SkyRun 65 - Course Data, Elevation and Cutoffs
- Lady Grey, South Africa
- 65.5 km40.7 mi
- 3,162 m10,374 ft D+
- 7 aid stations
- 3 ITRA points
SkyRun 65 2026: live tracking and results
SkyRun 65 starts on Saturday, November 14 at 04:00 AM. Live tracking and results are on the organiser's own pages.
Same weekend: SkyRun 100
Course profile
Lady Grey, South Africa
- Distance
- 65.5 km40.7 miFinishes 138 m higher than it startsFinishes 453 ft higher than it starts
- Elevation
- +3,162 m+10,374 ft-3,024 m-9,921 ftAbout 48 m of climb per kmAbout 255 ft of climb per mile
- Highest point
- 2,723 m8,934 ftAvoca Peak
Next editionSat 14 Nov 2026 · 04:00
- Start
- Winner~8h308h30 after the start
- Median finisher2024 median16h23 after the start
- Cutoff20h after the start
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.
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.
Other distances at SkyRun
| Race | Distance | D+ | Cutoff | Next start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyRun 100 | 99.2 km61.6 mi | 3,897 m12,785 ft | 30h00 | Nov 14, 2026 |
| SkyRun 65 (this page) | 65.5 km40.7 mi | 3,162 m10,374 ft | 20h00 | Nov 14, 2026 |
Plan against the cutoffs
Prepare every aid station against the official cutoffs, then unlock your full roadbook in the app.
Estimate your finish
One Strava connection reads your last 90 days and estimates your finish on this course. Free, no plan needed.
Course math
Four numbers worked out from this course's distance, elevation and checkpoints.
TrailMath effort-km
112 effort-km
About 11 h for a mid-pack finisher (index 500). Not a pacing guarantee.
Distance + gain ÷ 100 + loss ÷ 200, beside ITRA's gain-only km-effort. Model TM1.0.
How TrailMath works →UTMB Index category
50K
97 km-effort (distance + gain ÷ 100). Calculated from the course figures, not an official classification.
Estimate your UTMB Index → ITRA and UTMB indexes explainedBiggest climb section
+799 m+2,621 ft
Lady Grey → CP1 Tower · km 0–6.6mi 0–4.1
The largest gain between two checkpoints, not one continuous climb.
Biggest descent section
−652 m−2,139 ft
CP5 Skidaw → CP6 Balloch (in) · km 47.1–56.3mi 29.3–35
The largest loss between two checkpoints. ITRA's km-effort ignores descent; TrailMath counts it: 112 km-effort.
Open in GPX Explorer →Share this race
Cards sized for Instagram and Strava.
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.
3:37:00in 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 AfricaZA | 9396.9% | |
| AustriaAT | 11.0% | |
| CzechiaCZ | 11.0% | |
| NamibiaNA | 11.0% |
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, verifiedSeptember 16, 2026 - Official results
Race-ready pack
The training is done. The race plan is not.
With 5 days to go, no session will add fitness - a hard one only adds fatigue. What still changes your finish is how you fuel each leg and how rested you arrive.
5 days to the startSat, Nov 14 · 04:00 GMT+2
Fuel, checkpoint by checkpoint
| Checkpoint | km | Fuel |
|---|---|---|
| CP1 Tower6.6 km · +799 m | 6.6 | In the app |
| CP2 Olympus12.2 km · +573 m | 18.8 | In the app |
| CP3 Snowden10.8 km · +423 m | 29.6 | In the app |
| CP4 Avoca10.3 km · +444 m | 39.9 | In the app |
| CP5 Skidaw7.2 km · +208 m | 47.1 | In the app |
| CP6 Balloch9.2 km · +152 m | 56.3 | In the app |
| CP6 Balloch0.4 km · +15 m | 56.7 | In the app |
| Finish - Wartrail Country Club8.8 km · +548 m | 65.5 | In the app |
Crew access at 1 checkpoint.
Fuel by the hour, not by the kilometre - each leg is time between aid stations. Race on the fuel you trained with: nothing new this week.
Arrive fresh
- SEasy
- MEasy + strides
- TRest
- WEasy
- TRest
- FShakeout
- RaceRace
Easy · Easy + strides · Rest · Shakeout
Shape only: the app sets each day's session from your recent load.
Overnight start: bank extra sleep in the nights before - race night will not give it back.
Your days, one by one
Your SkyRun 65 race plan
Your finish estimate, your fuelling leg by leg, and your race week day by day. SkyRun 65 is already filled in.
With a Race Pass (€39, once) or Premium: the full roadbook and race-week training for SkyRun 65.
Aid stations and checkpoints
| Checkpoint | KmMi | Cumulative gain (m)Cumulative gain (ft) | Cumulative loss (m)Cumulative loss (ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start - Lady Grey | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| CP1 Tower | 6.64.1 | 7992,621 | 86282 |
| CP2 Olympus | 18.811.7 | 1,3724,501 | 6252,051 |
| CP3 Snowden | 29.618.4 | 1,7955,889 | 8712,858 |
| CP4 Avoca | 39.924.8 | 2,2397,346 | 1,1753,855 |
| CP5 Skidaw | 47.129.3 | 2,4478,028 | 1,7165,630 |
| CP6 Balloch (in)CrewDrop bag | 56.335 | 2,5998,527 | 2,3687,769 |
| CP6 Balloch (out)CrewDrop bag | 56.735.2 | 2,6148,576 | 2,3967,861 |
| Finish - Wartrail Country ClubCrewDrop bag | 65.540.7 | 3,16210,374 | 3,0249,921 |
Data is approximate and courses change between editions - always verify against the official race guide. Source: official race guide, verifiedSeptember 16, 2026 - Official race website
Crew access and race-day roadbook
Public crew and drop-bag points for SkyRun 65. Unlock the complete saved roadbook in the app for personalized checkpoint times and a printable crew card.
Unlock the complete saved roadbook in the app: checkpoint times, pacing, fueling and a printable crew card. Public course facts remain available here.
- CP6 Balloch (in) - 56.3 km
- CP6 Balloch (out) - 56.7 km
- Finish - Wartrail Country Club - 65.5 km
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.