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MUT - Mountain Ultra Trail by UTMB
168km16898km9858km5843km4325km2512km12

MUT Challenge

UTMB World Series
25.0km·1043m+
May 31
George,
South Africa
source

Race Pace Calculator · GPX Analyzer · Trail Finder

Other races: South Africa

Read

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  • Hill Training for Trail Runners: Train the Descents
  • Downhill Running Muscle Damage: Why Descents Wreck Quads

MUT Challenge · Race profile

Distance
25.0km
Gain
1043m+
FlatKM
32.1
Max
708m
Min
223m

About MUT Challenge

MUT Challenge is the 25.0km trail race at MUT - Mountain Ultra Trail by UTMB 2026 (George, South Africa). The race starts on May 31, 2026.

Race strategy

Run the climb at race pace, build your speed on the downhill, and go all out at the finish.

  • Start easy and control your HR up to 9.1km.
  • Hold your race pace up to 17.8km, but stay in control.
  • Final 470m descent. Save your legs to go all out on it.
  • Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 17.8km.
  • Start · 0.0km–1.7km · Race-day nerves push your heart rate up: don't follow the crowd, find your own rhythm.
  • Settle in · 1.7km–9.1km · Ease in: hold back more than feels necessary. The race is still ahead. Running pays off here: run wherever you can.
  • Work · 9.1km–17.8km · Plus 1 more climb. This is where the race is built: steady, solid effort. Climb by heart rate or breathing, not pace.
  • Home · 17.8km–25.1km · Descent of 470m averaging 6%, high point 708m. Build to the finish: leave whatever you have left out on the course. Long descent: keep it even and let go only near the end.

Course

The course climbs 1043m+. With 42m/km of climbing, this is a rolling, mostly runnable course. By gradient, 35% of the distance is uphill, 32% downhill and 33% flat. The longest climb runs 8.7km at an average 5.5% grade (479m of vertical). The longest descent runs 7.3km at an average 6.5% grade (470m of vertical). The steepest climb averages 15.4% over 0.6km. The steepest descent drops at 21.3% over 0.2km. Surface: 80% trail, 12% smooth, and 8% road. Flat-equivalent effort: 32.1 FlatKM.

Poles

Poles bring little benefit here: only about 0.6km of pole-friendly terrain.

Quad damage

Quad damage risk is low (index 11 of 100): a few descents worth noting, none of them decisive.

  • Ease into the early runnable section, then run your race pace, and go all out on the final descent from 17.8km.
  • 17.8–25.1 km · 470 m D−, -6.5% · 0.0 km ahead → even, let go at the end

Weather

On race day, start temperatures have historically ranged from 12°C to 17°C, with around 14°C at the highest point; the chance of precipitation is about 23%. Heavy rain of 10.0mm or more falls on about 3% of days around this date.

Results

520 finishers completed the 2026 edition. Men's winner: Kane Reilly (South Africa) in 1:48:36. Women's winner: Louise Dippenaar (South Africa) in 2:16:23.

This page has the full results and splits, a pacing and nutrition planner, a gradient matrix, an interactive elevation profile and historical weather for MUT Challenge.

Other distances of MUT - Mountain Ultra Trail by UTMB 2026MUT Miler (168km)·MUT 100 (98.0km)·MUT 60 (58.0km)·MUT Marathon (43.0km)·MUT Lite (12.0km)

Official websitemountainultratrail.utmb.world