T Titans of the rails

In a year packed with trail action all over the world , 2023 delivered many great performances . These are our nominees for the trail running component of the inaugural Modern Athlete of the Year Awards . – BY STEPHEN GRANGER with JAMES MONTGOMERY & SEAN FALCONER

Sportsperson of the year contests typically provide lively , even heated discussion , but how much more so for a trail runner of the year contest , where a range of distances , gradients and degrees of terrain difficulty , as well as quality of opponents all need to be taken into account ? How does one compare performances over a technical 100-miler , for example , with a short , runnable mountain running event ? Typically , ultradistance trail races receive greater media coverage , and athletes excelling at these events are more likely to receive votes in awards contests , as was the case recently , when ultra-distance supremos Jim Walmsley and Courtney Dauwalter were named Trail Runners of the Year by the impressive USA-based Freetrail organisation . But it begs the question , how does one compare these ultra-runners with super-fast shorterdistance African athletes of the calibre of Patrick Kipngeno or Joyce Muthoi Njeru ?

So , Modern Athlete ’ s decision to include such a contest for trail athletes , together with its road and track and field counterparts , is likely to lead to lively debate , but the nominations we ’ ve come up with take into account a range of criteria , including national or international profile of races competed in , race times in comparison with historical best performances , and the quality of the opposition . We also picked the brain of Europe-based South African coach James Montgomery , for his invaluable take on how our athletes have performed on the European and world circuits . Here , then , are the nominees that we all agreed on .

Short Distance & Mountain Running ( Up to 32km ) | Men ’ s Nominees

Sipho Mbanjwa • Underson Ncube • Robert Rorich • Siboniso Soldaka • Simon Tshabalala • Johardt van Heerden

( Honourable Mentions : Jacques du Plessis , Brandon Keeling )

The introduction of ‘ mountain running ’ to the sport of trail running in South Africa has brought an exciting new dimension to the sport . Also , hosting mountain running and trail running as separate disciplines in a single World Mountain and Trail Championships in Austria in June 2023 , provided an opportunity for some of the country ’ s leading road and track distance athletes to gain national colours at the highest level , and to compete here for trail runner of the year .

The fast , runnable ( with some technical sections ) Ultra-trail Drakensberg ( UTD ) ‘ Drakensberg Rockjumper Run ’ 21km in late April provided an ideal selection race for the national team to travel to Austria for the 15.5km mountain running event , and the competition proved intense . In the end , the experienced Johardt van Heerden proved that ability on the trails can still triumph over pure speed as he raced to an impressive record victory and secured his nomination in this category .

Sipho Mbanjwa and Siboniso Soldaka ( second and fourth respectively ) also ran impressively a UTD and booked their flights to Austria , where the 15.5km Mountain Classic provided an opportunity for African athletes to take the game to their European and American counterparts . While Kenya and Uganda

led the way with several individual medals , the South Africans found the going tough , and the competition from the world ’ s best athletes from almost 70 nations intense . Mbanjwa and Soldaka did well to bag top 50 places in the men ’ s competition , with Mbanjwa finishing 41st in 1:03:51 and Soldaka 50 seconds back in 50th .

Underson Ncube narrowly missed selection for the World Championships after placing seventh in the Drakensberg , but claimed a fine victory at the MUT by UTMB 25km in George in May , winning in a record time of 2:01:22 , four minutes clear of the promising Christian van den Heever . Ncube then secured his nomination in October , winning the 30km at the Cape Winelands Maxi Run , two minutes clear of Cameron Macintosh , and finishing third at the Sanlam Cape Town Peace Trail 22km , behind Soldaka and German athlete Marcel Hoeche .

Short-distance trail took on a different perspective in August and September with the popular SA Skyrunning series offering athletes the opportunity to test themselves on some steep mountain slopes , often over technical terrain , in the Western Cape . Robbie Rorich ’ s supreme skills on the technical descents secured him four straight wins in the

Langeberg , Table Mountain , Genandendaal and Mont Rochelle Sky Races over distances between 22km and 26km , edging out Jacques du Plessis , who had raced the marathon-distance at the World Championships , by close margins in the first three races .

The 24km Four Peaks Challenge in the eastern Free State has a reputation as one of the toughest mountain races in the business . Simon Tshabalala has dominated the race in recent years , and in September , he regained the title he had lost to Collin Kanyimo in 2022 , winning in record time of 2:30:27 , finishing 18 minutes ahead of Sifiso Buthelezi . While better known as an ultra-distance athlete , Tshabalala ’ s Four Peaks win , together with his 2:27:23 victory at the Walters Way 30km in Roodepoort earlier in the year , secures his nomination in this category .

Navigational challenges influenced one of the most competitive short-distance races , Ultra-trail Cape Town ’ s ‘ Explorer ’ 23km . Soldaka and newcomer Philani Sengce ran off course while leading the race , but Brandon Keeling ’ s 56-second victory over Tsielo Tsanyane in 2:10:42 was nonetheless one of the best of his career .

Images : Stephen Granger , Shift Media , Farwaaz Cornelius & courtesy Rebecca Kohne , The North Face

Johardt van Heerden

ISSUE 165 | www . modernathlete . co . za

Sipho Mbanjwa

Siboniso Soldaka

Underson Ncube

Robbie Rorich

Simon Tshabalala

Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 165 February 2024 | Page 44

T Titans of the rails