The South African ultra trail runner who trains in the snow zone will tackle his biggest challenge yet

16 May 2025
By Staff Writer


Thato Kabeli, the son of a family of farm workers in the Barkly East district, has only been running competitively for six years and he’s already won or placed in the top five in numerous trail runs in Southern Africa.

At 41 years old he recently won the 100km RMB Ultra Trail Drakensberg and smashed the existing record by 15 minutes.

The race starts in near the town of Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal and climbs up high into the Drakensberg mountains before coming down the legendary Sani Pass that so many Snow Report followers know well.

In 2024 he came in joint first in the 100km K-Way Skyrun race with a time of 12 hours, 44 minutes and 8 seconds and placed 3rd in the 100km Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) in George.

This qualified him for what will be his biggest challenge to date – the upcoming 101km Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) race in the French Alps in Europe in August this year.

Thato draws inspiration from the beauty of the natural environment around his training ground in the Eastern Cape Highlands where he works at an elevation above 3000m near the town of Rhodes, and this gives him the chance to train in the mountains around Tiffindell Ski Resort is (sadly it’s still closed).

The costs of traveling to and competing in trail running competitions is quite significant, and Thato is partly supported financially by his wife Cynthia who works as a domestic worker in Barkly East, as well as the members of the local farming and tourism sector in Rhodes.

In an area where there are few positive role models for children, Thato’s goal is to show rural youth that there are constructive alternatives to drinking and taking drugs in the remote areas of the rural Eastern Cape.

Thato is currently training hard for the UTMB race in August, and has already raised the money for the flights and race entrance fees but is still working on gathering together the R30 000 or so that he will need for the food and running gear for the two weeks that he will spend in Europe for the race.

“It will be a huge honour to represent South Africa and my rural community at Mont Blanc in the Alps. I know I’ll make them proud”, he says.

Snow Report Southern Africa only generates a very small amount of revenue every year, but we have got to know Thato and have decided to contribute to his campaign to take on the challenge in Chamonix, France.

We hope that some of our followers will join us in supporting this hard-working and inspiring South African runner who does what it takes to achieve his goals despite the financial challenges.

Donate to Thato on BackaBuddy by clicking here.

Thato is coached by Grobler Basson, a well-known racer in the South African ultra running scene.


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