Cape Town’s Ultra-Trail race has everything a runner could wish for
Ryan Sandes versus Bongmusa Mthembu versus Dylan Bowman – it’s a mouth-watering prospect for tomorrow’s fourth Ultra-Trail Cape Town (UTCT) 100km and no one really knows how it will all end.
South Africa’s best ultra-trail athlete against the first SA double Comrades Marathon winner since Bruce Fordyce against one of the United States’ best at the top of his game, while a host of other international athletes will also be in the mix for podium places.
SA’s trails have hosted some of the world’s best in recent years, with the likes of Kilian Jornet, Marc Lauenstein, Ricky Lightfoot, Ruby Muir and Stevie Kremer competing against the country’s best. But never before has there been such depth of world-class talent from around the globe in a trail race in SA.
With more than half the 100km field from outside SA, a top-10 position will be an impressive achievement for any local athlete. And it is a stretch to imagine that anyone bar Sandes and the Comrades stars will contend for that honour.
“I always guessed that if we provided the canvas that the world’s top runners would compete in Cape Town and that is what has happened,” commented race director, Nic Bornman. “This is a race that has everything a trail runner could wish for and I’m delighted with the response from athletes in our first participation as an Ultra-Trail World Tour event.”
The eyes of the trail-running world are fixed on the contest between Africa’s leading ultra-distance road athletes and some of the globe’s leading exponents of ultra-trail over one of the most physically and mentally taxing courses on the world circuit.
source: iol.co.za