Mountain Running at its finest
The Mountain Marathon Series is a brand new series showcasing Southern Africa’s best trails and talent. The Mountain Marathon Series combines five prestigious mountain races in a format that hasn’t been done before locally.
The five marathon distance races in the series are run in different parts of the Drakensberg mountain range. Each race is approximately 40km long and has an elevation between 1650m and 2550m. These are the races that every trail runner should experience, and now we’ve brought them together in one exciting series: five races, one male and one female winner!
The series is for the competitive elites hunting prestige and prize money, the weekend warriors looking for a new challenge, road runners wanting to experience the Drakensberg, general mountain goats, and families looking for a memorable weekend away.
The Mountain Marathon Series takes you from the border of KZN and the Free State to Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Lesotho, across the ridgelines, rivers and ravines of the Drakensberg mountain range. Expect altitude, expect leg-burning climbs, expect dramatic descents, expect exhilarating racing at the front of the field, expect wild weather, expect a challenge and look forward to feeding your soul from the foothills to the summit.
This is a marathon series unlike any other in Southern Africa. Be one of the first to complete it and/or take home your share of the R140,000 prize purse.
How it works
Along with 30 invited elite contenders, 70 Mountain Marathon Series package entries are available to anyone looking for an ambitious goal in 2020. The package entry includes admission to the races and a Mountain Marathon Series garment. Entries for each of the five races can still be purchased individually on the relevant KZNTR entry pages (refer to the links below). You don’t need to buy the Mountain Marathon Series package entry to be a part of the series, but it is the more affordable option as there is a saving of R1 500.
To take part in the Mountain Marathon Series, runners must enter and finish at least three of the four qualifying races leading up to the final:
- Drakensberg Northern Trail
- Mnweni Marathon (newly managed by KZNTR!)
- Kruger2Canyon (Day 1)
- Uitsoek Mountain Marathon
- SERIES FINAL: Lesotho Ultra.
Ranking is based on a point system: 1st place = 1 point, 2nd place = 2 points, …, 12th place = 12 points, etc. The top 10 male and female runners with the lowest number of points at the end of the fourth race in the series (Uitsoek) will be invited by KZNTR to the final at Lesotho Ultra on 31 October 2020. If you are invited to the final but have already paid for your Lesotho Ultra entry, then you will be reimbursed accordingly by KZNTR.
The overall series ranking is calculated by adding the runner’s three best results plus their result in the final.
Prize money is available for both the male and female podiums:
Series race: R4 000 (1st), R2 000 (2nd), R1 000 (3rd)
Overall series: R20 000 (1st), R10 000 (2nd), R5 000 (3rd)
Total prize purse = R140 000
For those not contending for prizes, the Mountain Marathon Series is a bucket-list challenge for your trail running calendar.
If you’ve already entered one of the five events and would like to change your entry to the Series package, please email info@kzntrailrunning.co.za.
Why enter the series?
- It’s the first of its kind in Southern Africa – be a part of it!
- Win prize money
- Get collectable series swag and a series garment
- Save money with a reduced packaged entry fee
- Have an epic adventure in the Drakensberg
- Earn serious bragging rights
ENTRIES ARE OPEN!