by Stephen Granger
RMB Ultra Trail Cape Town (UTCT) celebrates its 10th anniversary this weekend, with athletes from almost fifty countries preparing to race one of six races on offer in Africa’s leading trail event.
One of ten World Trail Majors – high profile trail events on four continents attracting growing numbers of the world’s leading trail athletes – UTCT has added an additional race to its bouquet for this year’s three-day festival of trail – a ‘Kickstart’ 16km, offered as a challenging entry-level race to complement the existing 100 mile, 100km, 55km, 35km and 23km races it has offered since COVID.
UTCT provides participants with an ideal low-carbon option for visiting Cape Town’s popular tourist destinations, with its race routes taking runners to the likes of Lion’s Head, Maclears Beacon, Silvermine Nature Reserve, Simon’s Town, Scarborough, Chapman’s Peak, Constantia Nek and Kirstenbosch as well as some of the city’s world-famous beaches including Long Beach, Llandudno and Hout Bay Beaches and Sandy Bay.
“I’m proud that UTCT is regarded throughout the world as a premier trail run – that is a testament to our team as well as the wider trail community,” said Race Director, Stuart McConnachie, who has been closely involved with the race from the outset. McConnachie’s presence provides a calm hand on the tiller as UTCT negotiates many twists and turns, inevitable in as ambitious an event as is UTCT.
“This year is looking better than ever, with the UTCT 100km one of the most competitive races on the planet. We call it the Queen! But it saddens me that local athletes have not competed more strongly in this race. It would really be something special for a South African to win it again.”
“We’ve introduced a 16km race this year and called it the ‘Kickstarter’,” McConnachie continued. “It starts from Constantia Nek at 08h30 on Friday, goes up to the dams on the Back Table, drops down Kasteel’s Poort and then back along the Pipe Track to the finish at the Gardens Tech Rugby Grounds.
“It’s a way of getting more people at the grounds to see the finish of the 55km and the start of the 100 miler at 5pm.”
While the popular shorter races sell out rapidly, the biggest of all remains the 100 miler – 164km of trail linking the iconic Signal Hill, Lions Head and Table Mountain in the north with the more remote southern mountains near Simon’s Town and Scarborough before returning to race headquarters at the Gardens Tech Rugby Club in Oranjezicht.
“We’re very proud of the ‘Miler’ (the 100 mile race),” said McConnachie. “It connects many parts of the Peninsula and communities along the way. It provides a strong context for the whole event – an umbrella within which the other races are taking place.”
Strongly front-loaded in respect to vertical metres gained, the consolation for competitors is that much of the total elevation gain of 7516m in the 100 miler takes place in the early stages on fresh legs, although tough climbs from Alphen Trail to the contour path above Kirstenbosch and later from UCT to the King’s Blockhouse offer a sting in the tail before the finish.
The race starts with a climb to Signal Hill and around Lions Head, before runners tackle Platteklip Gorge to the top of Table Mountain, the longest vertical ascent of the race. From Maclear’s Beacon – Cape Town’s highest point, runners drop down to the Back Table, running along the magnificent 12 Apostles before taking on the technical descent of Llandudno Ravine to the Llandudno Aid Station.
The route flattens out along the remote scenic coastal stretches of Sandy Bay and beyond before a 600m climb to Suther Peak on the Karbonkelberg. Runners head down to the Hout Bay Aid Station and then into the Silvermine Mountains via East Fort and challenging Blackburn Ravine.
Runners will enjoy some respite between Silvermine and Kommetjie and again along Long Beach into Noordhoek before the fourth major climb up to Chapman’s Peak. From there, it’s homebound via Managanese Mines to Constantia Nek where they head through the vineyards and city greenbelts to reach Alphen Trail Aid Station.
There is still some climbing through technical sections of Cecilia and Newlands Forests, followed by a steep drop down to last Aid Station on the outskirts of the University of Cape Town.
The final 10km includes an intense climb to the Blockhouse and lower traverse of Devils Peak with the home stretch around the face of Table Mountain presenting incredible views of the City, the Atlantic Ocean, Table Mountain and Lions Head.
McConnachie is especially proud of the support from the trail community. “We have over 600 volunteers involved in making this a top event. Trail people will be on the ground throughout the Peninsula this weekend, from Table Mountain down to Scarborough in the south.
“My vision is to have thousands of spectators turning out along the routes to watch the runners, as the Two Oceans Marathon has achieved. We’re already attracting growing numbers after just ten years and I’m looking forward to many turning out next weekend.”
While the race routes are much the same as those late year, changes have been made to accommodate new circumstances.
“We are not running through the central city at the start of the 100 miler at 5pm as we did before,” McConnachie explained. “And the fires on the mountain, which burnt some of the boardwalks, have led to a minor change along Echo Valley.
“And we have also made some changes in the ‘Deep South’ in order to ensure the security of the route and the runners at all times. Runners may well welcome this change as the route now offers some easier, more runnable sections and they can just cruise along the road for a bit, approaching Scarborough and Kommetjie.”
McConnachie and his team have pulled out all the stops to ensure an incident-free event this year.
“We’ve had to address the issue of security to ensure the long-term future of the race,” admitted McConnachie. “We’ve worked closely with a number of groups, including a community policing forum and neighbourhood watch team at Ocean View and Kommetjie. I’m sure these will be of mutual benefit in the long term.
“We have a good working relationship with SANParks, although I would like to see more of a presence of Park officials on race day.
“UTCT is a high-profile sporting event with runners from almost fifty countries taking part. We are livestreaming around the world and I hope SANParks take full advantage of this opportunity to leverage publicity.”
Noordhoek is one of the communities deeply involved in the race and supporters and volunteers will gather at the local community centre early on Saturday, when the leader of the 100 mile race is expected through the aid station, 116km into the race.
Later in the day, Noordhoek residents will eagerly await the arrival through their aid station of ‘local hero’, environmental and running activist, Karoline Hanks, who will be running to raise funds for Project Noordhoeked, which promotes environmental sustainability and aesthetic beauty in the region.
Funds raised by Hanks will ensure the project is able to continue for another year, as well as enabling one of the four project workers, William Chirwa, to return home to Malawi to see his young son for the first time in seven years.
Chirwa is himself a talented trail athlete, having placed 8th in the 35km race last year in his first year in the sport and will be aiming to move up a place or two in this year’s UTCT ‘Table Mountain’ 35km.
Anyone wanting to contribute can do so via https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/running-100-miles-for-project-noordhoeked .
Don’t miss the main race preview on Thursday, with pre-race predictions on likely winners.
