On Friday, Cornel Metcalfe tackled the Addo Elephant National Park 100-mile race in the Eastern Cape with only 66 other participants.
The race, marketed as “Africa’s Wildest Ultra,” took runners through some of the most remote wilderness in the national park, areas they could not access any other way. The route challenged the participants to run on a wide range of terrain, including single-track trails, 4×4 tracks and old jeep tracks within the park, and some stretches of dirt road.
They encountered several river crossings and faced some challenging climbs with expansive views at the top of the mountains.
“It started in extreme heat conditions, but her toughness kept her going as people dropped out. By halfway, 50 per cent of the runners had already pulled out.” says her husband, Mark.
In the end, only 22 entrants finished. Cornel was the fifth woman to finish the race and came 16th overall.
Only five of the 18 women who started completed the race.
It was the race’s 20th edition, and runners had to take a new route because the reserve had moved some Big Five game into the area where the marathoners had previously run.
“It was certainly tougher than the previous years,” says Mark.
Cornel’s finishing time was 35 hours, 51 minutes.
