Fourways resident, Jarred can Alphen has achieved what most believe impossible by tackling the Drakensburg Northern Traverse, a 100km unassisted run.
Last year van Alphen, alongside Mooi River resident Kai Broom, were the first school team to complete the Drakensberg Grand Traverse.
This year, they both ran the Northern Traverse alongside experienced trail runner Pierre Jordaan. The group was unsupported and carried their own supplies.
The goal was to achieve the 100km run along the escarpment within 30 hours. They completed the challenge in 31 hours.
Kai and Jarred are not the only learners from their school, Treverton College, to take on a 100km traverse run. This year, the aim was to have the first schoolgirls in a school team complete another traverse.
Grade 12 learners Karijn Kooy and Georgie Thompson both have a number of years of experience walking in the Drakensberg. They formed part of a 10-person team along with learners Alexander and Konstatino Giokos, Daniel Jonck, school headmaster, Kean Broom, teachers Derek Brown, Chanelle Oosthuizen, Shaun Robertson and cameraman Ethan Lundy.
The Drakensberg Grand Traverse is the highest, hardest and longest hike in the country. It stretches along 250km of the Drakensberg escarpment from the Sentinal Car Park in the North (near Harrismith) to Bushman’s Nek in the South (near Underberg). Hikers climb over 11 000 vertical metres, ascending as high as 3 480m above sea level and sometimes descending below 3 000m. The group also summited the five highest peaks along the escarpment. These were Mont-aux-Sources (3 281 m), Champagne Castle (3 377m), Mafadi (3 450m), Giants Castle (3 319m) and Thabana Ntlenyana (3 489m).
The Drakensberg group had a goal of completing the challenge in 15 days. The challenge they faced was having enough food. There were two necessary food drops.
The first was hiked up the Organ Pipes Pass by a separate team of Treverton College hikers on the fifth day. The group chose dehydrated food for this first drop. The second was up the Sani Pass Pub on the 12th day where they had a hot meal.
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