THE Iten Epic Trail Run
AN ADVENTURE
The Republic of Trail Running has created The Iten Epic – An Adventure which consists of 5 days of extraordinary trail running routes in Iten, Kenya – The Home of Champions.
This East African Adventure was first run in March 2024 and we challenge you to pick up the gauntlet and complete the 5 routes. Completion of the The Iten Epic will give you bragging rights and a well deserved place on the Wall of Honour. For the more adventurous there is the option of completing The Iten Epic within 24 hours.
EPIC ADVENTURE
SPONSOR
The Epic Dream
By Jeremy kropman
During my second visit to Iten in 2023, I had an “inspirational” idea of creating a 5 day trail run at The Home of Champions. The event, The Iten Epic – An Adventure, was planned for March 2024 and before I left Iten for my hometown, Cape Town, South Africa, I’d pretty much designed and planned the 5 routes of approximately 20 kilometers each. But because my marketing skills were abysmal, the entries were dismal. That’s putting it mildly as the only entrant was Garion Krauss also from Cape Town.
A few days before Garion’s arrival in Iten, I was on a run and was pondering what to do with The Iten Epic going forward. I wondered whether I should attempt to convene the event again or to just walk away from it. Part of my thinking was to perhaps turn it into a one day event when suddenly the 13 Peaks Challenge came to mind. From that moment I wanted to emulate the 13 Peaks with an Iten version, The Iten Epic – An Adventure.
The Epic Inspiration
13 Peak Challenge
The +/- 108 km, 13 Peaks Challenge in Cape Town is the brainchild of Ryan Sandes, another Capetonian. He is one of South Africa’s most accomplished trail runners with a win at the 2017 edition of the Western States 100 mile in the USA. Another of Ryan’s great achievements was with his buddy Ryno Griesel, who together recorded the FKT for the 1504 km Great Himalaya Trail in Nepal in March 2018 with a time of 25 days, 4 hours and 24 minutes, smashing the previous best by 3 days.
“13 Peaks was born from the idea of me wanting to link up some of my favourite peaks on Table Mountain and in the Cape Peninsula area. One evening I sketched those peaks out in my notepad and linked them up in a logical route that would make for a great adventure. I wanted the start and finish to be in the same place to mimic the famous “rounds” in the UK.
The distance between peaks did not look too far on my sketch and I guesstimated it to be about 55km. I convinced my buddy, Kane Reilly to join me for this fun day out, exploring the Cape Peninsula on foot. 19 hours later, having covered over 100km with 6000 meters of vertical, we made it off the mountain. We only summited 12.5 peaks due to our headlamp batteries dying but we both described the 13 Peaks experience as one of the most epic mountain adventures we have been on.
There is something really magical about the Table Mountain area and to be able to experience it on foot takes it to a whole new level. Kane and I never completed the full route but we both promised to go back and complete it. This got me thinking … how cool would it be if more people could experience the 13 Peaks.
The 13 Peaks Challenge isn’t a race, it’s about getting out there and exploring our beautiful wilderness areas. It doesn’t matter if you hike or run, take two days or months to complete, the most important thing is you have fun doing it.”
The 13 Peaks is a self-guided and self-timed event with finishers proudly submitting their finish times to Ryan who adds the achievement to the Wall of Honour on the 13 Peaks Challenge website. Initially there were 3 permutations on offer, completing the 13 Peaks in 24 hours, 48 hours or multi days. Because the local authorities frowned upon 13 Peak challengers running in the dark, Ryan was forced to conform and removed the 24 hour version so that now runners can only participate during the day. He did add a silly version of the challenge called The Impossible. To achieve this honour you have to complete the challenge in less than 14 hrs ie 13 hours something for 13 Peaks. So far there is only one name on the Wall of Honour, Ryan Sandes!
My Own 13 Peaks Challenge
It an interesting journey which I did with 2 Cape Town trail running personalities. Maxine Reilly, an accomplished runner in her own right but also mother of 3 super talented trail runners and Sue Ullyett, the race director of The Ultra Trail Cape Town. After seeking advice from a buddy who had completed the 13 Peaks in multi days, we decided to divide our run into 6 stages. On 26 February 2020 we set off from Signal Hill, the first peak. We, within weeks, comfortably completed 5 stages but then Covid scuppered our plans as the whole of South Africa went into lockdown. After months of inactivity, we had to first regain our fitness and then finally completed the 13 Peaks in August.
The ITEN Epic
An Adventure
Creating The Iten Epic was a voyage of discovery and exploration for me. I wanted to offer the best of the best trail routes in Iten and to show off the natural beauty as well as the scenic patchwork farmlands. Thanks to Strava heatmaps, the app Maps.Me and many hours wandering around the forests, I think I achieved my goal. This was confirmed in March 2024 by the huge thumbs up from the first two runners of The Iten Epic, Garion Krauss, a seasoned trail runner from Cape Town, South Africa and Augustine Kiprono, a local Iten runner and coach. It was particularly satisfying after each stage to have Augustine raving about the route and asking me how on earth I’d found paths he’d never been on before.
Unlike the 13 Peaks Challenge,
The Iten Epic consists of 5 separate routes. You have the option of completing it in 24 hours, the OneDay or over a multi day period, the MultiDay. If you are attempting the MultiDay it needs to be completed within a 28 day period.
4 of the routes start and finish at the gate of The Hub, one of Hilda and Hugo van den Broek’s Iten Accommodation facilities. The start line is adjacent to an electricity pole which we’ve partially painted yellow in recognition of the start gate at the Barkley Marathons. Even though you are also required to run 5 laps like at the Barkley Marathons, don’t worry, The Iten Epic is nowhere near as brutal as the Tennessee version but you will encounter a bramble bush or two. The Hub gate is the finish line for these routes.
A trail running event of this kind in Iten would be incomplete without a visit to the Torok Falls, so therefore the Torok route starts just south of Tambach, heads to and runs under the falls, climbs up to the plateau above and then returns to the start.
The order of running the 5 routes is up to you but if are attempting the OneDay, I suggest you start with Route 3 – the Torok Falls stage. To qualify for the OneDay FKT you are required to complete the 5 routes within 24 hours and that must include your travel time from the finish of Route 3 to The Hub. A bit of a peculiarity but at least we are not asking you to find pages in a book (reference to the Barkley Marathons). On submission of your times, you will have to show the start of your first stage and the start of your final stage. I suggest that OneDay runners stop and start their watches at the beginning and end of each route just in case you don’t make the 24 hour cut off, you can at least register for a MultiDay run.
Important
Please don’t speed recklessly while travelling between Tambach and the Hub but equally, don’t try murdering your taxi driver because he is driving too slowly.
Wall Of Champions
To be placed on the prestigious The Iten Epic Wall of Honour on The Republic of Trail Running website you need to WhatsApp your run screenshots to +27 83 285 6061. It should include the date, the start time, the moving time for each stage time and either the gpx or screenshot of your route map