The ToyRun PE
The 2023 ToyRun PE was such a huge success for the children, charities and the people of Gqeberha, Port Elizabeth.
If you don’t know what the ToyRun is all about, let me just give you the short version.
The Midnight Motorcycle Club PE run a biker inspired, Non Profit Organisation working for the benefit of underprivileged children. With the help of other biker clubs, they raise funds and collect toys and more which then finishes with a mass ride of all kinds of motorcycles starting at certain points in the city and supported by the metro police closing the roads, ride through the city with toys strapped to their bikes to donate to the children, while the public of Gqberha, Port Elizabeth line the roads to watch all the bike clubs and social riders show off their amazing bikes and loud pipes as they head off to a big after party.
This year i rode with the clubs to take the public into the clubs and show them a little of what goes and the amazingly big hearted biker community that does so much good, but mostly goes unseen.
So let me take you into the ToyRun PE and what it’s like to be a part of this.
It starts the day before when you get the toys you want to donate and start to carefully ziptie them to your bike and for me, the bike has to shine and look it’s best, it’s going to be on show to the city, so of course that happens along with making sure it’s as loud as possible!
On the morning of the ride, it’s early to meet the guys I was riding with, get some petrol and then head down to the meeting point which was the boardwalk in summerstrand. It was about 8am and the roads where noisy with bikes already meeting up with their clubs and friends to ride together and of course the pipes are loud and the bikers are excited to ride, so it’s revving, some wheelies and of course a few burnouts. i mean it’s just rubber, we can get some new ones on monday!
Then the ride to the beachfront early in the morning is so much fun, the cars are wondering “why have they got toys on their bikes?” Ten for those who forgot it’s ToyRun weekend, they start taking images with their phones and make plans to watch the mass ride. If you’ve never ridden a bike before, it’s something else and I can’t explain it, but you live it and the more you ride, the more you see the bikers around you for who they are and not the perceived assumptions many people have of them.
The bikes start rolling in, while the music is already going and the smell of loud exhausts and rubber fills the air and the chat starts with all the bikers checking out each others rides and catching up with old friends.
Just before the ride starts, the organisers call everyone together and they give the rules for the ride and always they end with a prayer and asking God for His protection and blessing for the ride. The noise is unreal, like a sound of thunder, just booming when the guys all start up and wait their turn to join the endless stream of bikes as they head out onto the road to deliver their toys and go party together for the rest of the day.
It’s really amazing to see as we ride, all the people with their children on the roadside all along the route which goes from one end of the city to the other, the smiles and joy on everyone’s faces as you rev the bike and wave, the little ones just amazed by the sights and sounds, the colours of all the thousands of bikes. Not just the little ones, the older ones get that look in their eye “i want a bike” and i guess a few conversations with their partners were had to, lol. But what an honour to ride with so many caring people.
The ride is amazing, but it’s also very warm, so when we get to the after party, something cool is definitely needed and the party starts and you get to meet the people. Whatever you may think of the bikers, you might be surprised to know what some of them actually do for a living, but they’re not really bothered what people think and that’s what makes them different, they are who they are and they do what they do.
Big hearts, big living and real
The ToyRun PE is held every year late in november, make sure you get in touch with the organisers on facebook or Instagram to see the details for the next ride. It is really something amazing to be a part of and knowing it’s all for the kids, makes it worthwhile.
Toyrun PE facebook page
ToyRun Pe Instagram page
Get in touch when you need your event covered, I’m looking forward to the next ride.