Fochville’s star ultra-marathon runner, Cornel Metcalfe, recently reached another achievement.
Over the past long weekend, Cornel Metcalfe participated in her seventh 100-miler race for the year at the Karkloof Trail Series near Howick. This was also the fourth and final 100-miler race of the 2023 AMUK Challenge. Only two women have previously completed this annual challenge.
Standing in the starting block with 76 other athletes at 20:00 on Friday, Cornel had only one plan for this race: to reach the finish line before the cut-off at 08:00 on Sunday. This cut-off time gave the participants 36 hours to complete the 100 miles. Metcalfe had already completed this race three times over the previous years, but a last-minute change to the route in the week leading up to the race due to potential fire alerts in the area added five km to the distance.
The Karkloof 100-miler route is an out-and-back route, with the athletes turning at 50 miles and returning to the finish on the same path in reverse. Cornel reached the halfway mark in good time at around 09:50 on Saturday. After refuelling and changing clothing, she was back on route to the finish line. Even though she was the third woman, at one stage on the return route, Metcalfe stayed true to her goal of ensuring she finished the race and not racing for a podium finish.
She eventually finished at 02:45 on Sunday, in a race time of 30 hours and 45 minutes, placing her 24th overall and the fifth woman over the finish line. Most importantly, it meant she had become only the third woman to complete the AMUK Challenge.
The AMUK Challenge is well known among the trail running community, as it entails completing four of SA’s most iconic 100-miler trail races in a single calendar year. These are the Addo Elephant in March, the Ultra Drakensberg in April, the Mac Mac in May, and the Karkloof in September. Very few have conquered the challenge due to the first three races only being a month apart, but those who do have the honour of wearing a branded puffer jacket at the various trail events. This year, three women started the challenge after completing the first 100-miler at the Addo Elephant Trail Series. However, after only the second race at the Ultra Trail Drakensberg Series (UTD), Metcalfe was the only woman left as a contender for 2023. The other two women, unfortunately, picked up injuries and did not complete the UTD race. Due to the high altitude where the race starts and the technical aspects of the UTD race, it is usually the one that prevents the contenders from completing the challenge, as it did last year to Metcalfe.
This year, all six contenders who completed the UTD went on to complete the AMUK Challenge. Cornel wishes to thank her family for their support during the race, especially, her son, Ethan, for running the unplanned 24 km with her on Saturday evening.
