EasyEquities Backs the Retto: Same Prize, Different Race

Last October, Bianca Tarboton crossed the finish line in Nature’s Valley in 4:30:55, shattering her own Classic course record by more than 14 minutes. It was her fourth win, making her the most decorated athlete in the Otter TERREX Trail, presented by EasyEquities, history. With record bonuses added to her winner’s prize, she walked away with R190,000. Robbie Simpson, on the men’s side, crossed in 4:04:59 to claim his third consecutive win, the first athlete of either gender to win three in a row, taking home R100,000.

In 2025, with the help of EasyEquities, we extended the prize pool further than it had ever been, adding payouts for 4th and 5th place for the first time and increasing the record bonuses. Records fell, history was made, and the Race Village had plenty to celebrate. On the men’s side, Kane Reilly crossed to claim third in 4:12:38 and Marcel Hoeche to claim fourth in 4:15:00. Under threeminutes apart after 42 kilometres of Tsitsikamma coastline. In a race that tight, paying 4th place wasn’t just a nice touch, but the right call.

For 2026, EasyEquities backs the same prize purse. The money hasn’t changed, but the direction has.

The Retto: A Different Race Awaits

The Otter alternates direction each year. 2025 was a Classic year, Storms River to Nature’s Valley. Tarboton’s 4:30:55 and Simpson’s 4:04:59 stand, but they do not apply this September.

2026 is a Retto year. While this means it’s the same 42 kilometres of Tsitsikamma coastline, same river crossings, same 2,600 metres of climbing, it adds up to an entirely different race. The direction reversal means the technical boulders come at the end when your legs are cooked, and the harder climbs are stacked early on. The psychology shifts completely, and so do the records.

Tarboton arrives at 2026 as the reigning champion and record holder on the Classic, though whether she lines up in September is still an open question. She is racing OCC (Orsières-Champex-Chamonix) by UTMB in Europe this season, and has been candid that her Otter participation will depend on how her body and mind are holding up after the European racing season.

If she does make it to the start line, the question becomes whether she can carry that form to the Retto and back up last year’s performance with another record-breaking run. This is the question that would define the 2026 women’s race. With a R60,000 overall record bonus and R30,000 for the South African record on the table, there is plenty of incentive to find out.

The Names Behind the Numbers

There is another part of the prize structure worth dwelling on, and it will be there again in September.

In the 2024 Retto, the top three finished within four minutes of each other. Right behind them, Mvuyisi Gcogco crossed in 4:38:18 and Admire Muzopambwa in 4:42:02. Two athletes who had raced hard enough to finish 4th and 5th in one of the most competitive trail fields in Africa, and gone home with nothing but the medal. For most of the Otter’s history, that was simply how it was.

In 2025, EasyEquities helped change that, extending the prize pool to 4th and 5th place for the first time. Marcel Hoeche finished 4th in 4:15:00, just ten minutes behind a three-time champion, and for the first time there was a cheque waiting at the finish line. These are the athletes the R15,000 and R10,000 prizes were built for. They do not need the money to keep showing up. But they have earned the recognition.

What’s at Stake

The prize structure for the 2026 Otter TERREX Trail, backed by EasyEquities, is as follows:

Place	Total Prize	Cash Portion	EasyEquitiesPortion
1st	R100,000	R50,000	R50,000
2nd	R50,000	R25,000	R25,000
3rd	R25,000	R12,500	R12,500
4th	R15,000	R7,500	R7,500
5th	R10,000	R5,000	R5,000

All prize amounts include a matched investment component from EasyEquities, giving winners both an immediate reward and a longer-term financial return. Half of EasyEquities’ contribution is invested in an EasyEquities account.

Breaking the South African Retto course record earns an additional R30,000 (R15,000 cash + R15,000 EasyEquities investment). Breaking the overall Retto course record earns an additionalR60,000 (R30,000 cash + R30,000 investment).

Driven by Partnerships That Last the Distance

The backing comes from a company that finished its own record-breaking year in 2025. Purple Group, the holding company of EasyEquities, reported its strongest financial results to date in 2025, with group profit before tax up 155.7% and over a million active clients on the platform. CEO Charles Savage called it proof that ‘purpose scales profitably.’

“The Otter is one of those rare events that genuinely gets under your skin. We have watched this race grow into something world-class, and backing it year after year is not just a sponsorship decision, it is a reflection of who we are. At EasyEquities we believe in backing things that matter, and the Otter matters. To the athletes, to the trail community, to the coastline it runs through. We are proud to put our name behind the prize purse again in 2026 and we cannot wait to see what this field does on the Retto,” says Carel Nolte, Chief Marketing Officer for EasyEquities.

Looking Ahead

The 2026 Otter TERREX Trail will send its elite field down the Retto on 26 September, with the records and the prize purse both very much in play. The Prologue on 25 September determines your place in the Abangeni start group, and only Abangeni athletes are eligible for prize money. If you are racing for the cheque, that is where it begins.

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