Where is the Blythedale trail run held?

At the Blythedale Event Bowl on the Blythedale Coastal Estate, a 1,000-hectare property behind the dunes, reached by a dirt road off the R74.

What distances does the Blythedale trail run offer?

Distances vary by event but typically include a short loop around 5km, a middle course near 11km, and a long route in the 19 to 20km range.

When is the Blythedale trail run?

Dates move through the year rather than sitting on one fixed weekend, usually favouring the cooler, drier months. Check the KZN Trail Running calendar and book once the specific date is confirmed.

How do I get to the Blythedale Event Bowl?

From the N2, take Exit 233 towards Stanger and Blythedale, turn onto the R74 for about 1.4km, then turn in at the Event Bowl and follow the dirt road roughly 3km to parking.

Blythedale Trail Run: A Coastal Race on a Private Estate

Most visitors to Blythedale never see the best of it, because the best of it is behind the dunes and only really opens up on a race morning. The Blythedale trail run is the reason to go looking: a coastal-series event that sends runners weaving through indigenous forest, over sugar-cane hills and along the edge of the sea, on a 1,000-hectare estate that is closed to the general public most of the time. It is held at the Blythedale Event Bowl, staged by KZN Trail Running, and it has grown a little every year it has run here. This is what happens on the day, and how to find it.

Who runs it

The event is put on by KZN Trail Running, a company based inland at Drummond that stages races from 5km to 50km around the province, founded by Andrew Booth and run these days by a team including Sanele Dladla and Brian Berleine. Blythedale is one of the venues on their Coastal Series calendar, and the estate has hosted them several times, with entries climbing each time. The 2025 edition pulled more than 200 runners through the forest on a single Saturday morning. The route takes full advantage of the setting: undulating coastal forest, mangroves along the estuary, elevated sugar-cane with long sea views, and the salt air that makes a coastal run feel like a different sport from a road race.

The route and the distances

Distances shift a little by event, but the Coastal Series here typically offers a short family-friendly loop around 5km, a middle course near 11km, and a long route in the 19 to 20km range. The long course is the one that earns its medal. It contours the pristine estuary with its mangroves, climbs the elevated sugar-cane plantation for the views, and works back through forest and beach. To put real numbers on it, the 2025 results tell the story: the 19km winners came home in 1:35:02 for the men and 1:52:56 for the women, the 11km in 56:55, and the 5km in the twenty-eight-minute range. Fast up front, honest in the middle of the field, and long enough at the back to feel like an achievement.

Blythedale Event Bowl

The Blythedale Event Bowl is the venue the runs are built around, an outdoor space behind the dunes reached by a dirt road off the R74. It is also home to the quad trail and the monthly market, so on a race Sunday there is usually more going on than just the running.

Where it starts and finishes

For years the races started and finished inside the Event Bowl itself. In 2025 the organisers moved the finish line down onto the beach at Grumpy's, and by their own account it was a good call: there is a market feel to the place, food and cold drinks on hand, and somewhere for runners to sit in the sun and compare times afterwards rather than drift straight back to the car. Wherever a given year's finish lands, the Event Bowl remains the hub you navigate to.

When it happens

Trail dates move through the year rather than sitting on one fixed weekend, so the calendar is the thing to check before you plan a trip around a race. As a rough guide, the Coastal Series has favoured the cooler, drier months at Blythedale, when the ground is firm and the running is comfortable, and there is usually a Blythedale date somewhere on the schedule. Because the dates shift, book your entry and your stay once the specific event is confirmed rather than counting on a repeat of last year's weekend. Entries go through the KZN Trail Running site.

How to get there

The Event Bowl is signposted off the N2. Take Exit 233 towards Stanger and Blythedale, then turn onto the R74 towards Blythedale and follow it for roughly 1.4km. Turn in at the Blythedale Event Bowl entrance, veer right, and follow the dirt road for about 3km to the parking area. That last stretch is unpaved and slower than it looks on a map, so give yourself a few extra minutes, especially if you are arriving in the half-light before an early start. It is straightforward in daylight; it just is not tarred all the way in.

Refuel at the finish

The Event Bowl is also home to a beach bar, which makes the finish line an easy sell. Grumpy's does seafood and cold drinks and is typically open on the event and market days the runs are timed to, so a proper post-run meal is a short walk from where you cross the line rather than an hour's drive away.

Grumpy's Bush and Beach Restaurant

Grumpy's Bush and Beach Restaurant sits right where the trails meet the sand, known for its seafood platter and its ocean views. It opens on the weekends and school holidays the races are usually run over, which makes it the natural spot to refuel once your number is off.

Make a weekend of it

Most runners travelling in stay over rather than driving up for a dawn start, and the village has enough beds within a short distance of the Event Bowl to make that easy. There is a full run of Blythedale Beach accommodation to choose from, most of it a few minutes from the start.

Once the running is done, the same forest and sand the race crosses are yours to explore at a walking pace. There is a whole beach village of things to do in Blythedale waiting on the other side of the finish line.