The 2024 edition of MUT by UTMB will see a record field of nearly 2 000 trail runners taking part across six distances and three days this weekend.
The MUT action gets underway when the 100-Miler starts on Friday afternoon; before Saturday, 25 May, hosts the 100-, 60-, and 42-kilometre races ahead of Sunday’s 25- and 11-kilometre events. Among the runners heading to the Garden City of George are a number of highly touted international athletes and some of South Africa’s top competitors, including rising local star Rebecca Köhne.
Köhne placed second in the MUT Marathon by UTMB in 2023, but will toe the line as the favourite for the 2024 title in the 42-kilometre distance. Other South Africans to watch include Robie Rorich, Sylvie Scherzinger, Sveta Becker, Gabriel Kriel, Leon Roode, Christiaan Greyling, Brandon Hulley, Kerry-Ann Marshall, Joshua Blackshaw and Lijan Burger. The latter will be attempting to add a third MUT Challenge by UTMB victory to her palmarès before the final prize giving and Matthew Mole’s concert on Sunday, 25 May.
A particularly exciting feature of this year’s race is the stacked field taking part in the second edition of the MUT Miler by UTMB. Along with Sweden’s Anna Andersson and Pål Andersson the race will also see Thiago Orgélio take on eight very capable South Africans. Anna Andersson is the top ranked women in the field, but will have to overcome the defending champion, Scherzinger. While Pål Andersson and Brazil’s Thiago Orgélio will be up against Kriel, Roode, Greyling, Hulley, Michael Coles and Kennedy Sekuthe. Hulley, like Köhne, is a George local and will have the significant advantage of running the trails of the Outeniqua in training.
“We’re really excited about the 2024 edition,” Race Director Zane Schmahl noted. “The George Trails community have put a massive amount of work in to get the routes ready to showcase why we believe our city is one of the world’s premier trail running destinations. On top of that we have the largest ever field of entrants registered to take part, a new start/finish venue, and a fantastic post-race celebration planned. Outeniqua Park has long been at the heart of sport in George and it’s an honour to stage the MUT by UTMB from the iconic stadium.”
“While the racing is going to be trilling and highly competitive,” Schmahl added. “There’s a buzz around Sunday afternoon’s Matthew Mole concert too! He’s running the MUT Lite by UTMB on Sunday morning and then closing out the festival of trail running that is MUT by UTMB with his hits. It’s going to be a great finale.”
Sunday’s concert gets underway at 16:00, after the final MUT Miler by UTMB cut-off and prize giving, which starts at 14:00. The final day’s racing starts with the MUT Challenge by UTMB at 08:00 and the MUT Lite by UTMB at 09:00. Between them the 25- and 11-kilometre races have 1 000 pre-entries, which helps make the 2024 edition the best attended in the race’s history, since it was founded in 2018.
For the full schedule of races and events, trail runners and trail running fans can visit mut.utmb.world. The action gets underway with a special edition George Trail Running Time Trial, at the dip on Camphersdrift Street. The Time Trial starts at 17:00, on Thursday afternoon, and is free to join for any running enthusiast. On Friday afternoon, at 12:00, the MUT Miler by UTMB, gets underway. Fans, friends, and family members can then stay up-to-date with the racing action by following @georgemountainultratrail on Instagram and liking the Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB Facebook page. Individual runners can also be followed from timing check point to timing check point at live.utmb.world.
