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ONLINE COMPETITOR REGISTRATION FORM
UNTAMED.
UNFORGIVING.
UNSTOPPABLE.
The first thing you notice is the sky - a hard, rich blue without a smear of pollution. The sun beating down, unfiltered and merciless, as the low rumble of a river echoes in the gorge below. Baboons bark from the cliffs, the wind whistles over the ridge, and somewhere out there… something is watching. The next thing is the feeling, quiet, solitude, dust in your teeth, sweat burning your eyes.
The Africa Wild Ultra™ takes you through country that plays by its own rules: ridgelines that rip at your legs, forests that swallow the light, rivers that surge cold and fast. Elephant paths cut through the Bushveld, leopard tracks mark the sand, and every step reminds you - you’re the outsider here.
This isn’t a trail race built for comfort. It’s Africa in the raw. You don’t run to conquer it - you run to earn its respect. Fail that, and it will send you home early.
The Africa Wild Ultra™ doesn’t give you a way out. No shortcuts. No handrails. No mercy. The course is marked, but the markers only point the way – you have to finish. It’s 257km of sun, dust, rock, and sheer willpower. The climbs grind you down, the descents chew you up. Days can swing from heat that bakes the ground to nights that bite at your bones. Feet blister. Muscles scream. Your mind starts whispering the easy way out - and still, the clock keeps ticking.
The real test is in the quiet between your own footsteps. In the sting of lactic acid flooding your legs. In the gnaw of hunger that refuses to quit. This race takes everything you’ve got - and then demands more.
And when you leave something of yourself out here, it’s not in defeat. It’s in tribute to the land that made you earn every single step.
This isn’t about speed. It’s about grit and determination - the kind that refuses to bow to the unknown. The unstoppable aren’t born that way; they’re forged in moments when the trail vanishes into cloud-wrapped peaks, when the silence of the mountains makes you aware of every breath, and when the horizon spills out in endless, untamed beauty. It’s the rush of standing on a ridge and seeing the world stretch far beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.
From there, the course drops into the Bushveld - a living theatre where the Big 5 move and the air hums with the wild. You’ll weave between thorn trees, cross dry riverbeds, and feel the dust rise under your feet like the land itself is urging you forward. The burning desire to finish drives you on, through every climb and descent, until the final stretch opens before you. And then - the line. The roar of victory in your chest. The knowledge that you’ve done more than finish.
You’ve conquered the distance, embraced the wild, conquered the adventure, and proven yourself unstoppable.
The first thing you notice is the sky - a hard, rich blue without a smear of pollution. The sun beating down, unfiltered and merciless, as the low rumble of a river echoes in the gorge below. Baboons bark from the cliffs, the wind whistles over the ridge, and somewhere out there… something is watching. The next thing is the feeling, quiet, solitude, dust in your teeth, sweat burning your eyes.
The Africa Wild Ultra™ takes you through country that plays by its own rules: ridgelines that rip at your legs, forests that swallow the light, rivers that surge cold and fast. Elephant paths cut through the Bushveld, leopard tracks mark the sand, and every step reminds you - you’re the outsider here.
This isn’t a trail race built for comfort. It’s Africa in the raw. You don’t run to conquer it - you run to earn its respect. Fail that, and it will send you home early.
The Africa Wild Ultra™ doesn’t give you a way out. No shortcuts. No handrails. No mercy. The course is marked, but the markers only point the way – you have to finish. It’s 257km of sun, dust, rock, and sheer willpower. The climbs grind you down, the descents chew you up. Days can swing from heat that bakes the ground to nights that bite at your bones. Feet blister. Muscles scream. Your mind starts whispering the easy way out - and still, the clock keeps ticking.
The real test is in the quiet between your own footsteps. In the sting of lactic acid flooding your legs. In the gnaw of hunger that refuses to quit. This race takes everything you’ve got - and then demands more.
And when you leave something of yourself out here, it’s not in defeat. It’s in tribute to the land that made you earn every single step.
This isn’t about speed. It’s about grit and determination - the kind that refuses to bow to the unknown. The unstoppable aren’t born that way; they’re forged in moments when the trail vanishes into cloud-wrapped peaks, when the silence of the mountains makes you aware of every breath, and when the horizon spills out in endless, untamed beauty. It’s the rush of standing on a ridge and seeing the world stretch far beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.
From there, the course drops into the Bushveld - a living theatre where the Big 5 move and the air hums with the wild. You’ll weave between thorn trees, cross dry riverbeds, and feel the dust rise under your feet like the land itself is urging you forward. The burning desire to finish drives you on, through every climb and descent, until the final stretch opens before you. And then - the line. The roar of victory in your chest. The knowledge that you’ve done more than finish.
You’ve conquered the distance, embraced the wild, conquered the adventure, and proven yourself unstoppable.
THE ULTIMATE AFRICAN ADVENTURE
This isn't just a race—it's a journey through a wild frontier.
Epic Adventure
Conquer 257km through the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere, where every step takes you through pristine mountains and wild African bush.
Self-Reliance
Test your mental and physical strength in a true self-sufficient challenge - no outside help, just you and the wild.
Exclusive Experience
Join a select group of adventurers in one of the world's pristine ultra-marathon settings.
Wildlife Sightings
Run through Big5 bushveld territory, experiencing Africa's iconic wildlife in their natural habitat.
Personal Transformation
Push beyond your limits and discover what you're truly capable of in this life-changing wilderness journey.
Discover the Adventure
Check out what you can expect in the stages.
The Awakening (35km)
The race begins where the river whispers through towering poplars, but don't let the serene start at the first campsite fool you. The mountain might have other plans - your first brutal climb on rocky jeep track is your introduction – or is it your initiation?
It is a “gut check” that separates dreamers from doers. Push through pine scented air and eucalyptus forests until you stand triumphant atop the Iron Crown, Limpopo’s highest peak.
As you descend through the wild montane forests with streams singing beside you, you'll realise that this is just the beginning. The mountain has tested you. You've answered and the first stage is done!
The Beautiful Beast (36km)
They call it brutal for a reason. Today's ascent will have you questioning everything - until you crest onto the high plains where the world unfolds like an ancient map. The Nuckles come into view for the first time. Majestic cliffs standing guard over the valley below. Feast your eyes on the vista at the majestic Cleopatra Falls.
Navigate technical descents into forested valleys where the cliff walls echo. Your reward? Serala Camp, perched on a plateau with 270° views. It steals your breath away as the sunset paints The Nuckles in liquid gold. This is effort wrapped in beauty - and you'll love every agonising, or inspiring moment.
Rest up – enjoy the epic vistas and serenity of the campsite and get ready for tomorrow.
The Traverse (35km)
Today you become a mountain wanderer, traversing the entire Wolkberg Nature Reserve on ancient jeep tracks. The route roles like ocean swells - constant ups and downs that test your rhythm, grit and resolve.
Keep your eyes sharp for zebra silhouettes against grassland ridges and antelope darting through valleys. That final climb to Camp 3 is where exhaustion meets exhilaration. Summit that last ridge and witness infinity – the endless hills and golden plains stretching towards tomorrow. Welcome to the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve. It feels like you are on top of the world – and your well-earned rest embraces you around the warm campfire.
Ridge Runner's Paradise (41km)
This is the last day in the mountains. The land opens and displays its beauty for all to see.
You’ll run ridgelines where cliffs drop off into the Lowveld. On a clear day, you’ll see forever - 25 kilometres of ancient, wild land stretched out beneath your feet. The rolling hills wait for you. Proteas line the path like strange wild sentinels. Zebra and antelope move beside you, unbothered. The big climbs are behind you now, and the trail starts to give back.
Then comes the glorious descent - a long, winding, steep path into a gorge carved by time and water. The camp awaits beside a stream, calm, quiet and clean.
You’re no longer just crossing Africa – you really feel a part of it now. Tomorrow – you enter the wild Big 5 territory.
Into the Wild (35km)
Today, the race shifts. You leave the mountains behind and now move into the Lowveld - dry heat, thornveld, and dust. Through a short agricultural corridor and then into wild ground. Acacias close in – you’re now in the bushveld.
Then the boundary of the Big 5 territory.
You're still on safe, managed tracks, but the air changes. Elephants are near. You hear them before you see them. Giraffes watch you pass. Heartbeats get louder as you marvel at natures wonders.
At the gates of the Greater Makalali Nature Reserve, you regroup. Timing stops. Guided pelotons are then escorted through the wild. This is not about time, this is about awareness. Excitement. Presence. Respect.
This camp is on an airstrip under stars that you feel you can almost touch. Experience the real Africa bushveld sunset and then marvel at the clear African night sky - like no other. Field guides keep watch. Lions and hyenas call in the distance. The night is alive, but asleep.
Sleep solidly to the sounds of the African bush and wake up to bird calls, and the African bush stirring. The finish is ever closer, and the long stretch awaits.
Out of the Wild (52km)
This is the longest stage.
It starts gently, almost surreal, as your guided peloton winds through the reserve. Wildlife encounters greet you. You’ll move quietly. Eyes open. Expectant.
Time starts again as you make your way down to, and across the Oliphants River, flowing unabated to the sea. Thornveld gives way to green: citrus orchards, dense rows of crops, fertile fields. It’s a different kind of wild now - cultivated but still vast.
Eventually, you hit the Blyde River. Cross it slow, foot by foot, over a narrow suspension bridge. Every step echoes the journey behind you. A short distance further and the camp greets you. This camp is in the shadow of a giant - a baobab that’s been standing here for 2 000 years.
Let it hold the day. Let it remind you: you’re almost there.
Tomorrow, it’s up to finish what you started.
The Triumph (21km)
The last day breaks, and with it, fresh legs join the race – new runners stepping in to share your final 21 kilometres. They’ve come to feel a piece of what you’ve endured. To be part of the end.
The trail threads through bushveld, along rivers, past groves, through orchards and fields. The air is thick with sweat, dust, and quiet resolve and excitement. You feel that you have earn't every step closer to the finish. The excitement of the finish drives you on.
Then, Hoedspruit. The edge of it. You hear it before you see it – the music, the cheers, the hum of something finishing.
The finish line appears without warning. And in that moment - between heaving breath and disbelief - you cross it. 257 kilometres – the Africa Wild Ultra™ is done!
As the medal touches your chest, as loved ones, new friends, comrades in arms, embrace your sweat-soaked triumph, one truth resonates: You didn't just finish the Africa Wild Ultra™ - you went to the edge. You conquered your limitations, conquered your doubts, befriended your demons, and discovered that 'impossible' is just another word for 'not yet.'
What a race! It’s done! You deserve the medal - congratulations!
