ONLINE ENTRIES OPEN till 10 October 2021 – 2020 Race postponed and all entries transferred to 23-24 October 2021.

The STANDARD BANK #BlackBeast Black Mountain Challenge, day 1 will have option between the #BlackBeast Extreme 35km (Marathon at 1100m elevation gain) or #BlackBeast Adventure 25km (+650m elevation gain) while both entries entitles you to Day 2 the Big Sky Trail Run 10km for both Extreme & Lite participants, The Extreme will have a combined distance of 45km & Lite will be 35km for both days combined.

You can also just enter for Big Sky Trail Run 10km on Day 2 only . Come enjoy the beautiful well known mountain of Thaba Nchu near Bloemfontein that offers a challenging route & easy yet beautiful Trail run, the mountain Challenge winning time 2017 was 04h02 (distance was shorter route 27km).

Both events are hosted at the Black Mountain Hotel & Spa, the start of the BlackBeast Lite is from Glamorgan Farm, participants of the Lite will be transported from hotel to Glamorgan the morning of the race or can travel there with someone that will second for you. The hotel has enough rooms to host all our participants. Family & friends can entertain themselves at hotel with variety of features offered like game drives or game horse back ride to put-put, beautiful swimming pools, or go swim in the indoor hot spa pool to relax those aching muscles, use the spa or other facilities like bar with big screen, restaurant, movie theater, etc. We will also have sport massages available at good rates for those that would like to book them for after the BlackBeast run at hotel. 

Parents can now make use of our KiddieDayCare package, your kids from babies to teenagers will be taken care of qualified Kinderkinetics team (Bio-kinetics, Kinderkinetics is a specialised field, which focuses on children from newborn to 12 years of age. Its focus is on maintaining, strengthening, improvement and optimising of physical and motor skills in order to achieve child wellness) which includes meals & the 1km Kiddierun on Day 2, this allows both parents to enjoy the race while your kids are taken care of for the duration of the day with a full itinerary of fun events, you children will beg you to come back to BMC the next year.

To make booking at hotel visit www.blackmountainhotel.co.za (the online bookings of hotel accommodation have been blocked so you will have to call hotel directly to make reservations as hotel is reserved for BMC participants)

Day 1 Saturday

BlackBeast Extreme or Adventure

Distance: EXTREME 35km or ADVENTURE 25km

Altitude Gain: EXTREME D+ 1100 or LITE D+ 700

Time Start: Extreme 07:00am & ADVENTURE 09:00am (ADVENTURE time is subject to change)

EXTREME Level of Fitness: Average Runners to intermediate hikers, although its extreme race, one is advised to know how to use your gps in order to make navigation easier on race day.

ADVENTURE Level of Fitness: Beginners to Average Runners & hikers, although its marked and easy route to navigate, its always advisable to know how to use your gps in order to make navigation easier on race day.

3 Fully Stocked Beverage & Food Check Points:
CP1 (Extreme only) –  Defensor Water Point – 12km On foot of #HeavensLadder (Refreshments & Lite snacks)

WP1 (Extreme only) – 16km God’s Eye

(Start for ADVENTURE) – Flanegans Farm START Adevnture – 0km

CP2 (Extreme 18.5km & Adventure 5.5km)

CP3 De Poort – Water Point – 24km (Adventure 11km) Fully stocked Oasis Pit-stop water point with everything from Refreshments, refill your hydration, snacks & energy bars, etc.

CP4 The Posts – Defensor Water Point – 30km (Adventure 17km) Fully stocked Oasis Pit-stop water point with everything from Food, Refreshments, refill your hydration, snackss, food, fruit, etc.

WP3 Big Sky Photo – 34km (Adventure 21km) Have your photo taken at the giant photo frame with Black Mountain behind you.

Finish Hotel – 35km (Adventure 25km) take a break, swim, eat your Black Mountain burger, order a drink at pool bar, enjoy the music and chill or book yourself into the spa, or book a massage with the physios at pool.

BMC Race Package Includes:

Beautiful 110mm x 6mm thick BMC Extreme Medal or 90mm BlackBeast Adventure Medal

Each BlackBeast runner gets custom made top quality BMC Race shirt or vest with your preferred names on it with colour of your choice, the shirt cut can be ordered as Male or Female cut as each participant race shirt is custom made to your specifications.

Awesome Goody Bag (One Goody Bag per participant doing BlackBeast Extreme or BlackBeast Lite).

Includes Conservancy Fees.

ER24 crew & ambulance.

BMC is Marked Route on the Black Mountain only, but GPS is still highly recommended and important for accurate navigation.

Amazing adventure which is rated as Extreme and back at race village you get spoiled with the luxury you deserve. The Lite is a mild mountain event ideal for beginners.

Sweeper & Race Officials on the track to assist where needed.

Big delicious Black Mountain Burger and Chips at hotel pool bar for every finisher.

Timed event with results.

Refreshments at Finish for each finisher to help replenish your thirst.

Hotel Info

Those booking at Hotel gets dinner included with their bookings with live music.

Estimated Duration:
Advanced Runners (4h00 – 5h00 Extreme)

Intermediates Runners (5h00 – 06h30 Extreme)

Average Runners (6h30 – 7h30 Extreme)

Beginners (07h30 – 09h00 Extreme)

Hikers/Walking (8h00 – 10h00 Extreme)

To finish by  5pm you will move at 3.7 km/h average speed in 10 hours.

The cut-off is 10 hours (5pm or by race director discretion which is determined by sun-set & daylight, no runner may continue to finish in dark, all those participants still busy on route at sunset/dark will be picked up by our rangers with their Vehicles). There will be a cut off at Glamorgan Check Point 19km for Extreme of 4 hours – 11am (or discretion on day of race director).

The achievements would be to finish Sub 4 hours for Elite Runners, Sub 5 for advanced athletes or Sub 6 hours for intermediate runners.

Compulsory Gear: Click Here to View Compulsory Gear

Standard Bank 1km Kiddierun:

1km Kiddierun & KiddieCare Packages

Distance: 1km
Time: 08:15 am Sunday (Just before BigSky Run starts)
Kiddierun medal at the finish line for each kid that finished.

Kids from new born to 13 years will be taken care of by professional Kinderkinetics team for duration of Saturday so parents can both enjoy the BlackBeast, also for Sunday during Big Sky, look at the package which includes food.

To make booking at hotel visit www.blackmountainhotel.co.za (the online bookings of hotel accommodation have been blocked so you will have to call hotel directly to make reservations as hotel is reserved for BMC participants, there are 250 rooms available)