The “Jonkershoek Marathon” is a FKT (fastest known time) mountain challenge. The route starts at the summit beacon on Botmaskop and finishes at the summit beacon on Stellenbosch Mountain following the skyline around the horseshoe in between (the following points are generally tagged in a record attempt: Square Tower Peak, the 1st (lower) Twin Peak, Rifberg, Katedraal, Bergriviernek, Pic-sans-nom and Haelkop).

The timed route is approximately 32 km with over 3000 m of elevation gain. However, you also need to get up Botmaskop before the start and back down off Stellenbosch Mountain after the finish. The full outing is about 42 km with 4000 m elevation gain.

Record History:

• 19h30 – Rudolph Buhrman, Jan du Plessis, Piet Hugo, May 1962
• 14h00 – Ernst Lotz, July 1962
• 10h45 – Christopher Spottiswood, Dec 1962
• 10h13 – Lydia Roos/Cilliers, Oct 1991
• 9h40 – Henco Jordaan, Oct 2000 (with Teuns Kok 5 min behind)
• 8h45 – Samuel Holtzkampf, Dec 2015
• 8h36 – Andre Gie, Kane Reilly, Ryan Sandes, Sept 2016
• 8h21 – Christiaan Greyling, Edward van der Merwe, Oct 2016
• 8h09 – Lance Kime, David Krone, Robyn Owen, Dec 2017

The Jonkershoek Marathon presents a fantastic challenging LONG day out in the mountains for very fit technical mountain lovers. We won’t guide you to a new record time (we can only help you to learn the route if this is your goal); but if your aim is just to complete this epic challenge then we’ll happily show you the way. Contact us to arrange a guided outing or just for more info.

Links to more about the JM:

• A great overview article by Coos Diener on FEATSA “The Marathon is better classified as a long hike, done at a fast pace, that demands lots of navigational and mountaineering skills to complete.”
• Samuel Holtzkampf ‘s great detailed report of his FKT   “The spirit of the Marathon is really in the time that you spend on the mountain in preparation for it rather that just going out there following a GPS track” 
• The Red Bull article about Andre, Kane and Ryan’s FKT  “The route – it’s a super aesthetic line that kind of just makes sense. You can see the whole route and it’s a logical line to follow. Also, the undercover, trail-less, no-rules nature of the thing, apart from tagging the peaks and getting around the horseshoe, of course.” 
• Edward van der Merwe and Christiaan Greyling’s FKT Report “I’ve spent most of my time analysing Edward’s scouts on Google earth and built the perfect route. I had a good feeling about the attempt and believed that whatever the outcome, it will be an amazing time in God’s Creation”