Saturday, February 1, 2025

Trail Running

Sportspeople can pivot too – the story of a rugby player turned ultra-distance runner

By Stephen Granger Two years ago, a re-wired former South African provincial rugby player signalled his arrival on the ultra-trail scene with a convincing win in the 50km Bastille Day Trail Run. Last weekend, Matt Healy reminded the local trail...

Scramble for places as Trail addition for Cape Town Marathon gets real

By Stephen Granger The only standard marathon on the African continent to have achieved World Athletics gold status has added a trail marathon carrying the signature of the country’s preeminent athlete trail athlete to its bouquet of events, from 2021. The...

Potential African moves on ‘Fast and Furious”

By Stephen Granger Several of Africa’s leading trail athletes take on the best in the world on Saturday (7 August) at one of the biggest and oldest races on the calendar – the Sierre Zinal (SZ) 31km – raced over...

African challenge on Golden Trail from Morocco’s Elazzaoui

by Stephen Granger Norwegian athlete Stian Angermund made it three in a row in the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) at the 20km Dolomyths Run in the Italian Alps on Sunday morning (18 July), while Moroccan Elhousine ‘Hassan’ Elazzaoui began...

South Africa’s McCann “splodges” to first victory in Europe’s summer season.

by Stephen Granger Cape Town trail athlete, Toni McCann, got her European summer off to a flying start with a convincing victory in the Gruyere Trail Charmey 24km race in western Switzerland on Saturday (July 17). Recent heavy rains in the...

Marathon de Sables for Nontuthuko Mgabhi

by Stephen Granger When Nontuthuko Mgabhi lines up in October at one of the world’s most gruelling footraces – the Marathon des Sables ( the Marathon of the Sands) - a multi-day stage race across 250km of scorching sands in the Sahara...

Africans hunt metal in the thin air of Chamonix

By Stephen Granger Morocco's Elhousine ‘Hassan’ Elazzoui lines up for his first ‘golden’ race of the year when he makes his way to the paragliding fields in Chamonix early on Sunday morning – the start of the second Golden Trail...

SA trail runners line up top Europe events

By Stephen Granger Two young South African trail athletes are set to take on the world and will shortly be bound for Europe, where they will be looking to measure their ability against the best on the planet. In Toni McCann...

Team Salomon double at the Olla de Nuria

by Stephen Granger Norwegian Stian Angermund bounced back to his best form to win the Golden Trail World Series opener at Olla de Nuria in the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain on Sunday (June 13, 2021). Golden Trail Champion, Maude Mathys, made...

Golden Trail kicks off with tough Spaniard

Trail running turns golden this weekend with the running of the feared 21,5km Olla de Núria in the Spanish Pyrenees on Sunday. After COVID cancellations of the 2020 Golden Trail World Series season and the planned 2021 opener at Zegama, the...