Another Runner Attacked in Cape Town, South Africa

 Cape {town} Etc reports*:

In a shocking incident that has sent chills through the running, hiking, and cycling communities, a runner was reportedly stabbed by three male suspects in the Deadman’s Tree area, close to Tafelberg Road on Wednesday morning.

There have been several of these incidents in recent memories, famously in 2023 when Tom Evans was mugged during a training run, which led him to abandon his plans to race Ultra-Trail Cape Town.

I want to point out a couple of things here:

• South Africa is currently, and has been going through some incredible challenging times due to its political, historical, and economic landscape. Demonizing the people of South Africa though is bullshit and cannot happen.
• Race directors and events managers – the upcoming World Mountain and Trail Running Championships will be on these trails – need to find solutions to provide better security to address safety concerns.

*I initially was going to link to the article in Canadian Running which was the link first shared with me by a friend of mine, but the headline in that article is completely wrong: “Runner stabbed on UTMB Cape Town course raises alarm in trail community” And further:

Table Mountain is one of the signature sections of Ultra-Trail Cape Town (UTCT), part of the UTMB race series. 

Hello Hayden, West, writer for Canadian Running, two minutes of research could’ve told you that this is incorrect. UTCT is part of the World Trail Majors. The UTMB World Series does have an event in South Africa, but it’s the Mountain Ultra Trail further up the coast in George along the Garden Route. While I get that adding UTMB to the headline makes the article sound more juicy – and might get more clicks – it’s also false.