TRAIL
The
Motherload of Stoke
The 10 th edition of the RMB Ultra-trail Cape Town took place in early December and once again delivered some of the most incredible racing action and trail running ‘ stoke ’ to be found in South Africa , and while the internationals took line honours in some events , there were also some impressive wins for local trail stars as the Mother City came out to celebrate its heroes . – BY SEAN FALCONER with MARYANN SHAW
When the RMB Ultra-trail Cape Town ( RMB UTCT ) was run for the first time in 2014 , it offers a flagship 100km as well as shorter 62km and 17km distances . Around 470 athletes entered across the three races , but the 100km field was still relatively small , and just 16 athletes finished the race within the tight cut-off time , with the south-easterly wind playing a large role in that . From that humble beginning , the UTCT ( as it is fondly known ) has grown into one of the world ’ s premier trail events .
Today , the UTCT offers five distances ( with more accommodating cut-off times ). The flagship event is now the UTCT ( 100 miles ), introduced in 2022 , with the Ultra-trail 100km ( UT100 ), Peninsula Traverse 55km ( PT55 ), Table Mountain 35km ( TM35 ) and Explorer 23km ( EX23 ) rounding out the programme . These five races now attract some 2400 runners , including about 400 international visitors , and since 2014 , entries have been received from nearly 70 different countries .
The 2023 edition , which saw the 10th running of the UTCT , once again delivered a host of stellar performances and exciting racing throughout race weekend , with some of the top trail runners from around the world as well South Africa battling for honours on the beautiful but technical mountain trails of the Cape Peninsula .
The UTCT 100 miler takes participants from the northern mountain range of the Mother City to the
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