History was made at the 18th edition of the Otter Terrex Trail presented by EasyEquities as Bianca Tarboton claimed a fifth win in six years in the women’s race in Nature’s Valley, extending her record for the most wins in the event.
She led from the start, extending her lead over the chasing pack throughout the marathon-length race to win in 4:55:24, nearly 17 minutes ahead of second-placed Mila Geldenhuys.
In the men’s race, it was a case of perseverance finally paying off as Robbie Rorich used his technical skills and experience to pass Otter debutant Philani Sengce in the final kilometres.
Rorich claimed his first Otter win in 4:08:11, having previously finished as runner-up in 2025.
The technical nature of the trail makes this course one of the hardest in the country to race on, with coastline pathways, narrow forest single tracks, river crossings, fields of rocks and boulders, and gruelling climbs that total 2,600m of elevation gain.
This year the race was run from Nature’s Valley to Storms River — the reverse direction known as the Retto (Otter in reverse), which alternates every second year with the original direction.
“Today was a great reminder of what makes this event so special — the athletes who come here to test themselves, race hard and create their own Otter stories. We’re proud to be part of that journey with them,” Tom Bednall, senior manager of sports and culture marketing for adidas SA, title sponsor of the event, said.
Speaking about the race, Rorich said: “The last 10 kays were wild, and we all took turns leading the race.
“First it was Kane, then Philani (Sengce), then me.
“But after Philani and I passed the hut together, he put in a big charge and opened the gap, so the rocks helped me to catch up again. But I only passed Philani because he got a bit lost.
“The trail goes up a double staircase, and we both went right, but I realised that was wrong and went left.
“Next thing I knew, I was up top and Philani was below me, still climbing. He stopped, because he obviously didn’t know what to do, and I shouted at him to carry on running, but that was it, I was now ahead of him.
“I don’t know if I would have caught him if he didn’t take that wrong turn.”
Sengce was second home in 4:09:16 and Kane Reilly claimed third in 4:12:00.
With four wins already to her name as well as two runner-up finishes, Tarboton lined up as firm favourite for this year’s race.
“I had to work really hard to stay in it and to keep pushing, so it definitely was not an easy day for me,” she said.
“I slipped a lot of times, but that’s the Otter — you can have really great days, and you can have days that don’t quite go your way, so today was a different experience.
“Of course, it’s special every time I get to be on the podium here, but it’s difficult to compare my wins, because each one feels so different, but they’re all special!”
Geldenhuys was second home in 5:14:12, in her second Otter run, and the top three was rounded off by Nadia Booyens, who crossed the line in 5:16:05.
As first man and woman across the finish line, Rorich and Tarboton each received R100,000 in prize-money, while second-placed Sengce and Geldenhuys earned themselves R50,000 each. — Faces
- Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world.
The Herald