The Mount Cameroon Race of Hope

The route

The race starts and finishes at the Molyko sports complex in Buea. Runners climb to the summit of Mount Cameroon, known as Fako, whose height is given as 4,040, 4,070 or 4,095 metres depending on the source, then run back down towards Buea. The course is about 42 kilometres long, with roughly 3,000 metres of climbing and the same again in descent. For 2026, Journal du Cameroun places the finish at Upper Farms, above Buea.

The race is held every February, in the dry season. Besides the main senior men's and women's races, there are junior and veterans' categories.

A history in three stages

The first edition took place in 1973 as the Guinness Mount Cameroon Race, organised by the brewer. Cameroon's John Ekema won it in 5 hr 47. In the 1970s and 1980s European mountain runners won regularly: Italy's Walter Stifter three times (1976-1978), Britain's Mike Short twice (1984-1985). The race was not held from 1979 to 1981, nor in 1991, and the last Guinness-run edition took place in 1992.

After a three-year break, the event was revived in 1996 as the Race of Hope, at the initiative of Colonel Kalkaba Malboum. In 2005 its organisation passed to local committees in Buea, the Cameroon Athletics Federation and the Ministry of Sports. Editions are counted from 1996, which is why 2024 was billed as the 29th and 2026 as the 31st, even though 2023 marked fifty years since the first race.

According to the roll of honour, every winner since 1992 has been Cameroonian. According to the sources consulted, the winner's prize went from 3 million CFA francs in 2006 (after a 25% cut made without warning) to 10 million in 2011, still the amount in 2025 and 2026.

Records and legends

Sarah Etonge is the race's great icon: she won the women's race seven times (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005). Awarded an honorary doctorate in 2005 and a statue in 2006, she is still running: in 2026 she won the women's veterans' race. Yvonne Ngwaya also has seven wins (2009 to 2013, 2015 and 2016), and Tatah Carine five (2018 to 2020, 2022 and 2023). Among the men, Godlove Gabsibuin has won five times (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020).

Winners since 2017

The 2026 race

The 31st edition was run on Saturday 21 February 2026 under heavy military protection, in the presence of sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi. According to Journal du Cameroun, 600 athletes took part, 22 of them from abroad. Hamadou Bih Ibrahim, 28, from the North-West, won the men's race in 4:24:42 and collected 10 million CFA francs; Cameroun24 notes he was the first to reach the summit first and win in the same year. In the women's race, Wirba Destiny Grace (also reported as Wirba Mary Grace) won in 5:22:11. The junior races went to Kari Seth Bolack and Sandrine Ntumnwi.

Doping and the Anglophone crisis

In February 2025 Usheini Hassan crossed the line first, ahead of Ali Mohammadou. After testing positive for tramadol, a painkiller banned in competition, he was suspended for four years by Cameroon's anti-doping organisation, stripped of the title and ordered to repay his 10 million CFA francs; the win went to Ali Mohammadou. The third-placed runner, Abdou Amadou, was also disqualified for dodging the test.

Buea is the capital of the South-West, one of the two English-speaking regions hit since 2016-2017 by conflict between the army and separatists. In 2019 turnout was marginal because of the crisis. On 25 February 2023, the race's 50th anniversary, small explosions struck the event less than half an hour after the start: 18 or 19 people injured depending on the source, runners and spectators, with no deaths; three needed surgery. According to Al Jazeera, the armed wing of the Ambazonia Governing Council claimed the attack, saying it was targeting the security forces guarding the race. The race has not been cancelled as a result: the sources consulted list winners for every year since 1996. In 2026 the UK advises against all travel to Buea (advice of 9 February 2026) and France Diplomatie advises against climbing Mount Cameroon: the safety page sets out this advice.

Frequently asked questions