Kirsten Landman, an inspirational female keynote speaker spoke about the year of twenty-twenty-SHE.
Not your average sportswoman
Landman is not your average sportswoman. She competes in the male dominated sport of Hard Enduro, but this has never held her back. She has made history by becoming the first female to finish extreme events such as Redbull Romaniacs, Sea to Sky, Redbull Megawatt 111, Redbull Braveman and The Roof of Africa.
But there is so much more to her story than these achievements. For Landman, competing in one of the most physically demanding sports in the world, and being one of the only females to truly excel in such a place, has been a passion of hers from a very young age. She has built an appetite for always aiming higher and realising her dreams.
Her career journey
After finishing school, Kirsten studied and worked to fund her own racing and training until she was picked up by her first sponsor in 2011. Her career kicked off properly when she entered her first ever extreme enduro, the Roof of Africa in 2012, where she managed a bronze finish.
In 2013, Kirsten’s abilities were duly noticed by South Africa’s most prestigious off road and enduro team, KTM SA. She joined their team and began competing nationally with them from there in both the enduro and off-road teams. Later that year in June 2013, high flying Kirsten’s career suffered an early setback with a life-threatening accident while racing the Dessert 1000 National in Botswana. She crashed at high speed and landed on a tree stump, sustaining life-threatening internal damage.
Due to complications with the medical treatment in Botswana, Kirsten was only treated 36 hours after the accident once being airlifted back to South Africa. Her pancreas was severed off from her small intestine, and due to the delay in treatment, all of Kirsten’s organs had gone septic. Being placed on life support and put into an induced coma, her recovery was like a roller coaster with many complications along the way. Nevertheless, she made a full recovery and returned to racing more motivated than ever, driven by her what was always her destiny.
In 2014 Kirsten made her first international appearance at Redbull Romaniacs, finishing the bronze class and being the highest placed female. Since then, Kirsten has made history by becoming the first and only female to finish international extreme events such as Redbull Romaniacs (Silver), Sea to Sky (Gold), Redbull Megawatt 111, Redbull Braveman and The Roof of Africa (Gold) in all male dominated classes.
Kirsten’s goals in 2018 shifted to the next level. To well and truly conquer her fears after the accident in Botswana, she knew she had to tackle the biggest off-road race of them all…the Dakar Rally.
This Dakar is no ordinary race. The Dakar is known as the toughest and most dangerous race of all time. It is 12 days of racing, 800+ kilometres per day, extreme cold, pain, fear and possible death are all the things the piolets of the Dakar will need to face.
Through this success, history was made. Kirsten was the 1st of 2 South African women to ever finish the Dakar Rally for 2020. Kirsten finished the Dakar Rally in 55th position overall and 3rd overall in the women’s category, thus becoming the 1st ever African to finish the Dakar Rally.
Her message to the ladies was clear, through adversity… never give up and keep pushing for what you truly believe in.
A charitable cause
As customary, members were asked to bring along R100 for the nominated charity, Tears Foundation. We also asked the ladies to bring along dog or cat food, blankets or toys for pets for the Saving Animals Movement (S.A.M) Foundation.
We would like to thank each one of you for your donations.
Lucky draws
A few lucky ladies walked away with prizes. Congratulations to all our lucky draw prize winners who walked away with amazing prizes:
1. 2 x R1000 wellness vouchers and 3 x wellness kits valued at R1000 each, sponsored by AIG;
2. 1 x Woolworths voucher, valued at R2500, sponsored by Bair Insurance Recruitment;
3. 1 x Woolworths voucher, valued at R2500, sponsored by Camargue Underwriting Managers;
4. 1 x CPD package (continuous professional development) of at least 18 CPD hours’ worth R3000, sponsored by Growth in Motion;
5. 1 x Jabra Elite 3 True Wireless In-Ear Earbuds With Mic, valued at R1300, sponsored by HIC Underwriting Managers;
6. 1 x R750 Poetry voucher, sponsored by Hollard Insure;
7. 2 x lush hampers, valued at R650 each, sponsored by Innovation Group;
8. 2 x gift vouchers valued at R500 each, sponsored by Invuya Institute of Learning;
9. Dinner and a French Champagne tasting experience for one lady and five of her industry friends overlooking the Westcliff, sponsored by iTOO Special Risks;
10. 1 x Woolworths voucher, valued at R1000, sponsored by Marsh;
11. 4 x diffusers from Woolworths valued at R300 each, sponsored by MUA Insurance Acceptances;
12. 2 x Pandora bracelets, valued at R1500 each, sponsored by ONE Insurance;
13. 4 x Easter hampers valued at R500 each, sponsored by Oneloyalty; and
14. 2 x Carol Boys Salad bowls valued at R700 each and 2 x Poetry diffusers valued at R450 each, sponsored by Tracker.
Thank you
GWII would like to thank main sponsor main sponsor Old Mutual Insure, co-sponsors Credit Guarantee, Insurance Crime Bureau and Osprey Logistics and Fleet Specialists and complimentary sponsors Consort Technical Underwriters, Cross Country Insurance Consultants, Digicall and Lloyd’s for their sponsorship and support for this event. Without our sponsors this would not be possible.
Thank you, Kirsten, for inspiring us. And to all the ladies, thank you for attending this event. We hope Kirsten inspired you with her story.
