Sandes wins Ultra Trail hundred miler
ULTRA-distance trail-running star and Capetonian Ryan Sandes has won the Ultra Trail® Drakensberg UTD160 hundred miler, covering the new course at a pace never before achieved.
It was the 39-year-old’s first hundred-miler run in his home country and he didn’t disappoint as he ran away alone in brutally tough conditions in the southern Drakensberg.
From the start at the top of Sani Pass at 10am on Friday, the runners ran into thick mist and cold weather in Lesotho as they battled through the loop to the top of Thabana Ntlenyana, the highest peak in Southern Africa.
Sandes took the lead early on, with Kennedy Sekhuthe and Andrew Erasmus in hot pursuit, but by early afternoon both of the Erasmus brothers were forced to withdraw, Andrew falling and injuring his hip and Steven unable to shake of the effects of his bout of Covid-19 three months ago.
The runners were escorted through the Lesotho highlands by locals on horseback to ensure they stayed safely on the trails in the thick mist.
While Sandes powered away alone, taking care not to make a mistake on the misty 19km descent to Khanti Ridge, Grobler Basson moved closer to Sekhute, with 2018 winner Jock Green, who was battling with the sub-zero night temperatures. He eventually withdrew at the Sani Waterfall.
Sandes opted not to take his pacing runner with him as he powered away well clear at the front and reached the finish at the Premier Hotel Sani Pass just after 9am to post a race time of 22:30:38 for the 164km route.
Running his first hundred miler in his home country, Sandes was emotional, and told supporters along the route the entire experience had been special.
“There are not many races you get to where you get to cruise with locals on horseback. It has been an epic day. I am super happy with the way things went. The overall experience of the Ultra Trail® Drakensberg has been phenomenal,” he said.
Basson had the legs to drive past the tiring but impressive Sekhuhe to claim second, with Sekhuthe happy to make the podium in third.
In the women’s race Jo Keppler and Annalise Scholtz set the early pace, but the grit and class of former soldier Amri Williamson came to the fore as she moved steadily through the field to race into the top five overall. Keppler wrapped up second in the women’s race in a solid ninth place overall.
The race was led to the turn at the top of Sani Pass by Rory Scheffer from Christiaan Greyling and Admire Muzopambwa and local Phillip Shezi, with Comrades winner Ann Ashworth leading. Greyling and Muzopambwa then took charge of the middle section of the 100km race, as Sheffer fell back five minutes off the pace at the Cobham Road checkpoint. But the tables were turned in the return sector as Sheffer used his accumulated skills and form to power back to the front to win by 10 minutes from Greyling.
Ashworth ran with her husband, Dave, and made a superb transition to ultra-trail running from her marathon road base, as she finished seventh.