ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Awards

MODERN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Bianca Tarboton was the highest-placed South African at the World Championships , leading the way with an impressive 1:13:54 for 34th position against the world ’ s best in the 15.5km mountain-running event , before racing to 22nd place in 3:19:41 at the Sierra Zinal 31km in Switzerland in August , in one of the world ’ s most competitive trail races .

Her list of accolades for 2023 is far longer , but many of the other highlights fall into the marathon distance category , where she was not only nominated for a second time , but was selected as the winner of a second time , so read on to hear her thoughts about her two wins , her stellar year , and her plans for 2024 .

In terms of shorter racing plans for 2024 , Bianca says she is looking for more speed this year . “ I ’ m very excited for my future in the light of how well my racing went last year . My plans for 2024 are still in the air , but I think I will mostly compete in the Golden Trail Series . I ’ m therefore planning to do some local road races early in the year to build up some speed leading up to Golden Trail . So , the Lighthouse 10km and the SPAR 10km Challenge in March are on the schedule , leading up to the Two Oceans Half Marathon in April , which is a fun road race .”

Marathon Distances – 33km to 49km

The Otter African Trail Run remains the country ’ s premier marathondistance trail race in respect of depth of quality , and last year , Kane Reilly ran his best race in 11 appearances at Otter . He crossed the floating finish line on the Grootrivier Lagoon just one minute 58 seconds behind world-class race winner , Scot Robbie Simpson . Reilly ’ s 4:14:34 in muddy conditions represents one of the best performances at Otter by a South African , and just one week later , only a well-judged race from Daniel Claassen prevented Kane from retaining his Cape Town Trail Marathon title , but his 4:27:55 for second place in tough conditions , 13 minutes outside his own record , represented another solid effort for one of the country ’ s most consistent trail athletes of the past decade .

Adding to Kane ’ s 2023 CV was a solid 33rd position at the competitive Mont Blanc Marathon in June , a 22-minute win over Kyle Bucklow in the 40km Hout Bay Trail Challenge in July , and most profoundly , his 72nd position and first South African home at

the 45km ‘ Short Trail ’ race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Austria . Kane faced a staggering 3600m of vertical gain and the deepest quality field of any trail race on the planet .

“ It ’ s awesome to have won – I ’ m very happy and really like the idea of awards . Like many of the international awards , they create a lot of interest and will do so in future . In the USA , these things are especially big , and I always find it interesting to follow them . It ’ s something nice for athletes to shoot for – a bit more hype and recognition at the end of the year ,” says Kane .

“ Going to World Champs was a really , really great experience and I ’ m looking forward to future World Championships . The Otter is always a highlight , but last year was special , as it was probably my best Otter to date in terms of how I felt at the end . I went in not knowing how it would go , as a lot more of my training had been geared to shorter distances . I was unsure how I would handle the full marathon ,

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