the point posts – we are expected to become run,eat,sleep robots for a week 🙂 ).

On behalf of Shake ‘n Bake, our MAD2Run Family and the Make A Difference Leadership Foundation:

Jon Oldnall, Rob Christian and Graeme Wiley – Would like you to remember:

 

“Keep it classy Sassy” – Ron Burgandy in Avicii mashup with  Shake ‘n Bake Rhyming

“Ride the Lightening” – Metallica. Its practically impossible but it doesn’t stop us from trying.

“Fist pump life in the face” – Team Shake ‘n Bake

“Carpe Diem” – A wise Latin person who had plenty of time to contemplate the complexities of life on a farming field a couple of centuries ago.

“YOLO” -“You Only Live Once”- A not so profound 21st century philosophy. We yet to meet someone who lived twice. But the idea is to do all you can when you can.

“Regrets, I have a few, but too few to mention” – Frank Sinatra. There is nothing else to say.

“Make the rest of your life, the best of your life!!!” – A cute pinterest phrase just to be adorable.

“You don’t need a reason to help people” – An observant but selfless person of this world

 

 But lets leave the best for LAST!!!

REMEMBER

 

All our Love and Kisses and Hugs

xxxx <3<3<3 xxxx

Team Shake ‘n Bake 2016

(Mic Drop)

 

Great News – Where to Start?

Well one would usually start Friday off by saying “Wohooooooo – its Fridayyyy Baby!!!!!” But since this is a Monday well we can say a whole bunch of other things in a slightly less joyous tone…(this post was written last Friday but due to editing constraints i.e. Handsome Rob being lazy it is only going out today). And now that the terrible pressure of Valentines Day is over, you can focus on absorbing all the information below:

The MAD Crew has some good news to share with you. Check this baby out ouens:

The MAD-MOBILE! If you see us on the road, give us a HOOT 🙂

That’s right, we now have have a pace vehicle to get us down to Cape Town. While the runners are running (which is basically what runners do duh) the MAD-MOBILE crawls a long behind them provided instant access to cold water and a very bored driver. A huge thanks to ACOT500 – specialists and leaders in vehicle branding and fancy light systems who made this possible! You okes rock. Why do we say that? Well because the MAD-MOBILE underwent it’s Botox and Face Upgrade completely free of charge thanks to the generous team at ACOT500! Boom, pow, whammy what legends. We are extremely grateful for how generous you have been and how quickly you provided your service! On behalf of the MAD2Run2016 Team – Huge Hugs and Kisses xxx

The MAD-MOBILE got put to immediate use for the annual event known as the Mini-Mad! The Mini-Mad is a trial run (no pun intended) of the actual event; a scaled down version of the full run down to Cape Town. Logistics, changeovers, ice-baths (which didn’t happen), toilet breaks (IndieBos n’ IndieBadkamer) and running were all rehearsed. The MAD2Run2016 team completed 360km in 36 hours running the suburbs of Joburg and the nowhere’s of Krugersdorp and the Cradle of Man Kind. One highlight was the watching Brad run past the Lion park, with all the lions right next to the fence. What particularly made this moment exciting (for the 4 people inside the pace vehicle at least) was one lioness decided to stalk him and the fences didn’t seem to be that high… Exciting for Brad in a different sense but still amusing to us watching his pace pick up suddenly.

Late Night Running for the Ladies – “So much room for activity”

Shake ‘n Bake Happy Faces at 2 a.m just before another 30 km’ s need to be covered!

Handsome bringing in some hot support whilst making sure the Pace Vehicle is simultaneously entertained. What a team player!

The final shift bringing in kilometer 360 with a trusty team up and waiting to receive them! Feel the love ❤

An amazing team on a mission to achieve an amazing feat! #MAD2Run2016

A special thanks must go to Dayle Raaff who did all the logistical planning and organizing for the Mini-Mad. More than this, the Raaff’s offered their house to the team on Friday night as a base camp. To Dan Ford and his family – thank you for hosting us on Saturday afternoon. Your food, pool and aircon in your bedroom were most appreciated :). To Dylan Hobbs – you were a terrible host to a lovely home.

Shake ‘n Bake Top Host Tips :

1. When you invite people to stay at your house at least be there to let them in when they arrive.
2. When you say you will be home in 45 minutes don’t call 5 hours later and say “I don’t know where I am”

Regardless Kim’s preparations for the team made us feel welcome and it was incredibly kind of the Hobbs’ to have us over. Then finally to our team mates. What an awesome weekend! We can’t wait for the full week down to Cape Town!

The Comedy Evening held two weeks ago was an absolute success and we would like to say a HUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGEE thank you to everyone involved. From the venue, Parkers Comedy Club, to the comedian who entertained us pro-bono and all you lovely people who attended the evening to make it a success, we really are grateful from the bottom of our hearts. Just over R70 000 was raised that evening in total which is a big boost to the fundraising efforts. You are all awesome.

In case you missed the Comedy Evening and now have FOMO because everyone had such a great time, don’t fret you can still experience the joy of a MAD2Run event! The annual MAD2Run Golf Day will take place on March 4th at Eagle Canyon and it promises to a lekker day showcasing the wide variety of talent that will be on display.

• 18 holes to demonstrate how awesome you are at golf
• Drinks carts driven by pretty ladies doing the rounds to keep you hydrated
• Antics/bets/wagers happening every so often to test your aforementioned “awesome golf abilities”
• A trick shot golfer displaying why you actually don’t have awesome golf abilities.
• An even better auction than the Comedy Evening, amazing dinner and amazing crew to have a cracking day with

If you are still sitting on the fence, think about this: you DESERVE to treat yourself to some golf on a Friday. We all know that is the only way business ever gets done these days so bill it as a “client-lunch” and come join us. You can view the booking form here

There is also a seeeeeeeeek (pronounced: siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick but in a squealy voice) raffle that lets you stand the chance to win a week long stay in De Zalze Golf Estate in Stellenbosch. Self catering for 10 people, you get to chill there and enjoy all that the winelands has to offer. Only R150 a pop (for a ticket that is) and the draw will happen at the golf day. Don’t worry, you do NOT NEED to be there at the draw to win 🙂

And finally, there is an even more insane prize up for bid (think Ebay without Ebay-all you do is bid your money on the Golf Day booking form) and you stand a chance to win a WEEK LONG STAY ON A KARIBA HOUSE BOAT!

That is an awesome prize. So don’t be shy, get involved. For any more information that you can’t find on MAD2Run just tune us on Facebook, email, Whatsapp or heavens, even send us an SMS

Cheers homies, have a schweet week and we will see you around!