The routes

The 42 begins where vert meets water. The Atlantic winds whip your resolve as you ascend Pat's Track, a quick and steady climb daring you to push early. Lion's Head rises to your right, guiding you to the start of the Pipe Track at Kloof Corner.

The Pipe Track flows deceptively easy, a moment to catch your legs, but the mountain is patient. Kasteelspoort waits. This climb is your first real challenge, every step a negotiation with gravity and rock. You pass the reservoirs before you drop into Constantia Nek.

Drop into Constantia Nek and the farms begin: through Constantia Glen, up into Eagles Nest where a guitar plays at the gate between farms, back through the Glen and Beau Constantia. Then Vlakkenberg looms, steep and unforgiving. Over The Fang and down to Price Drive, the Vineyard Labyrinth opens: Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Buitenverwachting and one fast final kilometre down to The Den at Constantia Uitsig.

Key points, in order

1. Green Point
2. Pat's Track
3. Kloof Corner
4. Pipe Track
5. Kasteelspoort
6. Reservoirs
7. Constantia Nek
8. Constantia Glen
9. Eagles Nest
10. Beau Constantia
11. Vlakkenberg
12. Price Drive
13. Groot Constantia
14. Klein Constantia
15. Buitenverwachting
16. Constantia Uitsig

Upward through the raw slopes of Spitzkop, Dragon's Passage bares its teeth. Cobra Alley strikes narrow and sharp, ancient fynbos clawing at your ankles, the trail twisting like a living thing.

Silvermine opens before you, cliffs and sky stretching to the horizon. Elephant's Eye comes next, a thread of rocky switchbacks through the wilderness, before the trail rolls along the contour toward Vlakkenberg, where the 42 and 21 join you for The Fang.

Over the top, gravity pulls you down to Price Drive and into the Constantia wine valley. Past Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia and Buitenverwachting, vineyards replace rock on the way to The Den at Constantia Uitsig.

Key points, in order

1. Noordhoek
2. Spitzkop
3. Dragon's Passage
4. Cobra Alley
5. Silvermine
6. Elephant's Eye
7. Vlakkenberg
8. Price Drive
9. Groot Constantia
10. Klein Constantia
11. Buitenverwachting
12. Constantia Uitsig

You start at Beau Constantia, high on Constantia Nek, where the mountain exhales and the vineyards beckon. First up into Eagles Nest, where a guitar plays at the gate, and back through Constantia Glen. Then the dance with Vlakkenberg: rolling, winding, steep enough to sting.

Then comes the Labyrinth. Down to Price Drive and into Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia and Buitenverwachting: centuries of history, trails that twist and turn. Each estate a chapter, each vineyard row a line written in soil and sweat.

Just when it feels endless, the finish opens ahead at Constantia Uitsig, where all distances collide.

Key points, in order

1. Beau Constantia
2. Eagles Nest
3. Constantia Glen
4. Vlakkenberg
5. Price Drive
6. Groot Constantia
7. Klein Constantia
8. Buitenverwachting
9. Constantia Uitsig

This year the 10 km runs entirely on Buitenverwachting, brushing the border of Klein Constantia: vineyards and fynbos, a taste of the challenge before the longer distances.

Perfect for first-time trail runners, or experienced legs looking for a fast, hard effort. Your chance to feel the bite and say you were part of the reckoning.

Key points, in order

1. Constantia Uitsig
2. Buitenverwachting
3. Klein Constantia border
4. Constantia Uitsig