fbpx Our History | Wildrunner

Our History

2007 Nov: Wildrunner is born
2008 Jan:

The Trail Series® is born at the first ever Cape Summer Trail Series®

2008 Jun: Gauteng get​s ​its first introduction to trail running with the Gauteng Trail Series®
2009 Sep: The Wildrun®  is launched with the first Wildcoast Wildrun®  
2010 Oct:

The first Helderberg Mountain Challenge takes place in the hidden gem of the Helderberg Nature Reserve.  

2010 Nov: A second departure is added to the Wildcoast Wildrun® to cater for high demand
2011 Mar:

The Lesotho Wildrun® takes place for the first time and opens with one of the hardest 44km mountain trails ever seen.

2011 Aug: 736 runners take part in the first Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge offering a 30, 21 and 9km routes.
2011 Oct:

The Trail Series® moves to KZN, making it the first national short course trail running series of its kind in Africa.

2012 Aug:

Wildrunner presents its 100th event at race four in the 2012 Spur Cape Winter Trail Series®.

2013 May: The Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge 2013 runs as South Africa's first ever SA Long Distance Trail Championships with it's new 35km route.
2013 Jul: Spur Steak Ranches is announced as title sponsor of the Spur Trail Series®
2014 Apr: The Mountain Challenge Series (MCS) becomes a 3 event series including the new Marloth Mountain Challenge (MMC) 55km Ultra Skymarathon.
2014 Jun: 57 Runners take on the inaugural Richtersveld Wildrun®
2014 Jun: The Spur Gauteng Winter Trail Series® sells out every event for the first time.
2014 Sep: Wildrunner organises the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon Peace Trail Runs - a trail run with one of the highest prize purses in South Africa.
2014 Sep: The inaugural Marloth Mountain Challenge takes place in Swellendam in tough conditions. 34 solo runners and 23 teams complete the 55km run.
2015 Mar: A fire breaks out in the Jonkershoek Valley and destroys 80% of the Cape Pine plantations, the 5th edition of the Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge continues with minor route changes.
2015 Sep: Wildrunner launches the first transfrontier Wildrun®: The Richtersveld Transfrontier Wildrun® to take place in June 2016.
2016 Jan: Massive wild fires tear into Lebanon Forest and Wildrunner is forced to cancel it's first event ever (and whtat would have been the 200th!)
2016 Jan: Wildrunner reaches the 200 event mark at race 3 in the Spur Cape Summer Trail Series®.
2016 May: Wildrunner pioneers it's second Transfrontier experience, with 37 intrepid runners exploring the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area on the inagural 'trial' and media Mapungubwe Transfrontier Wildrun®.
2016 Jun: Richtersveld Transfrontier Wildrun® takes place and is won outright by Joanna Williams!
2016 Jul: The Spur PE Trail Series® launches for the first time in the Eastern Cape, with a four race series at four stunning venues in Port Elizabeth.
2016 Jul: Wildrunner becomes part of the Elemental Outdoor Sports (PTY) Ltd company.
2016 Sep: AJ Calitz and Bernard Rukadza smash the MMC 55km record, the new record is set at 7:05:41
2016 Oct: Wildrunner partners with KZN Trail Running to localise the Spur KZN Trail Series® operations and to spread the reach.
2016 Nov: Wildrunner announces R50,000 prize money for breaking the overall Wildcoast Wildrun® record.
2016 Dec: The French trail running specialists, Raidlight, come on board as a specialist gear sponsor to all Wildrunner events through Raidlight South Africa.
2017 Jan: Wildrunner turns 10 years old, and right where it all started - at the Cape Summer Trail Series®.  To celebrate, Wildrunner announces that all trail kids 10 years and under will run for free at any Spur Trail Series® in 2017.
2017 Feb: Wildrunner announces cup-less operations at all it's aid stations.
2017 May:  The first capacity Mapungubwe Transfrontier Wildrun® takes place and this one of a kind safari-on-the-run™ experience does not dissapoint, with over 100 elephants on day one alone!
2017 May: The Jonkershoek Mountain Challenge has it's biggest field as 1160 runners take to the trails.
2017 Aug: The Helderberg Mountain Challenge receives it's biggest entry field of 831.
2017 Sep: Record entries to Marloth Mountain Challenge and records tumble. AJ Calitz breaks the Sub 07:00:00 mark for the 55km Ultra! Carla Van Huyssteen breaks the woman's record and wins the Bos Sports Mountain Challenge Series Outright!
2017 Oct: The inagural WWF Desert Challenge takes place
2017 Nov: New Wildrun® Africa website launches, showcasing Africa's hidden jewels
2018 Feb: Remarkable Rwanda Wildrun® is launched!
2018 Mar: Jaybird, known for their wireless bluetooth sports headphones, come on board as a presenting sponsor for the Mountain Challenge Series and a product sponsor for the Trail Series®.
2018 May: Carla van Huyssteen breaks the 38km JMC ladies record by a mere 17 sec, setting the new bar at 4:11:09 read about it
2018 May: Timothy Chambers smashes the 24km JMC record by 3:01, finishing in 1:52:04 read about it
2018 Aug: Hayley Preen sets a new ladies record on the 15km HMC, finishing in 1:36:00 read about it
2018 Oct: MMC 35km Extreme Mens record falls by more than 20 minutes! Jono Black sets new record at 3:46:19
2019 Jan: Bos Sport confirms another two year sponsorship deal as the title sponsors of the Bos Sport Mountain Challenge Series, amplified by Jaybird.
2019 Feb:  The inagural sevent day Rwanda Wildrun® tour take place, complete with the first running group in history to complete the 40km Congo-Nile Divide Trail!  
2019 Feb: First Ascent signs up as the exclusive technical sponsor to the Bos Sport Mountain Challenge Series, amplified by Jaybird.
2019 Mar: Wildrunner pulls it's Gauteng operations to focus more on the Western Cape.
2019 Mar: Wildrunner runs a dual WWF Earth Hour 2019 in both Kirstenbosch & Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.
2019 Aug: Wildrunner pulls off it's 300th event at the final race in the Cape Winter Trail Series®
2019 Oct: Jarryd Dunn blasts his way to a new record on the Marloth Mountain Challenge lite course, taking 4 sec from Timothy Chambers record set in 2016.
2019 Oct: The seven race Trail Series Super League (TSSL) is launched for 2020 with the addition of an XL distance at every race, along with lots of new routes.
2020 Jan: The TSSL kicks of with a sell out at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
2020 Mar: National State of Disaster declared and COVID-19 Lockdown applied
2020 Jun: Trail Series Phantom Rally is launched, starting in July
2020 Oct: SAAMES is born and we finally have permission from the Minister of Sport to operate again under lockdown regulations.
2020 Nov: Worst conditions in JMC history resutls in the B route being used for the 38km.
2021 Apr: Jonkershoek Nature Reserve is ravaged by fire, JMC 2021 event is postponed indefinately.
2021 May: Due to COVID-19 we run our first TSSL event in 2021 at Paarl Mountain Nature Reserve (usually this would be our fifth).
2021 Sep: Wildcoast Wildrun 2021 takes place with a capacity field.
2021 Oct: The inagural Cape Town Trail Marathon 46km takes place, managed by Wildrunner.
2021 Nov: We close of the year with our final TSSL race at the magnificent Oak Valley.  Just five events in 2021, the lowest in 14 years of operations!
2022 Jan: We crack of 2022 with a sell out crowd at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for the 2022 Trail Series Super League opener!
2022 Jan: Wildrunner secures a brand new trail running venue for race 2 in the TSSL22 at Ida's Valley Nature Area, Stellenbpsch.
2022 Feb: Wildrunner secure a contract with Two Oceans Marathon to run the race day operations for a new three race trail run series between May to Sep 2022.
2022 Mar: WWF Earth Hour Adventure returns at a brand new venue - Plaisir de Merle!  What a evening it was.