SkyRun 65 - Course Data, Elevation and Cutoffs
SkyRun 65 covers 65.5 km across the Witteberg range from Lady Grey to Wartrail Country Club, with 3,162 m of climbing and a 20-hour cutoff. It shares the first 56 km with SkyRun 100, then cuts from Balloch to the finish instead of continuing east.
Course profile
- Next edition
- Sat 14 Nov 2026 · 04:00
- Distance
- 65.5 km
- Elevation gain
- 3,162 m
- Elevation loss
- 3,024 m
- Highest point
- Avoca Peak (2,723 m)
- Cutoff
- 20h
- Typical winning time
- ~8h30
The 65 takes the hard half. It climbs the Tower, crosses the Dragon's Back and passes Avoca Peak at 2,723 m exactly as the 100 does, and reaches Balloch at 56.3 km having done two thirds of the longer race's climbing - then turns for Wartrail over the Wall crossing rather than heading out to Edgehill and the Turn. Like the 100 it is unmarked and self-navigated from a GPS track, and Balloch is both the only crew point and one of only two bag drops. The organiser publishes no intermediate cutoffs for this distance, only the 20-hour overall limit, so the checkpoint table below carries distances and climbing but no time barriers.
Data is approximate and courses change between editions - always verify against the official race guide.
Enter a goal finish time and see estimated arrivals vs checkpoint cutoffs.
Plan against barriersCourse math
Three numbers worked out from this course's distance, elevation and checkpoints.
UTMB Index category
50K
97 km-effort (distance + gain ÷ 100). Calculated from the course figures, not an official classification.
Estimate your UTMB Index →Biggest climb section
+799 m
Lady Grey → CP1 Tower · km 0–6.6
The largest gain between two checkpoints, not one continuous climb.
Biggest descent section
−652 m
CP5 Skidaw → CP6 Balloch (in) · km 47.1–56.3
The largest loss between two checkpoints. ITRA's km-effort ignores descent; TrailMath counts it: 117 km-effort.
Open in GPX Explorer →SkyRun 65 · 2024
Finish times, 2024 edition
96 runners finished. Half of them took longer than 16:23:00. That left the median finisher 3:37:00 inside the 20h cutoff.
Median finish
16:23:00
Half of the 96 finishers were still out there at this point.
3:37:00 in hand before the 20h cutoff
Average 16:21:49, 0:01:11 quicker than the median: a fast front pulls it down.
The start line
Men and women
Two medians on the same scale. The bars run from the start to the cutoff, so the gap between them is the gap in time.
Men
16:22:00
median finish; average 15:57:35
67 finishers, 70% of the field
Women
17:27:00
median finish; average 17:17:50
29 finishers, 30% of the field
1:05:00 separates the two medians, across 67 men and 29 women.
Finish time by age group
Every track runs from the start to the 20h cutoff, so the empty part of a bar is the time that group's median finisher still had. Men and women are drawn on the same scale.
| Age | Median finish | Median against the cutoff | Finishers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 15:53:00 | 33 | |
| Vet | 16:28:00 | 25 | |
| Master | 17:09:00 | 7 - small sample, read with care | |
| Grand Master | - | 2 - too few finishers to publish a time |
| Age | Median finish | Median against the cutoff | Finishers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 17:24:00 | 14 - small sample, read with care | |
| Vet | 16:58:00 | 11 - small sample, read with care | |
| Master | - | 2 - too few finishers to publish a time | |
| Grand Master | - | 2 - too few finishers to publish a time |
Full bar: 20 finishers or more. Tick alone: fewer than 20, too few for a median to say much. The shaded row is the biggest group.
Where the finishers came from
97% of the finishers came from South Africa alone.
| Nation | Finishers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa ZA | 93 96.9% | |
| Austria AT | 1 1.0% | |
| Czechia CZ | 1 1.0% | |
| Namibia NA | 1 1.0% |
Bar length is against the largest nation. The smallest counts are drawn at a minimum visible width, so their bars are not to scale.
How these numbers were computed
These are times for runners who finished. They exclude everyone who started and did not, so they describe how long finishing took, not how long the race takes. Bands with only a handful of finishers move a lot from one edition to the next.
We plot the median, not the average. A handful of very quick runners drags the average well below the time half the field actually beat, so the median is the honest number to plan against.
Nationality here shows who travels to this race, not who runs it best. That alone is why a host nation tops almost every list.
Computed from the full official results, verified September 16, 2026 - Official results
Talk to your race
Ask SkyRun 65 anything about climbs, pacing, crew or cutoffs.
Which climb should I respect most?
Lady Grey to CP1 Tower: +799 m over 6.6 km, straight from the gun. Hike the steep sections at an effort you could hold for hours - the race is decided after this climb, not on it.
Where can my crew meet me?
CP6 Balloch, km 56.3 - your only crew point. Have them bring warm layers: the course tops out at 2,723 m, in November.
Is 16h a realistic finish for me?
16h would put you in the faster half of 2024 finishers - the median was 16:23:00. It means holding 14:39/km overall.
Your long runs peak at 20 km, so the plan builds to 4-hour long runs.
To answer this for you, the Coach uses your training and your race plan.
Example answer
Your long runs peak at 20 km, so the plan builds to 4-hour long runs.
14 days of Premium included.
Try asking SkyRun 65
See your training shape
Pick your weekly volume and training days to preview the plan structure - no account needed.
~8 weeks · peak ~8 h/week · 5 run + 2 strength days
For a 65.5 km race, aim for about 11 h/week at peak. Set your availability to 13 h/week in the app for the headroom to build there gradually.
Typical structure for your volume - your live plan adjusts sessions inside each week.
Make this your plan
Create your free account to generate the full week-by-week plan and adapt it with your coach.
Aid stations and checkpoints
| Checkpoint | Km | Cumulative gain (m) | Cumulative loss (m) | Crew | Drop bag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start - Lady Grey | 0 | 0 | 0 | No | No |
| CP1 Tower | 6.6 | 799 | 86 | No | No |
| CP2 Olympus | 18.8 | 1,372 | 625 | No | No |
| CP3 Snowden | 29.6 | 1,795 | 871 | No | No |
| CP4 Avoca | 39.9 | 2,239 | 1,175 | No | No |
| CP5 Skidaw | 47.1 | 2,447 | 1,716 | No | No |
| CP6 Balloch (in) | 56.3 | 2,599 | 2,368 | Yes | Yes |
| CP6 Balloch (out) | 56.7 | 2,614 | 2,396 | Yes | Yes |
| Finish - Wartrail Country Club | 65.5 | 3,162 | 3,024 | Yes | Yes |
Data is approximate and courses change between editions - always verify against the official race guide. Source: official race guide, verified September 16, 2026 - Official race website
FAQ
How long is SkyRun 65?
SkyRun 65 covers 65.5 km (about 41 miles) point to point, from Lady Grey to Wartrail Country Club in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
How much elevation gain does SkyRun 65 have?
The course carries 3,162 m of cumulative climbing and 3,024 m of descent. That is 81 per cent of SkyRun 100's climbing over 66 per cent of its distance, because the 65 takes the steepest section of the traverse.
What is the cutoff time for SkyRun 65?
The overall cutoff is 20 hours from the 04:00 start on Saturday 14 November 2026, finishing at midnight. The organiser publishes no intermediate checkpoint cutoffs for this distance.
What is the difference between SkyRun 65 and SkyRun 100?
Both start at Lady Grey at 04:00 and share the route as far as Balloch at 56.3 km. SkyRun 65 then crosses the Wall to Wartrail, while SkyRun 100 continues east to Edgehill, the Turn and Halstone Peak - another 43 km and 1,283 m of climbing.
What is the average SkyRun 65 finish time?
Across the 96 finishers of the 2024 edition the median finish time was 16:23:00 - half the field took longer than that - while the average was 16:21:49. Men finished in a median 16:22:00 and women 17:27:00. The winner ran 8:07:00 and the last finisher 19:34:00, inside the 20-hour cutoff.
Training for this race?
TrailMath builds periodized trail training plans around your goal race.
One Strava connection reads your last 90 days and estimates your finish on this course. Free, no plan needed.