Eastern Cape trail maestro, Thato Kabeli, continued his domination over Drakensberg ultra-trails at the 9^th edition of the RMB Ultra-trail Drakensberg over the weekend but it was a visiting American who stole the show with one of the best performances ever seen at the annual trail running festival in the Maloti-Drakensberg UNESCO World Heritage mountains.

The three-day event has become an important economic fillip for the wider Underberg region and draws athletes from across South Africa and beyond, transforming the valleys in and around race HQ at the Premier Resort Sani Pass into a vibrant hub of sport, community, and natural wonder.

Races over six distances, ranging from 14km to 100 miles, take athletes through some of the Southern Drakensberg’s most iconic terrain, incorporating legendary features including Sani Pass, the Twelve Apostles, Khanti Ridge, Hodgson’s Peaks, Garden Castle, Rhino Peak, and Langalibalele’s Pass.

Known for its pristine natural beauty, biodiversity and cultural wealth of San rock art, the 60km plus Giant’s Cup Hiking Trail forms the backbone of four of the six courses.

Usually completed as a five-day hike, athletes competing at the sharp end of the ‘Giant’s Cup Uncut’ (GCU) along the ‘path through paradise’ complete the race in under six hours and this race proved the stand-out in the 2026 UTD weekend.

In 2022 race an attractive financial incentive for the first athlete to do the ‘impossible’ – run the race in under six hours – resulted in Johardt van Heerden and Daniel Claassen both dipping under six hours for the first time.

With American Terrex trail athlete, Cody Lind, taking on a strong line-up in the GCU, including last year’s UTD 36km winner, Robbie Rorich, fresh from a training stint in Kenya, consistent performer Mvuyisi Gcogco and rising Limpopo star, Remaketse Lekaka, Van Heerden’s record of 5:50:08 was under threat.

“The race was great – nice and fast from the start,” said Gcogco. “Robbie had clearly benefitted from his training in Kenya as he and Remaketse set a fast pace. The guys were too fast for me and I fell back but my heart is full and I was grateful to finish on a high note.”

Lekaka led the field through the first checkpoint at the Swiman Trail Hut 14,2km into the race, racing through in 1:15:35, 28 seconds up on Rorich with Lind, who had recovered from a hard fall shortly before the aid station, and Gcogco about 30 seconds further back.

It was déjà vu for Rorich, who had overnighted at the trail hut a week earlier when he had hiked the trail at the more conventional five-day pace after returning from Kenya.

“Yes, it was a fast pace and I guess I was partly to blame for that,” Rorich joked, reflecting that he and Lekaka had led the field through 28km at Castleburn Aid Station on the banks of the Mzimkulu River, with Lind just over a minute back in third.

The two South Africans maintained an honest pace, with Rorich holding a slender lead over Lekaka through the third aid station at Mzimkhulwana Hut (39km).  Lind kept the leaders in sight a minute back in third.

The testing climb out of the Mzimkhulwana valley brought a dramatic change as Rorich’s legs started to tire.

“I don’t think my training in Kenya was as focused as it could have been,” admitted Rorich. “I had a few other distractions, including building a house!  And my legs were a bit sore after the hiking trail. I was finding it quite warm but managed to cool off with a few quick swims along the way.”

As Rorich and Lekaka slowed, Lind made his move on the climb, overtaking Lekaka before taking the lead from Rorich 16km from the finish.

“When he came past, he said ‘youre looking great and running well’ then promptly vanished into the distance!” Rorich remarked. “I tried to go with him for a short way but he was too strong.”

Having shared his grandfather and father’s passion for outdoor adventure, and raised in the high-altitude mountain region of Idaho, Lind felt perfectly at home in South Africa’s largest mountain wilderness.

The American accelerated on the descent towards the Cobham Aid Station, 13km from home, which he reached in 4:14:49, well inside record pace.  Rorich and Lekaka trailed four and six minutes off the pace respectively.

Lind had warmed up for his date in the Drakensberg with a win at the Entrelacs Trail Marathon while enjoying a training spell in the French Alps earlier this month.

He was now in his element as he sped to the finish to cross the line at the Sani Pass Hotel in 5:24:52 –  more than 25 minutes inside Van Heerden’s ‘impossible’ 2022 mark on the same weekend that Kenyan Sabastian Sawe was engaged with another ‘impossible’ feat of athleticism in London, where he won the marathon in 1:59:30.

Rorich finished 21 minutes back in 5:43:50 but was also well inside the previous course record with Lekaka just outside the mark, finishing third in 5:54:00. Gcogco finished strongly for an impressive 4^th, missing the 6 hour mark by just 26 seconds but running 18 minutes faster than his time last year when placing second to Admire Muzopambwa.

“That was such an incredible race and it’s so fun to run in the Drakensberg – I’m so glad I was able to get her for the race,” said Lind to SPNA. “It’s such a magical place!

“Yeah, it went well and I managed to piece together a pretty good race. I had some battles early on but I stuck with a good plan and managed to have a pretty strong last 20-22km of the race.

“Robbie (Rorich) was running so strongly but I managed to pull a lead 3km before Cobham. There is always lots to manage late in a race and I was very happy with my tactics.”

French athlete, Olivia Dubern, continued her strong showing on the mountain trails in recent years and after last year’s 36km winner, Samantha Reilly, dropped out 15km into the race, not fully recovered from a devastating ankle injury last July, she was in a class of her own, winning an an impressive 6:42:33 – 35 minutes clear of second-placed Nadia Booyens.

Thato Kabeli doesn’t do sprint finishes.  Last year he came home almost two hours clear of his nearest rival in the UTD 100 and this year, competing in the ‘grand-daddy’ UTD Miler over 160,5km, his margin over second-placed Matt Dove was almost as big.

Kabeli came home after his ‘night out’ in South Africa and Lesotho’s tallest mountains, in 24:24:57 – an impressive time for the new and significantly more challenging course which added a massive 1700m to the already taxing total elevation of 4500m from previous years.

Dove raced well throughout to cross the line at Sani Pass Hotel in 26:10:35 with early race leader, 2024 UTD Miler winner and last year’s GCU 62km champion, Admire Muzopambwa, finishing a further hour behind in third.

Moving away from the traditional start at the ‘highest pub in Africa’ at the Lesotho border, this year started along the Giant’s Cup Trail before runners ascended Sani Pass and crossed into Lesotho just less than 70km into the race.

“It was good as always – windy, cold and tough, especially in Lesotho,” recounted Muzopambwa.  “I entered the Miler as I wanted to experience Thabana Ntlenyana – at 3482m the highest point in Southern Africa – as the route in 2024 didn’t include that peak.

“Conditions were good on the South African side and I led the race for the first 70km before struggling a bit on the climb up Sani Pass.”

Muzopambwa was 10 minutes clear of Kabeli and Matt Dove through Sani Road at 60km and 3 minutes ahead of the chasing pair at the RSA border post, 68km into the race.

Kabeli’s strength on the climb enabled him to turn a three minute deficit at the South African border post to a minute advantage over Muzopambwa at the top of the iconic pass 76km into the race.

Dove trailed in third, a further minute back as the race leaders jockeyed for supremacy at sunset on Friday at the start of the toughest portion of the race – a 50km night circuit through the Lesotho Highlands.

Kabeli reached Thabana Ntlenyana (92km) at 11pm with Dove just four minutes back and still in contention. Muzopambwa followed 20 minutes later, descending through the mid-night hour in testing conditions.

“It was cold and the wind was up to 35 km per hour,” said Muzopambwa. “Mostly there were no paths to follow – we just had to traverse across the mountains using our GPS and often not sure of where we were.”

Kabeli continued to gain on his rivals and was an hour clear of Dove at the start of the descent from the top border post through 128km with Muzopambwa a further hour back in third.

Kabeli was in the zone, drawing further away on the stretch to the final aid station at Salt and Pepper before a strong final 10km took him across the line in 24:24:57 – 1 hr 45 min clear of Dove, with Muzopambwa over an hour back in third.

“I started my descent at sunrise,” said Muzopambwa, “and felt stronger as it warmed up back in South Africa.  But they were too far ahead and it was too late to chase.  But I’m happy with my position – I tried my best and left everything out on the mountain!”

South African Rinel McLaren held off her two American rivals, Lee Conner and Karmell Ohlrogger, to win the women’s race in 41:23:53.

The UTD 100, also run over a new 98km course, got underway pre-dawn on Saturday.  David Pearce took over from race leader, Oli Morris, at the Sani Road Aid Station through 60km and proved the stronger in the final quarter, racing home in 11:52:39. Morris was just over 30 minutes back in second with Skye Clark completing the podium.

In one of the most competitive duals of the weekend, Celine Cloete came out on top over Annamart Marincowitz by just over eight minutes in the women’s UTD 100 contest, winning in 13:40:25 after taking the lead shortly after the South African Border Post.  Former UTD Miler winner, Ionna Keppler, finished third.

Marincowitz was one of the country’s leading sub-marathon trail athletes while a medical student at Stellenbosch University a decade back before her husband persuaded her to dabble in ultra-distance races.

Now a registrar in ophthalmology at Tygerberg Hospital, Marincowitz struggles to find time to train but nonetheless enjoys the mental and physical challenge of racing ultra-trails.

“This was my 3^rd ultra after I did the UTCT 100km in 2022 and 2025 (where Marincowitz placed 9^th and 11^th respectively in strong international fields). I’m pretty happy with my run – I hadn’t planned on racing, just to take part for the experience, and I was grateful just to be out there and finish without injury.”

Marincowitz, Cloete and Christy Richards formed the lead pack from the start, racing together through the first two checkpoints at Swiman (14km) and Castleburn (28km) before Marincowitz moved ahead between Castleburn and Mzimkhulwana, passing the latter station at 37km with a three-minute lead on the chasing pair.

Richards was forced to withdraw as Cloete began to close the gap, which had grown to five minutes at Cobham, drawing level with Marincowitz 30km from home.

“I felt quite slow up Sani Pass to the border post,” Marincowitz admitted. “I was feeling nauseous and couldn’t hold anything down and my energy levels dropped.

“Celine came past shortly after that aid station at the border post. I tried my best, but every time I got close to her she would surge away again.  I couldn’t catch her!”

Stellenbosch-based athlete, Jacques du Plessis, won an emphatic victory in the Sundowner Race over 37km, which kick-started the weekend’s racing on Friday afternoon, racing to a nine minute win in 2:53:18, while South African trail-running legend, Meg Mackenzie, showed she has lost little of her trail magic with a convincing victory over Mila Geldenhuys in the women’s contest, winning by 11 minutes in 3:18:44.

Tsielo Tsanyane regained the DRJ 25 title he won in 2024 with a close-fought victory (2:16:48) over Mdu Dlamini and last year’s winner, Eric Ngubane, with Samantha Pringle winning the women’s contest in 2:31:26.

Results

UTD 100  97,9km

UTD 100  97,9km

GCU 61.8km

SDR 33,8km

DRJ 25km

GXA 14km

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