THE Ultra-Trail Drakensberg Festival of Trail Running will take on a new dimension when it gets underway over the weekend of 28-29 April with the testing UTD160 being named as the latest addition to the event. Utilising the Maloti World Heritage Site has become a major draw card for the event and with the UTD160, or 100 Miler as they are more commonly known, now starting in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho it adds more appeal.
“There are many elements to the UTD160 that will draw people to it,” race organiser Spurgeon Flemington said. “The fact that you start at the Highest Pub in Africa, you tag the highest peak in Southern Africa, Thabana Ntlenyana, and you have to cross through the border post from Lesotho to South Africa during the race, to name a few.”
The Ultra-Trail Drakensberg festival is now in its second year and offers runners of every ability a chance to enjoy the Drakensberg with five different distances to choose from.
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The UTD160 has become the flagship event with the UTD100, GCU62, SDR30 and the Drakensberg Rockjumper two day race all falling under the ‘Festival of Trail’ banner.
Making the decision to add the 100 Miler to the line-up was an easy one for Flemington and Matt Goode, his partner in Running Man Adventures.
“I think it was the logical progression to create a 100 Miler.We have the mountains and the distance so it was definitely the next step. Once we had set up the meetings with the relevant parties in Lesotho everything ran smoothly and they were excited by the concept,” Flemington added.
Visit www.ultratraildrakensberg.com or www.drakrockjumper.co.za for more information.
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