Eleven mowers that bit the dust, a Grinch who stole the show for best costume, and turbocharged funding for Nelson Tasman Hospice and Cancer Society Nelson Tasman.
Mowsworth Rampage’s sequel was beyond ho-hum on Saturday with 38 bladeless ride-on lawnmowers and around 50 people from as far afield as Sydney in full throttle as individuals or teams for 12 hours, with support vehicles in convoy.
Organiser Stuart Newport says, despite the mechanical woes along the 86km Molesworth Track, the first only 50m from the Molesworth Cob Cottage start line, their riders weren’t cut up and had “an absolute ball”.
“Certainly a lot harsher on machinery this year, but that’s one of the whole reasons behind it. If it was easy everyone would do it, so hats off to all of them that did their best, it was just machinery that let them down,” he says.
“They still had a fantastic day, and raised a fantastic amount of money… I certainly don’t think that any of them, be it riders or volunteers, haven’t been touched by [cancer] in any way.
“We certainly had some winds that were very trying and quite hard on people sitting on mowers and getting sandblasted and rocks thrown at them by the wind, and that pales in comparison.”
Stuart says the Mowsworth Rampage clan became the “talk of the town” at the Hanmer Springs finish line.
“The local fire department took us for a great little tour around [Hanmer Springs] with lights and sirens, which brought out a huge number of people out of motels and bars and restaurants. A number of their crew were running around with buckets, collecting some much-needed money.”
As of 20 October, more than $62,000 has been raised, with donations remaining open for another three weeks.
Visit: mowsworthrampage.co.nz/sponsor to donate.
