The Drakensberg Grand Traverse, or DGT, holds a mythical status for many adventurers from Southern Africa and around the world. Since the start and finish of the route with specified checkpoints was formalised in 1999 by Gavin and Lawrie Raubenheimer and originally named the Drakensberg Trans-Frontier Challenge, it has captured the imagination of hikers and trail runners who have tackled this formidable landscape with varying degrees of success and speed.

A brief story about the 1999 Drakensberg Trans-Frontier Challenge.

The DGT remained relatively unknown until March 2014, when Ryno Griesel and Ryan Sandes set the current unsupported record of 41hr49min. In the build up to this, Ryno, together with Cobus Van Zyl, spent countless days scouting in the Drakensberg looking for the optimal routing and this has now become the backbone of most DGT FKT attempts.

Andrew Porter holds the solo record of 45hr08mins completed in May 2015.

The first DGT Run was stage from the 1-5 November 2022.

Stijn Laenen, one of the most knowledgable people about all things DGT, maintains a full list of the current fastpacking FKT’s on the DGT