About Us
Born from the legacy of the AMUK Challenge, Hooked by Milers celebrates the athletes willing to push beyond the ordinary and take on the ultimate test of endurance.
The Hooked by Milers Committee was established in early 2025 by Tobie Reyneke to fill the void left by the discontinuation of the AMUK Challenge. He was joined by Riana Henning, Mark Metcalfe, Chantal van der Nest and Marius van Rensburg. A new name for the revamped challenge was suggested by Anton Neethling as the AMAKHULU challenge. “Ikhulu” means one hundred in isiZulu and “Amakhulu” is the plural thereof. They added a Stepping Stone Challenge for athletes to complete 4 x 100 and / or 200 mile events over 2 calender years to accommodate athletes with limitations making it difficult for them to do it in 1 calender year like the AMAKHULU challenge.
THE ULTIMATE TEST
Amakhulu Challenge
100 MILES. FOUR RACES. ONE YEAR.
The name Amakhulu comes from isiZulu – ikhulu means one hundred, and amakhulu is the plural. Complete all four 100-mile races in one calendar year to become an Amakhulu finisher.
ADDO ELEPHANT TRAIL RUN
Addo, Eastern Cape
UTD ULTRA-TRAIL DRAKENSBERG
Drakensberg, KZN
MAC MAC FOREST TRAIL
Tsitsikamma, EC
KARKLOOF 100 MILER
Karkloof, KZN
Our Story
The original AMUK Challenge was created and run by the race organisors of the 4 south african trail 100 mile races represented in the word AMUK for 3 years. You had to complete Addo Elephant, Ultra Trail Drakensberg, Mac Mac Ultra and Karkloof 100 mile races in one calender year to qualify as finisher.
The first 2 finishers were Rene Volgraaf and Frikkie Pienaar in 2019. Covid interrupted until 2021 when 5 athletes Riana Henning, Justin Oelofsen, Tobie Reyneke, Ben Samwell and Marius van Rensburg completed the feat. In 2022, 3 athletes Michael Coles, Keletso Nyathi and Marius van Rensburg were successful finishers.
2024 turned out to be a huge curveball when the Karkloof 100 miler was stopped mid-race due to snow. This meant that after 3 successful events and starting the 4th race there could be no finishers for the AMUK challenge. Motivated by the passion and intensity of the AMUK athletes journey, Tobie Reyneke got permission from the AMUK organisers to hold the MULA Challenge by adding the Longmore Forest Endurance Run (LoFER) as the 4th 100 miler for the 2024 calender year. The 3 finishers were Derick Coetzee, Cornel Metcalfe en Thomas Vermaak.
It became clear that due to various reasons the original AMUK organisors would not continue with the AMUK Challenge despite the popularity of the challenge. After getting their permission Tobie Reyneke started the Hooked by Milers committee with Riana Henning, Mark Metcalfe, Chantal van der Nest and Marius van Rensburg in early 2025. They set out to redesign the AMUK challenge to include more races and make it accessable to more athletes with the help of the broader community. In 2025 they had 3 challenges: The AMAKHULU challenge focused on trail races. The MiXGit Challenge included all other races in addition to trail races and the Stepping Stone Challenge was spilt over 2 calender years in stead of one. The basic requirement of 4 x 100 mile (and now also 200 mile) races in one calender year was kept. These races were limited to southern african races on a list.
In 2025 there were 6 AMAKHULU challenge finishers Nicky Booyens, Gillian Lupton-Smith, Cornel Metcalfe, Walter Moldenhauer, Marius van Rensburg (double Amakhulu Challenge) and Thomas Vermaak. The 3 MiXGit Challenge finishers were Tumelo Elias Kgwete, Cornel Metcalfe (double Challenges) and Tobie Reyneke.
In 2026, The Hooked by Milers committee decided to simplify by removing the MiXGrit challenge and adding all the southern african races to the AMAKHULU challenge. 9 Athletes entered in the 2026 AMAKHULU challenge. Up until July 2026, Cornel Metcalfe and Benjamin Smolowitz has finished 4 x 100 mile races in one calender year. Up until July 2026 Gaelyn Slabber-Postma and Dane Sweet finished the 2025-2026 Stepping Stone Challenge completing 4 x 100 mile races over 2 calender years.