{{Use South African English, date=October 2023 The Rhodes Trail Run is a 52 km trail run that takes place in the southern Drakensberg of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The event starts in the Victorian-era hamlet of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

at an altitude of 1800 m (5905 ft), and climbs (at one stage the gradient is 1:3) to 2677 m (8782 ft) at Lesotho View (on the

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

border) running along the Ben MacDhui snowfields before returning to Rhodes. There is a limited field on a pre-entry by invitation only basis, with a substitution system. Competitors are given 9 hours to complete the 50 km course (dependent on weather and terrain conditions), with a 4-hour 30 min cut off at the top of what is known as "Mavis's Bank" at the 21 km mark. Temperatures in previous years have dropped to negative 10 degrees Celsius.

Traditions

Local traditions for the race include the second to last table supplying runners with "Prairie Oysters" should they be hungry, and a polar bear club after the race, in the Bell River for those who are brave enough.

Results

2016 Male Winner: Hylton Dunn
2016 Female Winner: Leilani Scheffer

External links

Official site
Long-distance running competitions Ultramarathons in South Africa Recurring sporting events established in 1989

Traditions

Results

See also

External links