MustLoveHills RUNCREW Conquering Cape Town One Hill at a Time

The Hill That Started Everything

Every Tuesday evening, runners gather at Foresters Arms in the leafy suburb of Newlands, lace up, and set their eyes on the hill ahead. For some it is their sixth time doing this particular repeat. For others, it is their first. Both groups finish the session, and both groups come back. That single weekly ritual, hill repeats at 5:30 PM in Newlands, is the heartbeat of MustLoveHills RUNCREW, and it is the reason the crew exists at all. Before there was a crew, there was just Mike, the founder, running hills on his own. He was chasing faster times, testing his legs against the gradient, and learning what the incline could teach him about effort and threshold and the particular kind of discomfort that makes you stronger. Word spread, as it tends to in a city where runners talk to runners. A few friends showed up. Then a few more. Then, without any formal announcement or marketing campaign, Tuesday nights in Newlands became the most consistent gathering on Cape Town's running calendar. What began as a small circle of enthusiasts has grown into a crew of more than 80 people who share one foundational belief: the hill does not get easier, you just get better at climbing it.

Built on Performance, Held Together by People

Mike founded MustLoveHills RUNCREW in January 2017, and from the beginning he was clear about what kind of crew he wanted to build. He calls it a performance crew, not because elite credentials are required at the door, but because the expectation of genuine effort is non-negotiable once training begins. Sessions are coached, structured, and demanding. They are also scaled to the individual, so the runner tackling six hill repeats is working just as hard as the runner tackling ten. The philosophy is straightforward: show up, put on your game face, and leave as a better runner than you arrived. That promise has proven remarkably durable. It keeps people coming back week after week, and it draws new runners in who are tired of jogging alone and looking for something with more intention. Mike has also been deliberate about not running the crew on his own energy alone. Alongside him, a coaching team has taken shape that gives MustLoveHills RUNCREW its structure and its warmth. Hilton, Coceka, and Tahir serve as crew captains and coaches, each guiding members through sessions and keeping the crew's standards consistent. Behind the scenes, a team of dedicated organizers handles the logistics that make every session feel seamless. The result is a crew that runs on collective ownership rather than a single person's ambition.

Three Sessions, One Crew

MustLoveHills RUNCREW organizes its training week around three formats, each with its own rhythm and character. The Tuesday hill session at Foresters Arms in Newlands is the oldest and most iconic. Runners arrive at 5:30 PM, warm up, and then take on anywhere from six to ten hill repeats at their own pace. There are no rigid pace groups on the hill. Each runner sets their own rhythm, and the session accommodates the full spectrum from those chasing personal records to those simply building their fitness base. No one is left behind, and no one is made to feel that their effort is insufficient. Thursdays shift to the track. MustLoveHills RUNCREW uses the Greenpoint Athletics Track as its primary venue, with Molteno serving as a backup when the main track is occupied. Track sessions are grouped by speed, with the specific groupings determined by whoever shows up on a given evening. The format is flexible and responsive, designed so that every runner finds a group that matches their ability without anyone feeling out of place. Then there are the long runs, organized in the build-up to major events like the Two Oceans Marathon and the Cape Town Marathon. These weekend sessions can stretch from a standard 7 kilometres all the way to 44 kilometres for crews preparing for ultramarathon distances. Pace groups form naturally, covering a wide range from competitive speeds down to a comfortable 7 minutes per kilometre. The variety in distance and pace ensures that runners training for vastly different goals can prepare together under the same crew banner.

A Crew With Roots in the Community

The values embedded in MustLoveHills RUNCREW extend beyond the finish line of any training session. Mike structured the crew from early on to give back to the surrounding community, and that ethos has remained central as the crew has grown. Members are encouraged throughout the year to participate in social initiatives and causes that reflect the crew's broader commitment to mutuality and acceptance. These are not peripheral activities tacked on to the running programme. They are part of what defines membership in MustLoveHills RUNCREW. The crew operates as a space where people from different backgrounds, at different stages of their running journeys, find common ground. The shared grind of a hill repeat is a surprisingly effective equalizer. Lawyers run alongside students. Seasoned ultramarathon runners share recovery space with people who ran their first kilometre six months ago. What holds all of them together is not just the shared goal of improvement but a genuine sense of responsibility toward one another. That atmosphere, inclusive and serious in equal measure, is the environment that Mike and his captains have worked to create and maintain since January 2017. It did not happen by accident. It was built deliberately, session by session, Tuesday by Tuesday.

Cape Town as a Running Canvas

The city itself is a significant part of what makes MustLoveHills RUNCREW's story possible. Cape Town is a genuinely extraordinary place to run. The Sea Point Promenade stretches along the Atlantic coastline, offering flat, fast ground with the ocean as a constant companion. Table Mountain rises above the city with trails that challenge even experienced mountain runners and reward them with views that feel almost implausible. Lion's Head, Signal Hill, and the Constantia Greenbelt extend the menu further, offering everything from sharp technical ascents to long, meditative forest runs. For a crew named after the hill, having this topography as a training ground is not incidental. It is the entire premise. The hills are not a metaphor. They are granite, they are steep, and they are everywhere. Cape Town's running calendar adds further context to the crew's training focus. The Two Oceans Marathon, one of the most celebrated ultramarathons in the world, draws runners from across the globe and winds through some of the most beautiful terrain the Western Cape has to offer. The Cape Town Marathon takes runners through the city streets in a race that showcases the urban character of the Mother City. Both events sit prominently in MustLoveHills RUNCREW's training schedule, giving the long runs and hard track sessions a concrete purpose beyond fitness for its own sake.

Finding Your Place in the Crew

Joining MustLoveHills RUNCREW requires no formal application and no membership fee. The crew is open to anyone who wants to run, and the easiest way to get started is to follow their Instagram account and watch the stories, where session details are shared each week. Show up on a Tuesday evening at Foresters Arms in Newlands at 5:30 PM, and you will find a group that expects effort but never demands perfection. The hill will be there. The coaches will be there. And so will around 80 other people who have made the same decision you just made, to stop running alone and start running with a crew that takes the sport seriously without losing its humanity. Cape Town has a rich and layered running community, with crews like Mindset Movement, Cool Runnings Recreational Club, Community Track Club, and Nine Four each offering their own approach to the sport. MustLoveHills RUNCREW occupies its own distinct space within that ecosystem: performance-oriented, community-grounded, and built on the simple, stubborn idea that the best thing you can do for your running is find a hill and climb it, again and again, with people who push you to keep going.