Metcalfe ends year on high note
While many residents were winding down their activities towards the end of last year, Fochville's star ultra-marathon runner Cornel Metcalfe was still excelling at gruelling races.
Towards the end of last year, Metcalfe participated in her eighth and ninth 100-miler races for the year at the UTCT Trail Series in Cape Town and the Longmore Forest Endurance Trail Run in Port Elizabeth, completing the trail calendar for 2023. Being only the third woman to complete the AMUK Challenge, she also went on to add two extra gruelling trail races for 2023.
2023 was the year Cornel ran more trail 100-milers than circuit races. To date, she has completed 37 100-miler races, only four of which were road races. Thirteen were trail races, and the remaining 20 were circuit races. From 24 to 26 November, Cornel completed the Ultra Trail Cape Town 100-miler in 43 hours and 54 minutes. She was the 11th woman home and 68th overall. This gruelling 100-mile race has the highest vertical climb of all trail races in South Africa, with over 7,500 m vertical elevation gain. The route ventures from the northern mountain range, summitting Table Mountain, to the more remote southern portion of the mountain range of the Cape Peninsula, while taking in additional trails from Silvermine to Kalk Bay, Simon’s Town, Kommetjie and Noordhoek.
It is also considered one of the most technical trail runs, as runners find themselves running along the sand- or pebble beaches and steep trekking trails up the various mountains. Although there were unfortunate encounters with some of the “bergies”, God’s grace kept Cornel safe for the entire race.
UTCT had 119 starters, only 79 of whom completed the race in the allotted 45-hour time limit.
Three weeks later, (15 to 17 December), Cornel completed the Longmore Forest Endurance Run 100-miler in 31 hours and 18 minutes. She was the fourth woman home, and eighth overall.
This year, the race took on a new route; in previous years, it ran as a 50-miler out and back, with it being a single loop from start to finish. Run in the majestic Longmore Forestry outside Port Elizabeth, this race only has a 5,200 m vertical elevation gain, but only summits the highest point with a steep climb at the 100 km mark. This year saw the biggest starting line-up for the race, with 37 runners, 17 of whom were women, with only 22 (10 women) crossing the finish line before the allotted 40-hour time limit.
