Roodepoort police constable, Kennedy Sekhuthe, came out on top in the 2025 RMB Ultra-trail Drakensberg One Hundred Miler over the weekend (25-27 April), while tough-as-nails ultra-athlete, Nicolette Griffioen, defended her title to take the honours in the women’s competition.
5th in last year’s UTD100 over 100km and 6th in the 2023 UTD100, Sekhuthe found his mojo in the longer race over 163km, finally breaking the tape at Race Village at Glencair Farm 25 hours 8 minutes and 26 seconds after the start at the Sani Border Post into Lesotho.
In one of the most closely-contested races in the classic ‘Miler’ history, Sekhutshe saw off the strong challenges of two Martins – Thomson and Malherbe – before finishing 30 minutes clear of Malherbe. Strong-finishing Griffioen followed just 17 minutes behind in third.
While someway off the times recorded in recent years by Ryan Sandes, Doug Pickard and Admire Muzompambwa (last year), Sekhuthe’s win had all the bells and whistles of an intriguing ultra-marathon contest, with the three leading athletes within just five minutes of each other through Castleburn, more than three quarters into the race.
After Sekhuthe’s accustomed early lead, Thomson drew level at the start of the descent into South Africa 26km into the race. Little separated the two for the next 50k, and with Thomson reaching the Balam Aid Station (73km) just 90 seconds up on his rival.
Sekhuthe changed the game on the next stage and was 27 minutes clear of Thomson through Wild Dog Gate 86km into the race. But Malherbe and Thomson hit back and were just 1 min 22 sec and 4 min 19 sec off the pace at Castleburn respectively. Griffioen was running consistently in fourth, just over an hour behind the leaders.
Drawing strength from the sunrise shortly after passing Mzimkulwana Hut 145km into the race, Sekhuthe again opened on his rivals and was 12 minutes and then 20 minutes clear of Malherbe through Mzimkulwana (137km) and Cobham (145km) before racing home to a memorable victory.
Griffioen was the strongest over the final quarter, closing 23 minutes on Sekhuthe in the final 30 minutes to finish third overall in 25:56:06, just five minutes outside her time last year.
“A consistent effort, it went okay,” Griffioen reflected. “I didn’t feel great at altitude (in Lesotho) but managed to make up the 30 min I lost there during the rest of the race, to finish in a similar time to last year.
“It was very drizzly and cool most of Friday but cleared up in the early hours of Saturday morning. This made for a chilly pre-dawn followed by a great sunrise and a hot finish. So a little bit of everything in terms of the weather!”
Eastern Cape athlete from the Barkly East region, Thato Kabeli, added the UTD 100km title to his ever-growing collection following his wins last year in the Addo Elephant 80km and his ‘home-town’ SkyRun 100km.
Kabeli was in a class of his own, winning by almost two hours over Nicholaas du Plessis in 11 hr 53 min 33 sec, 15 minutes inside Oli Morris’ winning time last year, with American Andre Gayraud and German Jesse Bonwitt crossing the line together in third in 13:45:47.
Melissa Laing defended her title, winning in 14:28:23, some 10 minutes slower than her time last year and a yawning 1 hr 37min ahead of second-placed Neelke Stadler.
While the longer distances typically catch more attention, this year’s ‘Giant Cup Uncut’ 65km (GCU65) and the Sundowner Run 36km (SDR36) attracted the best fields and saw the most competitive racing of the weekend.
Zimbabwe-born Admire Muzopambwa, winner of last month’s the Pass to Pass 100km and last year’s UTD Miler, underlined his trail running class by seeing off the challenges of last year’s winner, Mvuyisi Gcogco, Kyle Bucklow and Oli Morris to win by 17 minutes in 6:01:44, just over two minutes outside Gcogco’s time last year.
Gcogco came through in second in 6:18:27 with Bucklow completing the podium in a solid 6:22:11.
Cape Town-based French athlete, Olivia Dubern, raced to an impressive win in the women’s competition, finishing 6th overall in 7:08:28 – 23 minutes clear of her compatriot, Victoria Devouge. KZN veteran, Ruth Cozien, finished third.
Muzopambwa tells the story. “It was a good race for me. I felt very strong in first half and opened gap on the field (running with fellow-Zimbabwean, Ignatius Gorejena, he was almost two minutes clear through Swiman after 13km).
“I thought perhaps I’d gone out too fast so I slowed up a bit on the technical descents. Then Oli Morris (winner of last year’s UTD100) caught me about 23km in and we ran together through Castleburn before MV (Gcogco) caught us.
“I just stayed behind MV for a while so I could assess his strengths and weaknesses and get an understanding of how he would run the ups and downs.”
Muzopambwa and Gcgoco raced through Mzimkulwana (37km) in 3:32:02, some three minutes clear of Morris with Bucklow close behind in 4th.
“After Mzimkulwana I ran strongly to build a gap on MV and he was about three minutes behind as I reached to Cobham with 17km to go. I needed to use every climb to get further away from him as I knew how fast he was on the downhills and that he would come hard at me.
“I knew well how to tackle the hills and descent to the Sani Pass Road for the final flat 8km. I knew I had good speed there as that was where I ran away from Matt Bouch in last year’s 100 miler. In the end it worked out well.
“At one stage the race looked like it was going to deliver a close contest between us, with MV catching me on the descent to the finish. But I was happy that I was able to provide a different story at the finish!”
Engineer, artist and trail runner extraordinaire, Rob Rorich, added to his impressive legacy with an emphatic victory in the SDR36, surprising those who thought his total lack of training in the past month might have hindered his title defence.
Timing his race to perfection, Rorich overtook race leader, Kane Reilly, 12 km from the finish to race to a four-minute victory in 3:10:51 – over five minutes inside his winning time last year. Bongani Mbanjwa finished 7 minutes behind Reilly in third, less than two minutes clear of Collin Kanyimo.
“It went well – it was good to push to the limit and try to hold that spot,” Rorich revealed. “Perhaps that was a test of my mental strength – how hard I could just keep pushing.
“I didn’t run with Kane (Reilly) at all. I was behind him from the start. I ran with Collin (Kanyimo) on the climb from Cobham and then caught Kane near the top. It was a bit chaotic – there were about 20 hikers on the path where I caught Kane.
“I’d got into a good rhythm at that point and simply continued at that pace. Kane didn’t come with me. I enjoyed the descent but was concerned about the flat section over the last 8km. In the end I managed to keep going for the win.
“I ran a Sky Race in the Canary Islands a month ago (Rorich placed 21st in the Acantilados Skyrace in a competitive international field) but have hardly run since as I’ve been moving up to Zimbabwe with my partner.
“Perhaps letting things go as I left South Africa meant I was ‘running light’ and compensated for my lack of training!”
Equally impressive was Sam Reilly’s outstanding performance in the women’s race. Sister to Kane, Reilly finished strongly in 7th place overall in 3:32:01, just 22 minutes behind Rorich’s winning time and all of forty minutes inside Protea athlete, Lijan Burger’s course record set last year.
“I was quite nervous as the race is shorter than my comfort zone right now,” said Reilly. “I guess I wasn’t sure how to plan for it but I really loved it. It’s such a beautiful trail.
“I think I had a good race and I’m happy with the speed I ran it. I’m used to planning my ultra-races according to time splits, but in this race I just ran according to how I felt.
“Apart from a fall at 25km the race went well,” Reilly continued. “I got up and prayed I wouldn’t fall again, and I was careful how I placed my feet on the last descent.
“Generally, I felt strong on the climbs and was relieved I was able to maintain my form to the end. I had some coke at the final aid station at Sani Valley Gate and then just went for it to the finish.”
Veteran Eric Ngubane and youthful Mila Geldenhuys took line honours in the Drakensberg Rock Jumper 25km, winning in 2:12:13 and 2:33:54 respectively.
2025 Ultra-trail Drakensberg Winners
UTD MILER MEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Kennedy Sekhuthe | 25:08:26 | South Africa |
| 2 | Martin Malherbe | 25:38:58 | South Africa |
| 3 | Matthew Thomson | 26:33:21 | South Africa |
UTD MILER WOMEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Nicolette Griffioen | 25:56:06 | South Africa |
| 2 | Cecilia Ballam | 37:19:02 | South Africa |
| 2 | Carien De Bruyn | 37:19:02 | South Africa |
| 2 | Cornel Metcalfe | 37:19:02 | South Africa |
UTD100 MEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Thato Kabeli | 11:53:33 | South Africa |
| 2 | Nicholaas Du Plessis | 13:45:15 | South Africa |
| 3 | Andre Gayraud | 13:53:47 | United States |
| 3 | Jesse Bonwitt | 13:53:47 | Germany |
UTD100 WOMEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Melissa Laing | 14:28:23 | South Africa |
| 2 | Neelke Stadler | 16:05:00 | South Africa |
| 3 | Ayesha Makim-Specker | 16:49:07 | Australia |
GCU65 MEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Admire Muzopambwa | 6:01:44 | Zimbabwe |
| 2 | Mvuyisi Gcogco | 6:18:27 | South Africa |
| 3 | Kyle Bucklow | 6:22:11 | South Africa |
GCU65 WOMEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Olivia Dubern | 7:08:28 | France |
| 2 | Victoria Devouge | 7:31:17 | France |
| 3 | Ruth Cozien | 7:38:22 | South Africa |
SDR36 MEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Robbie Rorich | 3:10:51 | South Africa |
| 2 | Kane Reilly | 3:15:10 | South Africa |
| 3 | Bongani Mbanjwa | 3:22:18 | South Africa |
SDR36 WOMEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Samantha Reilly | 3:32:01 | South Africa |
| 2 | Nicola Vahrmeijer | 4:07:33 | South Africa |
| 3 | Mari Rabie | 4:10:54 | South Africa |
DRJ25 MEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Eric Ngubane | 2:12:13 | South Africa |
| 2 | Brode Gleeson | 2:15:22 | South Africa |
| 3 | Mdu Dlamini | 2:19:22 | South Africa |
DRJ WOMEN
| Position | Name | Finish | Country |
| 1 | Mila Geldenhuys | 2:33:54 | South Africa |
| 2 | Nita Van Rensburg | 3:06:36 | South Africa |
| 3 | Liesbeth Slabbert | 3:06:37 | South Africa |
