Far from home, close to the front: South Africa's 2026 season abroad

28 August, Mont-Blanc. One South African sets off from Courmayeur, another from Chamonix, on two of the biggest races in the sport, and both come home with the results of their year.

Toni McCann ran the CCC's 107 km in 12:06:14 and finished second woman, 33rd overall, in a field of 1,516 ranked finishers, 394 of them women. Daniël Claassen spent 21 hours, 23 minutes and 44 seconds on the 174 km UTMB loop and finished 21st overall out of 1,681. Twenty-first at the UTMB isn't a participation medal. It's the sharp end of one of the biggest start lines in 100-mile racing.

Add Ryan Sandes, fifth overall at the Marathon des Sables Legendary in Morocco in April (a 270 km stage race, 23:21:05, 1,350 ranked), and the top of South Africa's overseas season carries itself.

The McCann summer

The CCC wasn't a one-off. McCann, who lives in France, opened her summer by winning the women's race at the 100 km MaXi-Race around Lac d'Annecy on 30 May in 11:25:20, 14th overall among 1,418 ranked finishers (139 women). In August she won the women's race at La Frison Roche 42 km in Beaufort, seventh overall in 04:50:07, in a smaller field of 222 (32 women).

Three races, two wins and a CCC runner-up spot. Not a bad way to spend a European summer.

Mont-Blanc, mountain marathons and more Chamonix company

Bianca Tarboton was fifth woman at the 42 km du Mont-Blanc on 28 June, 40th overall in 04:43:35, in a field of 1,999 with 455 women.

Gerda Steyn spent part of her year on mountain courses. At the Jungfrau-Marathon in Interlaken on 5 September, a 42.2 km mountain marathon, she was third woman and 31st overall in 3:33:32, out of 3,605 ranked, 898 of them women. A few weeks earlier she won the women's race at the Tignes Trail 14 km (ninth overall, 1:28:07).

Back on the UTMB loop, Nicolette Kaylin Griffioen finished 34th woman and 198th overall in 27:26:55, and Pierre Jordaan came home 287th in 29:25:47. A day earlier, Robert Rorich ran the 60 km OCC in 06:28:58, 56th of 1,563.

The long-haul crew

Some South Africans went looking for more kilometres, not fewer. Tiaan Erwee was second overall at the 104 km Ultra Corfu Mountain Trail on 2 May (12:34:13, 45 ranked), then finished the 200 km E250 at the Eiger Ultra Trail in July: 49 hours, 32 minutes and 36 seconds on his feet, one of 117 ranked finishers. Thato Kabeli was sixth overall at the Swiss Alps 100 km in Ulrichen on 9 August (15:02:27, 229 ranked).

In England, Jana de Waal won the women's race at the 101 km Cotswold Challenge on 13 June, third overall in 11:10:23 among 315 ranked. In August she was second woman and 12th overall at the Centurion North Downs Way 100: 167 km in 21:04:03, in a field of 136 ranked finishers, 16 of them women.

Further afield, Sveta Becker was third woman at the Kaçkar by UTMB 100K in Türkiye (82 km, 12 women ranked), Leigh de Necker was second woman at the Azores Bravos Trail 100K (40 ranked, seven women), and Naomi Brand was second woman at the WUU2K 65 km in Wellington, New Zealand (109 ranked, 30 women).

Small fields, real wins

Every season has its outright wins, and they count. They just need their field size attached.

Michael Wittenberg won two ultras in Bulgaria: the 94.4 km Yagodina Cave Ultra on 30 May (12:41:01, 36 ranked finishers) and the Pirin Ultra 160 km in Bansko on 11 September (29:41:30, 32 ranked). Bart Saaiman won the Black Cattle Ultra 55 near Cardiff (27 ranked), and Werner Bosman won the 32 km BraunenBerg-Trail in Germany (47 ranked).

A win is a win, and 160 km through the Pirin is still 160 km through the Pirin. But winning from a field of 32 isn't the same job as finishing second among 394 women at the CCC, and nobody pretends otherwise.

At the shorter end, Cana Peek won the women's race at Ultra-Trail Snowdonia's Eryri 25K (22 km) in 1:59:01, ninth overall of 758. Lindy-Lee Folscher was first woman at the Ultra X 25 km races in Finland and England. Jade Bucklow and Martine Botha both finished third woman at the Surf Coast Century in Australia, over 100 km and 50 km respectively. Arlene de Abreu was first woman at two 55 km-class races in Thailand, Phuket Trail and AoKhanom Trail, each with 53 ranked finishers.

What this list can't tell you

This look-back covers the top 120 South African men and the top 120 South African women on the UTMB Index, racing outside South Africa: 121 overseas finishes by 67 athletes.

It isn't a full count of every South African who raced abroad this year. Runners outside that index band, results that live only on other timing systems, and DNFs aren't in it. If you ran a mountain in Norway in August and you're not here, that's the method's blind spot, not a verdict on your legs.

What it does show is a season with a genuine top end and a wide, busy middle: Chamonix in August, the Bulgarian mountains, the North Downs and the trails of southern Thailand, and South Africans in the mix at every one of them.