Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB: Route, live tracking & how to enter

Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB (MUT) is a South African ultra-running event which is part of the UTMB World Series.

Five of the six races at Mountain Ultra-Trail offer Running Stones to finishers as the city of George on South Africa’s east coast playing host to a festival of mountain running.

Date, start time & live tracking

The longest race at Mountain Ultra-Trail, the MUT Miler, starts at 14:00 (all local time) on May 26. It has a cut-off time of 48 hours.

The MUT 100 starts the next day, at 05:00 on May 27, and has a cut off time of 24 hours. The MUT 50 starts at the same time but has a cut-off of 15 hours.

The MUT 50 starts an hour later, on May 27 at 06:00, with runners having to finish within 10 hours. The MUT Challenge and MUT Lite then both start at 8:30, having cut-off times of six hours and five hours 30 minutes respectively.

Live tracking for all Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB races is available HERE.

Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB Running Stones

As part of the UTMB World Series, completing all but one of the Mountain Ultra-Trail races will help with qualification towards Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) and the UTMB World Series finals.

The races are all part of different UTMB World Series categories, and therefore offer the correlating running stones:

MUT Miler – UTMB 100M – four Running Stones

MUT 100 – UTMB 100K – three Running Stones

MUT 60 – UTMB 50k – two Running Stones

MUT Marathon – UTMB 50k – two Running Stones

MUT Challenge – UTMB 20K – one Running Stone

MUT Lite – not categorised – no Running Stones

Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB race routes

The MUT Miler is 102.5 miles long, and has an elevation gain of 2,5213 ft. It both starts and finishes in George, taking runners into the stunning Outeniqua Mountain Range offering technical downhills, big climbs and stunning scenery.

Near the start, the race challenges competitors with a challenging Vertical Kilometer climb to George Peaks, with an equally challenging descent following.

The starts sees the highest peak of the race completed before the first checkpoint, and by the time the second checkpoint is reached 14.5 miles in, the rest of the race has relatively small elevation gain until the final 30 miles back to George.

The MUT 100 is 98km long, and departs from George with the biggest climb of the route with the Cradock pass. It proceeds to the Pass to Pass route and takes in Champerskloof, the Groenkop Nature Reserve and more.

The MUT 60 is regarded as the ‘original MUT route’. It provides the basic template from which the other longer routes build on, the MUT Miler and MUT 100 breaking from the MUT 60 at Tierkop before coming back to share the same finish back into George. The MUT60 has 10,013ft of elevation gain and is 59km long.

The MUT Marathon cuts off both part of the distance and height of the MUT 60, having only 7,408ft across its 41.8km distance.

Unlike the previously mentioned races, the MUT Challenge starts away from George at the top of Outeniqua Pass, where runners will head to Montagu Pass on the ‘easy side’ before joining up with Cradock Pass back to George.

How to enter Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB

Registration for MUT by UTMB 2023 is closed, but sign up for the races listed cost as follows: MUT Miler – R4,500, MUT 100 R3,750, MUT 60 R2,850, MUT Lite R295.

Information on 2024 registration is available HERE.

Who is taking part at Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB in 2023?

Ryan Sandes (RSA) fittingly leads the field in the inaugural Mountain Ultra Trail by UTMB MUT Miler in 2023 and will be a strong contender for the win in South Africa.

He’s the most notable name from a host of other exciting local runners; Bruce Arnett is running the MUT 100 and Kerry-Ann Marshall is a leading name in the MUT 60.

The women’s MUT Marathon promises to be an extremely competitive race, with Bianca Tarboton- who boasts plenty of European experience- facing competition from George local Rebecca Kohne and other names such as Mia Uys.

Mountain Ultra-Trail by UTMB Kit List

The following is mandatory kit for the MUT Miler by UTMB.

• Race Number: To always be on your outer layer and visible
• Own cup
• Headlight
• Jacket: Waterproof with a hood and taped seams
• Long Sleeve mid layer: Fleece or similar mid layer
• Thermal Base Layer: Must be a thermal garment, no cotton
• Thermal Bottoms: Must be a thermal garment, no cotton
• Waterproof pants: Waterproof and taped seams
• Gloves: Warm and preferably waterproof
• Shoes: Trail run specific recommended
• Buff or Beanie: Warm Headgear
• Running Pack /Vest / Hip Belt: Must have enough space for all gear
• Hydration: Minimum capacity of 1.5l
• Cellphone: Charged with emergency numbers saved.
• Food: Enough for 6 hours in the mountains. To have emergency food in tact at all times.
• Space Blanket: Emergency Blanket
• Bandage / Strapping: 50mm wide x 1m long