Will Robinson rates the 70km World Ultra Trail Championships, staged in Connemara, Ireland, in July, the hardest course he's ever done.

Robinson, a maths doctoral student at UCT, was part of the first South African team to compete in the event, hosted by the International Association of Ultrarunners. Much like the course, the six South Africans had their ups and downs - Robinson, recovering from a bad cold, lost some skin on the slippery parts of the run, and two had to bail out. Veteran Bruce Arnett fared the best of the South Africans (36th), Su Don-Wauchope was the 14th woman home (77th overall), while Robinson finished 68th, in a time of 8:48:08. Geomatics lecturer Dr Ake Fagereng represented Norway.