A Spectacular Beginning in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
The 2025 For Rangers Ultra began in style this morning at the iconic Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, a UNESCO World Heritage site that, together with its neighbour Borana Conservancy, is home to 93 Black Rhino, 70 White Rhino, and the world’s largest population of Grevy’s Zebra.
The stage opened with an incredible atmosphere as Lewa’s staff, friends, and families gathered to cheer the runners out onto the course. It is a rare sight to see competitors take off into this wild and protected landscape on foot, and the runners did not disappoint.
The first half of the stage wound through small Kenyan settlements, where local children lined the trails to cheer on the athletes. From there, the course delivered a steady and testing climb into the NgareNdare forest, a lush and challenging ascent that reminded runners they were deep in Africa’s Wilderness.
Later, as the course crossed into Borana Conservancy, runners passed one of the most striking landmarks of the region: the rocky outcrop that inspired Pride Rock in Disney’s The Lion King. From there, it was a final push to the finish beside the refreshingly cold NgareNdare River, whose waters flow directly from the glaciers of Mount Kenya.
Rhino, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra and a whole host of other animals were spotted out on course today, giving runners plenty to look at as they ticked away the kilometres.
The men’s field set a blistering pace from the start. Jon Shield dominated Stage 1, crossing the line in 3:33:00 to take both the overall and men’s lead. He was followed by Angus Wardlaw in 4:12:00, and BATUK runner Rupesh Khapung Limbu rounded out the podium with 4:15:00.
Other strong performances in the top ten included Folke Lemaitre (4:39:00), Fabio Bergamo (4:40:00), and Simon Keenan (4:44:00).
It’s incredibly competitive at the front of the Women’s race, with just 20 minutes separating the top four. Ioana Barbu took the first stage victory in the women’s category with a superb time of 4:57:00, placing 11th overall. She was closely followed by Hollie Woodhouse and Jacqs Manson, who finished side by side in 5:13:00, while Carole Kops claimed fourth in 5:19:00.
Stage 1 set the tone for what promises to be a thrilling edition of the For Rangers Ultra. With Shield and Barbu holding the early leads, the field now turns its attention to Stage 2, where new terrain and fresh challenges await.
Tonight, the camp beside the NgareNdare River will buzz with stories of the day’s efforts and wildlife spotted, as runners rest their legs and prepare to push deeper into the Kenyan wilderness tomorrow.
| Full Name | Gender | Stage 1 Time | Gender Position | Position | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Shield | Male | 3:33:00 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Angus Wardlaw | Male | 4:12:00 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| Rupesh Khapung Limbu | Male | 4:15:00 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| Folke Lemaitre | Male | 4:39:00 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| Fabio Bergamo | Male | 4:40:00 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| Simon Keenan | Male | 4:44:00 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| Isaac Debrah | Male | 4:51:00 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| Carlos Constantino | Male | 4:52:00 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| Robin Goulding | Male | 4:52:00 | 9 | 9 | ||||||||
| Charlie Park | Male | 4:53:00 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||
| Ioana Barbu | Female | 4:57:00 | 1 | 11 | ||||||||
| Benny Van Genechten | Male | 5:10:00 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||
| Hollie Woodhouse | Female | 5:13:00 | 2 | 13 | ||||||||
| Jacqs Manson | Female | 5:13:00 | 3 | 14 | ||||||||
| Carole Kops | Female | 5:19:00 | 4 | 15 | ||||||||
| Juan Jose Fernandez Catalina | Male | 5:19:00 | 12 | 16 | ||||||||
| John Linington | Male | 5:23:00 | 13 | 17 | ||||||||
| Kevin Grant | Male | 5:26:00 | 14 | 18 | ||||||||
| Hussain Panchbhaya | Male | 5:36:00 | 15 | 19 | ||||||||
| Thomas Minyi | Male | 5:40:00 | 16 | 20 | ||||||||
| Liz Fife | Female | 5:40:00 | 5 | 21 | ||||||||
| Janessa Wells | Female | 5:51:00 | 6 | 22 | ||||||||
| Kevin Walton | Male | 5:58:00 | 17 | 23 | ||||||||
| Oshis Gurung | Male | 6:04:00 | 18 | 24 | ||||||||
| Marie-Louise Alemany | Female | 6:05:00 | 7 | 25 | ||||||||
| Alessandro Egger | Male | 6:06:00 | 19 | 26 | ||||||||
| Elodie Milleville | Female | 6:06:00 | 8 | 27 | ||||||||
| Michelle Bergsma | Female | 6:08:00 | 9 | 28 | ||||||||
| Minraj Tamang | Male | 6:09:00 | 20 | 29 | ||||||||
| Chris Gordon | Male | 6:14:00 | 21 | 30 | ||||||||
| Joe Collins | Male | 6:15:00 | 22 | 31 | ||||||||
| Flick Taylor | Female | 6:17:00 | 10 | 32 | ||||||||
| Peter Jørgensen | Male | 6:17:00 | 23 | 33 | ||||||||
| Michael Halling | Male | 6:19:00 | 24 | 34 | ||||||||
| Charlie Wallis | Male | 6:30:00 | 25 | 35 | ||||||||
| James Fleming | Male | 6:30:00 | 26 | 36 | ||||||||
| Jamie Lauder | Male | 6:30:00 | 27 | 37 | ||||||||
| Sam Rodwell | Male | 6:30:00 | 28 | 38 | ||||||||
| Scott Rodwell | Male | 6:30:00 | 29 | 39 | ||||||||
| Jonathon Preston | Male | 6:39:00 | 30 | 40 | ||||||||
| Henry Williams | Male | 6:49:00 | 31 | 41 | ||||||||
| Philip Holmes | Male | 6:49:00 | 32 | 42 | ||||||||
| Marisa marchini | Female | 6:53:00 | 11 | 43 | ||||||||
| Eva brocvielle | Female | 7:03:00 | 12 | 44 | ||||||||
| Markus Ziegler | Male | 7:03:00 | 33 | 45 | ||||||||
| Phil Carpenter | Male | 7:04:00 | 34 | 46 | ||||||||
| Shana Ray | Female | 7:10:00 | 13 | 47 | ||||||||
| Liam Gibson | Male | 7:10:00 | 35 | 48 | ||||||||
| Barbara McNulty | Female | 7:12:00 | 14 | 49 | ||||||||
| Etsuji Otsuka | Male | 7:12:00 | 36 | 50 | ||||||||
| Helewise Elfferich | Female | 7:13:00 | 15 | 51 | ||||||||
| Lisa Fenton | Female | 7:14:00 | 16 | 52 | ||||||||
| Matt Uzzell | Male | 7:19:00 | 37 | 53 | ||||||||
| Niall Charles | Male | 7:21:00 | 38 | 54 | ||||||||
| Paul Marshall | Male | 7:21:00 | 39 | 55 | ||||||||
| Peter Beckett | Male | 7:21:00 | 40 | 56 | ||||||||
| Jordan Ibbotson | Male | 7:27:00 | 41 | 57 | ||||||||
| Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone | Female | 7:27:00 | 17 | 58 | ||||||||
| David Higgins | Male | 7:32:00 | 42 | 59 | ||||||||
| Peter McCartney | Male | 7:32:00 | 43 | 60 | ||||||||
| Amanda Persson | Female | 7:33:00 | 18 | 61 | ||||||||
| Stephan Weber | Male | 7:35:00 | 44 | 62 | ||||||||
| Susan Weber | Female | 7:35:00 | 19 | 63 | ||||||||
| Annick Welfring | Female | 7:49:00 | 20 | 64 | ||||||||
| Mal Smith | Male | 7:57:00 | 45 | 65 | ||||||||
| Olivia Keating | Female | 8:20:00 | 21 | 66 | ||||||||
| Jordi Menick | Male | 8:31:00 | 46 | 67 | ||||||||
| Marnix Tiemessen | Male | 8:31:00 | 47 | 68 | ||||||||
| Mike Julien | Male | 9:34:00 | 48 | 69 | ||||||||
| Lorna Bonareri | Female | 9:42:00 | 22 | 70 | ||||||||
| Pavlína Marková | Female | 9:42:00 | 23 | 71 | ||||||||
| Gillian Silverthorn | Female | 9:46:00 | 24 | 72 | ||||||||
| Kevin Silverthorn | Male | 9:46:00 | 49 | 73 | ||||||||
| John Daniel | Male | 9:49:00 | 50 | 74 | ||||||||
| Mitch New | Male | 10:15:00 | 51 | 75 | ||||||||
| Gillian Howarth | Female | 10:18:00 | 25 | 76 | ||||||||
| Tony Howarth | Male | 10:18:00 | 52 | 77 | ||||||||
