There are plenty of reasons to run in the Cederberg.
The mountains are wild. The trails are unforgiving. The landscapes feel a world away from the noise of everyday life.
But for us, running here is about more than the kilometres.
The Cederberg Backyard Ultra was born from a simple idea: use running as a vehicle for something bigger than running.
We wanted to create a race that could challenge people physically and mentally, while giving something back to the place that makes it possible.
Now heading into our second edition, CBU is growing. Bigger field. Bigger ambition. And a clearer idea of what we want this event to become.
A Backyard Ultra, with a Cederberg twist
At its heart, CBU is an unconventional Backyard Ultra.
Every 90 minutes, runners head out onto a 7.8km mountain loop with roughly 430m of climbing. They return to the start, have a short window to refuel, reset and prepare, and then they go again.
And again.
Starting at midnight, the race continues through the night and into the following day. Fifteen loops take runners through 22.5 hours of running. If more than one runner is still standing for the sixteenth loop, the format changes. No more waiting for the next bell. No more settling into the rhythm.
It becomes a footrace. The first one back wins.
It’s a pretty simple concept that becomes increasingly complicated the longer you stay out there.
But that’s part of what we love about the Backyard format. It strips running back to its basics. Eat. Drink. Rest. Run. Repeat.
Until there’s only one person left.
Then there’s the Cederberg.
This isn’t a flat gravel loop in someone’s backyard. It’s mountain running in a landscape that demands respect. The darkness, the elevation, the heat, the cold and the terrain all become part of the challenge.
And while the race is designed to test you, the Cederberg is never just a backdrop.
It is the reason we’re here.
Running for the Cederberg
The Cederberg is a place that has given so much to the people who visit it.
For many of us, it is where we go to escape. To explore. To run. To climb. To spend time under a sky without city lights.
But enjoying these places comes with a responsibility to protect them.
That is where Sustainable Ceder comes in. Our partnership with Sustainable Ceder is central to what CBU represents. They are working to conserve and revitalise the critically endangered Clanwilliam cedar and the ecosystems around it, through nursery propagation, planting, monitoring, education and other conservation initiatives.
A portion of every CBU entry goes towards this work.
So every kilometre run, every lap completed and every person who shows up becomes part of something beyond the race itself.
We aren’t pretending that a trail race can solve conservation.
But we do believe that a trail race can create awareness, generate funding, bring people into the region and connect a community of runners with the landscape and the communities who call it home.
That’s the opportunity.
More than a race weekend
We want CBU to be part of the wider Cederberg community.
That means working with people who live here, organisations who are doing the hard work on the ground, and runners who care about the places they run.
It means learning about the environment we’re moving through.
It means understanding that trails don’t maintain themselves, that ecosystems don’t recover overnight, and that conservation is not something that happens once a year when a race comes to town.
It’s ongoing.
And that’s the kind of relationship we want to build.
The first edition showed us what was possible.
This year, we’re taking another step forward.
More runners. More people around the fire. More stories. More kilometres. More money raised for conservation.
But hopefully, more importantly, more people leaving the Cederberg with a deeper connection to the place.
Why we run
At the end of the day, CBU is still a race.
It’s tough. It’s a little bit mad. Running 7.8km of mountain trail every 90 minutes through the night isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time.
That’s exactly why we love it.
But the running is the vehicle.
The destination is bigger.
We want to create an event that celebrates the Cederberg while contributing to its future. An event where runners can push themselves, supporters can come together, and conservation can become a big part of the conversation.
Because if we love these places enough to run through them all night, we should love them enough to help protect them too.
That’s what Cederberg Backyard Ultra represents.
Run hard. Give back. Leave the Cederberg better than you found it.
