Polly Shortts is a

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

on the outskirts of

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

KwaZulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Polly Shortts is reportedly named after Portland Bentinck Shortts. Shortts managed Shortts Retreat, a nearby farm, and whose help was often sought when after heavy rain, the road up the hill became muddy and impassable. Polly Shortts is known for being located on the route of the famous 90 km

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

, the

Comrades Marathon The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately which is run annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race. The dire ...

. Pollys, as it is known among participants, is about 2 kilometers long, is particularly steep and comes about 7 – 8 km from the end of the race in odd-numbered years (when it goes from

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

to Pietermaritzburg). Few runners outside the top ten manage the ascent without stopping to walk. In even-numbered years (Pietermaritzburg to Durban), Pollys is near the start of the race, and the runners must descend it.

References

Landforms of KwaZulu-Natal Hills of South Africa {{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub