The Rhino Run entree: Kevin Benkenstein takes first bite at new ultra-endurance race

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Kevin Benkenstein has won the first battle of the new South African ultra-endurance race, the Rhino Run, taking out the 726km first leg of the challenging bikepacking event but it looks like he’ll have a battle on his hands to maintain that lead through the remaining 2000km. 

Benkenstein – who won the 700km self supported South African Freedom Circuit race in 2021, 1000km mountain bike race The Munga in 2019 and was runner up in Australia’s Race to the Rock in 2017 – took just over 38 hours to finish the first section of his home nation race.

“I was staggered at how fast it was, it was just ridiculous. There was such a huge tailwind,” said Benkenstein on a live feed on the race Instagram after completing the first section.

He was around 50km ahead of Melbourne-based rider Abdullah Zeinab when he finished the entree, a modified version of the Cross Cape cycle route. Coming third was South Australian Jimmy Ashby who as an 18 year old took off on a bike touring trip around the world, riding 39,100km solo.

The race began at 6:22am on Friday October 21 in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa with riders from across the world taking on the challenge, some set to tackle just the initial 700km but others continuing the full distance of the mixed terrain race. 

The initial section took riders over rough potholed roads, gravel passes and onto the final challenge on the track to Stellenbosch of the Rusty Gate Pass, and its brutally steep sections which would test even fresh and unladen cyclists.

“I just kept it steady … tried not to kill myself on every climb, except Rusty Gate because there is no option – the easiest you can go is also the hardest you can go,” Benkenstein said of the initial stages of the race. 

“I rode the whole thing on my 23kg bike,” he added before taking some time to rest before continuing on with the remaining 2,000km.

Other riders on the start line included this year’s Tour Divide winner Sofiane Sehili, 2015 Transcontinental race winner Josh Ibbett and three-time Race to the Rock victor Sarah Hammond – who had to scratch early after becoming ill. 

Riders confirm their race entry by donating to the Masaka Cycling Club, which unearths and develops Ugandan cycling talent, and this has helped support the entry of three Ugandan cyclists to take part in their first bikepacking race, Kato Paul, Wasswa Peter and Florence Nakaggwa.

As the race has continued Zeinab and Benkenstein have remained out the front with Nakaggwa the leading women, in eight overall at the time of writing. To see the latest race situation follow the link to the page with live tracking dots.

After the entree the race headed north from Stellenbosch and moves into increasingly remote terrain, crossing the border into Namibia and crossing the Namib desert before finishing in Windhoek.