I am Riana, Race Director and owner of Namibia Ultra Trails, wife, mom, and home educator of our two boys (10 and 12). I am a trained zoologist/entomologist and used to work as consulting environmental practitioner in mineral exploration.
We live in Uis/Swakop. I have been running most of my life but only started competing in longer distances in 2011 after the birth of our first son. I just competed in the Marathon du Mont Black in France in June, and am currently training for my fifth Otter African Trail Run in October. I have been fortunate to have been joined by my family to run trail marathons and shorter ultras on all 7 continents and became the first Namibian to join the 7 Continents Club in March 2023 when I completed the Antarctica Marathon.
Nico, my husband, and co-director of the Brandberg Backyard Ultra, is a Geologist who consults on mineral exploration projects worldwide. He is an avid mountaineer who has scaled a number of prominent African and international peaks, including the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland. He has also turned to running trail races of late, and came first in his age category in the Antarctica half-marathon recently. When he is not off bundu bashing for work, he is also training for his fourth Otter later the year. Together we have organised the Brandberg Rhino Run and Cycle Tour since 2015, and are the directors of Namibia Backyard Ultra, the in-country affiliate of the international Backyard Ultra series.
