Salt Pans Ultra Trail Marathon

The Salt Pans Ultra Trail Marathon 2019 is a 3 day Ultra Trail Run on the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana.

Sua Pan, the Eastern of three salt pans situated in the middle of the dry savanna of North-Eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pans are home to Africa’s only breeding ground of the Greater Flamingo and are the location of Wilbur Smith’s famous novel “The Sunbird”.

The conditions on race day are anyone’s guess. Late rains may make the pan muddy and wet. Hot winds whip up sand and slow progress. October is known as suicide month due to the sudden run Northwards of the mercury on temperature gauges after the brief cool, winter respite. Headache inducing snow white sand glares in the sun. Despite the harsh, desolate environment the pans are none the less striking in their beauty.

At night the stars reach down and caress the horizon. The Milky Way (Botswana’s equivalent of the Northern lights) is as clear to the naked eye here as anywhere else on Earth. Shooting stars are bright and sudden. The sunsets and sunrises amaze and the complete solitude forces introspection.

This is Africa at both its harshest and most beautiful. Standing in the middle of the Pans surrounded by a sea of sand the feeling of absolute isolation is both oppressive and liberating.

Welcome to Botswana’s first Ultra Marathon