It was an American sweep atop the podium at the 2021 Ultra-Trail Cape Town (UTCT) in South Africa where Courtney Dauwalter and Jim Walmsley won without challenge from the rest of their respective fields, but certainly faced the challenges of the race’s unforgiving terrain.
The 97-kilometer (60-mile) course features some 4,560 meters (15,000 feet) of vertical gain as it makes its way amongst the famed trails in and around Cape Town. Runners reach the race’s high point of about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level in the race’s first quarter, with the route alternating between technical, rock-laced terrain and more runnable trails.
The race began at 4:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, November 27, in the dark and fog and with temperatures around 15 degrees Celsius (60 Fahrenheit). On the higher terrain, fog, mist, rain, and high winds kept everyone attentive while down lower conditions abated. Cloud cover moderated the temperature to a high of about 21 Celsius (70 Fahrenheit), but high humidity followed runners from start to finish.
2021 Ultra-Trail Cape Town Women’s Results
Win, lose, or draw, you can always count on the USA’s Courtney Dauwalter to be smiling, and that’s what happened as she dominated the women’s race. After some early race back-and-forths, Dauwalter settled into the lead by the second aid station of Kloofnek at 20 kilometers into the race. Machine like, her lead only grew at nearly every checkpoint from there such that she finished with an almost one-hour lead. Dauwalter’s run looks to be the second-best all-time women’s performance at UTCT.
In the race for the rest of the women’s podium, Marianne Hogan of Canada made the strongest bid. She settled into second position also around 20k into the race and it appears she never looked back. Maryline Nakache of France, too, ran strong all day, hovering close to second place and once in a while dropping back into fourth place, before settling in for her third-place finish.
South Africans Ann Ashworth and Kerry-Ann Marshall completed the women’s top five.
Read more at: https://www.irunfar.com/2021-ultra-trail-cape-town-results-an-american-sweep-by-dauwalter-and-walmsley