The 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k saw Hugo Deck of France and Jazmine Lowther of Canada win commandingly, in 10:31:02 and 12:04:25, respectively.
At 4 a.m. local time on Saturday, November 23, in Cape Town, South Africa, runners headed out under clear skies and moderate temperatures. Known for its technical trails and steep climbing, especially in the race’s first half, the event comes at the tail end of most Northern Hemisphere runners’ seasons but at the start of the Southern Hemisphere summer. The approximately 4,970 meters (16,300 feet) of climbing is mainly done on the overgrown, rocky, and exposed terrain of the 98-kilometer (61 miles) course.
Part of a weeklong festival that includes races ranging from 16 kilometers to 100 miles, the 100k race draws a deep field every year. It’s also the final race in the World Trail Majors.
Starting at the Gardens Rugby Club, runners get a few kilometers of downhill before sinking their legs into the first climb up Signal Hill. From there, they climb to Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge, a route with gradients over 35 degrees. This is the technical crux of the race, and all this takes place in the first 31 kilometers.
The pre-dawn start of the 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k. Photo: Ultra-Trail Cape Town/Zac Zinn
Descending rugged and steep trails down to the beach from 1,000 meters up on Table Mountain, runners then contend with the heat of the day, which reportedly reached 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) this year, before getting up and over four more major climbs of about 500 meters (1,600 feet) each. The final 10k involves a steep climb up to the Blockhouse before a descent back to the finish. Throughout the second half of the day, runners consistently picked up ice and cold water whenever possible to stay cool in the relentless sun.
Several favorites didn’t start the men’s race, including Hannes Namberger (Germany) due to a stomach bug, as well as Petter Engdahl (Sweden, lives in Norway) and Andreas Reiterer (Italy), leaving the race wide open. Deck took advantage, getting away from the rest of the field on the Table Mountain descent. While Portugal’s Miguel Arsénio refused to take the pressure off, he never closed the gap and took second.
On the women’s side pre-race, several women looked to be in contention for the win, including Lowther, Ekaterina Mityaeva (Russia) and Samantha Reilly (South Africa) who respectively took third and fifth last year, and Germany’s Eva Sperger. All that said, the race was never really close. Lowther moved into the lead on the climb to Table Mountain and never looked back. Running smooth and controlled, Lowther’s gap over second-place woman Antonina Iushina (Russia) only grew throughout the race.
Read on for more race-day details.
2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k Men’s Race
Defending men’s champion Dmitry Mityaev (Russia), Miguel Arsénio (Portugal), and Thibaut Garrivier (France) took out the men’s race at the front, reaching the first checkpoint at the top of Signal Hill, 12 kilometers into the race, together and a minute ahead of the chasing American duo of Michelino Sunseri and Richard Lockwood. Little changed in the top three on the lower slopes of the climb to Table Mountain to the foot of Platteklip Gorge, 25k in, and the start of the highly technical section.
By the top of Table Mountain at 31k, things had shaken up, with Hugo Deck (France) moving into the leading trio along with Garrivier and Arsénio, while Mityaev had fallen a minute behind in the 6k of steep climbing. Sunseri continued in fifth another minute back, while a German duo comprised of Marcel Hoeche and Patrick Ehrenthaler moved up in the field.
Hugo Deck, the 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k men’s champion. Photo: Ultra-Trail Cape Town/Sam Clark
Deck made his move on the highly technical descent and gained more than two minutes on Arsénio and another minute on Garrivier on his way down to Llandudno at 41k. Sunseri also moved up a spot on Mityaev. Across the beach and up a small climb, Deck continued to increase his lead on Arsénio, now nearly four minutes back after 48k run. Garrivier was more than 10 minutes back, and Sunseri was now only a minute behind him, with Mityaev only slightly more than a minute in arrears.
By Constantia Glen, at 71k and with only two significant climbs to go, it seemed that Deck and Arsénio, who refused to let the gap swell, were in the fight for the top spot. Garrivier, Sunseri, and Mityaev were now battling for the third podium spot, their positions changing multiple times throughout the race’s middle kilometers.
Defending men’s champ Mityaev dropped out at Alphen Trail, 76k, leaving the podium chase to Garrivier and Sunseri. At the base of the final climb, with 12k left to go, Sunseri moved into third, 38 minutes back from the leader and 30 minutes out of second place. He was shadowed five minutes back by a determined Garrivier in fourth and Ehrenthaler, who refused to let the gap get away from him, in fifth.
In the end, Hugo Deck held onto his lead comfortably, finishing in 10:31:02. Miguel Arsénio was second in 10:45:23, just over 14 minutes back, and Michelino Sunseri rounded out the podium with a time of 11:16:08.
Miguel Arsénio on his way to second place at the 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k. Photo: Ultra-Trail Cape Town/Zac Zinn
2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k Men’s Results
- Hugo Deck (France) – 10:31:02
- Miguel Arsénio (Portugal) – 10:45:23
- Michelino Sunseri (U.S.) – 11:16:08
- Thibaut Garrivier (France) – 11:38:48
- Patrick Ehrenthaler (Germany) – 11:43:10
- Alexis Rosset (France) – 11:56:51
- Richard Lockwood (U.S.) – 12:34:29
- Jean-François Cauchon (Canada) – 12:58:11
- Brandon Hulley (South Africa) – 13:01:59
- Oli Morris (South Africa) – 13:07:41
2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k Women’s Race
In the women’s race, Antonina Iushina (Russia), Ekaterina Mityaeva (Russia), and Eve Moore (U.K.) made up the leading trio for the early kilometers up to Signal Hill, 12k and one climb in. Jazmine Lowther (Canada) followed under a minute back, and Samantha Reilly (South Africa) was another two minutes behind.
Across the relatively smaller climbs of the following 7k, Iushina opened up a gap while Mityaeva, Moore, and Lowther joined forces to chase two and a half minutes behind her. Reilly followed another three minutes back, and Emily Djock (U.S.) followed another two minutes behind her. From there, the gaps only got bigger to the rest of the field.
When the race entered the meat of the climbing, Lowther didn’t waste time. By the bottom of Platteklip Gorge at 25k, she’d closed the gap to Iushina slightly, and opened it to Mityaeva by almost five minutes. At the top of the climb, 31k in, Lowther was now in the lead, with a narrow gap on Iushina and Mityaeva. Reilly and Moore stayed within 10 minutes of the leader.
Lowther showed her impressive descending skills down to Llandudno, 41k in and back down at sea level, opening the gap to Iushina and Mityaeva to nearly eight minutes.
Jazmine Lowther, 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k women’s champion. Photo: Ultra-Trail Cape Town/Sam Clark
At Hout Bay, 56k into the race and 6:45 elapsed, Lowther led, pausing for a shoe and sock change after a lot of running in the sand and contending with a rising tide, opting for a pair of faster shoes instead of the technical trail shoes she’d worn until then. Iushina and Mityaeva continued to run together about 13 minutes behind. Reilly was about 21 minutes back from the leader and running with Eva Sperger (Germany).
In the next 20k, Lowther only increased her lead on Iushina while a fading Mityaeva fell back to fifth before ultimately dropping out at 76k. Sperger, who’d been running patiently all day, moved into third place with two climbs to go, 33 minutes behind the leader and 16 minutes behind Iushina. Reilly ran another 10 minutes behind her.
By the base of the final climb at 88k in, Lowther’s gap over Iushina was nearly 30 minutes. Sperger continued in third, 52 minutes behind the leader.
Jazmine Lowther solidified her lead on the final kilometers back to Cape Town, finishing with the win in 12:04:25. Antonina Iushina was second in 12:50:01, and Eva Sperger rounded out the women’s podium in third with a time of 13:07:21.
Antonina Iushina on her way to taking second at the 2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k. Photo: Ultra-Trail Cape Town/Zac Zinn
2024 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k Women’s Results
- Jazmine Lowther (Canada) – 12:04:25
- Antonina Iushina (Russia) – 12:50:01
- Eva Sperger (Germany) – 13:07:21
- Samantha Reilly (South Africa) – 13:37:17
- Emily Djock (U.S.) – 13:53:41
- Eve Moore (U.K.) – 14:42:16
- Geneviève Asselin-Demers (Canada) – 14:47:03
- Brittany Peterson (U.S.) – 14:49:12
- Cleo Albertus (South Africa) – 15:21:00
- Brianna Grigsby (U.S.) – 15:56:10
