SOX rocks Garden Route

GEORGE NEWS - AJ Calitz and Anel van Wyk were crowned the overall men's and women's winners, respectively, at the 2026 SOX 3-day Stage Race in the Garden Route.

Calitz dominated the SOX full men's field, completing the three-day challenge in 5:16:47. He won all three stages, finishing day 1 in 1:58:37, day 2 in 2:18:55 and the final stage in 59:15.

Ryan Winter claimed second overall in 5:43:26, while Arend Theron finished third in 5:55:05.

In the women's SOX full category, Anel van Wyk from Oudtshoorn secured victory in 6:10:09, also winning all three stages. Drinnette du Randt finished second in 6:36:05, followed by Sondra Hope in 6:58:34.

Aaron Kelly took the SOX sport men's title in 4:05:30, narrowly beating Pedro Conceicao, who finished just 2:01 behind. Robin Kelly was third in 4:12:18.

Gayle van der Merwe won the SOX sport women's category in 4:14:37, followed by Lesley Wilson-Jones in 4:21:57 and Tessa Cullis in 4:33:54.

The three-day SOX event hosted just over 141 athletes this year and concluded in Wilderness on a very cold and wet Sunday 9 August. The SOX Trail Run is a three-day stage race in the Garden Route, based at the Fairy Knowe Hotel in Wilderness. The 2026 edition ran from 7 to 9 August.

Big smiles all the way from Garden Route District Mayor Marais Kruger, who took part in the SOX full. Photos: Gerber Sports Photography

Trail running isn’t always serious business. Sometimes you have to stop and cool down as well.The three stages

On day one, the SOX full runners tackled 25km of mountainous single track in the Outeniqua Mountains, while the sport runners took on a shorter 13km route.

The second day took the full runners through 25km of indigenous forest around Rheenendal and Knysna, with a shorter route for the sport field.

The final stage was a shorter route along the Wilderness coastline. As always, this stage included the crossing of the floating bridge over the Touw River before the runners made their way to the finish.

Lynne and Daan-Louis Gerber take a moment to smile for the camera.Marsel Roos and AJ Calitz making their way down the beach on Sunday morning.‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’