For Hilton Harrier amputee Travis Warwick-Oliver, reaching the start line at the 2026 HOKA ultra-trail Mont-Blanc (UTMB) La Petite Trotte à Léon (PTL) represented years of determination, rehabilitation and training.
He became the first below-knee amputee to attempt the week-long gruelling endurance event in France from August 24 to 30, covering 88km in 37 hours before pain and damage to his stump forced him to withdraw.
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The long, brutal descents — some taking up to 10 hours — were causing too much damage, and eventually I knew I had to make the difficult call.
“We tried everything we could to get my prosthetic set-up right, but the reality is that there is nowhere in South Africa where we can truly replicate the terrain and conditions of the PTL,” he said.
The type of terrain Matt Dove, Travis Warwick-Oliver and Armand Du Plessis experienced while competing in the 2026 HOKA ultra-trail MontBlanc (UTMB) La Petite Trotte à Léon (PTL).
Although he did not complete the PTL, Warwick-Oliver said the experience had strengthened his resolve to return.
“I’m still incredibly proud of what I achieved,” he said.
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His journey, he said, is ultimately about demonstrating what can be achieved when people have access to the right support and mobility.
If my journey can inspire someone to get off the couch, take that first step, or believe that they are capable of more than they thought, then everything I do is worth it.
His endurance journey, both on two feet and prosthetic, has since included major international events such as the UTMB OCC in 2024 and Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC) in 2025.
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Warwick-Oliver trained extensively in the Drakensberg, such as Dragon’s Tail, via ferrata (a protected mountain climbing route equipped with fixed steel cables, iron rungs, and ladders that let you safely scale steep rock faces) and summiting Skerkhorn and around Hilton’s Swartkop, deliberately seeking terrain that could prepare him for the conditions.