The Addo Elephant Trail Runs

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Report 50Miler

Trail Run Report (by Hylton Dunn)
My goal and plan was to win the Addo 50 Miler held on Saturday 2 May 2009. Having skipped the 2008 run, I had done sufficient training and worked hard at preparing for 2009. I stay in Noupoort, Northern Cape, and the training grounds that we have here are ideal for training for a challenging trail run which the Addo certainly provides.  Noupoort has provided me with a lot more than just a good training ground. I arrived at the Noupoort Christian Care Centre from a Pretoria Prison in 2001, in a total mess, almost desperate to find a way out of drug addiction. I had lived on the streets of Cape Town, Pretoria and Springs using and abusing heroin, crack, mandrax, alcohol and just about any other substance that would provide me with a ‘high’. This continued on and off for approximately 5 years. Through many challenges and trials and quitting cigarette smoking, a group of a few guys in the Centre including myself started to run with the vision of successfully completing the Two Oceans and the Comrades Marathon. We did so in 2004 and I continued till 2006 and after it was announced the Comrades would be run on a Sunday, I, along with my father decided that we would focus on the ‘quieter’ runs and this was where my passion for trail runs developed.  
This year I completed my 4’th Addo 50 Miler. The run which takes place in the heart of the Addo Elephant Park to me is a way of life. One has to be both physically and mentally prepared to take on the challenges that this run provides. Every year I have learnt something new, one becomes wiser as you go along. Planning my stops at the various water check-points, pacing myself consistently, minimizing stops and walking, and persevering through to the finish line all assisted me to a win and a new record. I believe that due to sufficient training, I could actually enjoy the breath-taking scenery and all the friendly competitors associated to the run. Being able to talk to the vastly experienced previous winners of the 100 miler, the likes of Bruce Arnett and AO Okreglicki, and to Michael Hendricks of the 50 Miler was a privilege.
To Extreme Marathons -  Estienne and Nadia Arndt, I would especially like to thank you for organizing what is becoming a very popular event. Your assisting team are always extremely caring and helpful. What a beautiful run and what a beautiful sport!
My parents have been very inspirational to me. Thank you Glen Taylor for coaching me and all the hours spent on the road.I would also like to thank Noupoort Christian Care Centre, Pastor Sophos Nissiotes and our staff team for never ever giving up on me. I certainly would not have made it this far, had it not been for you and for finding my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ as the way out of my drug addiction.
Report 100Miler

Trail Run Report (by Kim Van Kets)
It's very challenging to try to describe an experience like the Addo 100 Miler to anyone who wasn't there. To quote Laura: What a day!  What a night! What a race!  We set off from Kirkwood in the crisp early morning of 2 May with a deceivingly big group of runners - the 25, 50 and 100 Milers all set off together before veering off on our individual routes.  The first sunrise of the race was spectacular and as dawn broke we found ourselves running through the most superb landscape of red earth, vivid koppies outlined against the clear blue sky, dew glistening on thorn trees and golden grass.  I had the good fortune to hook up with Laura Foster (a vastly experienced trail runner) early in the race and we trotted along delightedly in the bracing morning air pausing occasionally for for tea and peanut butter sandwiches (very civilised!) at the 5 star check points along the way (one of which was staffed entirely by red heads!).  When we glanced at our watches at 11.30 we were amazed to find that we had been running for 5 hours!  Time had absolutely flown as a result of a barrage of chatter and the startling beauty of our surroundings. 
The course itself is very challenging, being almost entirely on rocky jeep tracks and paths in the earlier stages of the race.  It winds its way through the Sundays River Valley before climbing with breathtaking suddenness to the Zuurburg Escarpment.  I had the good fortune to climb to the top of the world alone and found myself on the most spectacular plateau just before sunset.  I have seldom experienced such utter joy as I did for the next couple of hours watching the sky turn from rose gold, to pink and ultimately to night.  One can see nothing other than spectacular mountains, valleys and indigenous forest from horizon to horizon and it is very easy to believe that nobody other than yourself exists in all the world.  It was wonderful to do this section alone as it allowed me to sing on the top of my voice with no-one other than the odd owl or bat to be appalled by my tunelessness.
The next part of the race is a blur of carefully picking my way along rocky paths in the deceiving light of my headlamp as I did my best to keep up a steady jog-trot without breaking my neck.  I was focused on arriving at check point 10 (legendary for its home made soup and festival atmosphere) in good time and when I heard the haunting sound of the cow bells (remembered from the previous year's race) I knew that I wasn't far off.  To my great delight I found 2 other runners at the checkpoint and decided to stay close to them through the enchanted forest and the steep climb to the Zuurberg Inn. 
Approaching the 100km mark I was amazed to find that I was feeling really good, that I had experienced no trace of grumpiness and that I was in fact looking forward to the rest of the race.  My feet were in remarkably good shape having benefited from my sock changing fetish and happily ensconced in my lucky but tired New Balance Off Road 908's (the same pair to have brought me blister free to a win in the 270km Transkei Epic!).  Imagine my surprise as I climbed out of the forest to hear my husband's voice as he recognised my heavy breathing!  I had assumed Peter was tucked up in bed with my 4 year old daughter, but he has left her with friends and had come to keep me company for a couple of hours on his mountain bike!  By that stage a half moon had risen and we had just enough natural light to see without our headlamps.  As we switched them off the Milky Way leaped into stark relief and we were speechless with the beauty of the night.  Peter entertained me through the freezing valleys with live Pink Floyd renditions (which definitely gave me an unfair advantage!) and in no time at all we had trotted to the turn around point of the dreaded out and back section. I was grateful for his presence because we had also run through piles of steaming dung as big as a small automobile which could only have belonged to an elephant and which I found very disconcerting. (It transpired that the road was used for elephant safaris and that those responsible for its large scale soiling were sleeping securely in their pens).
Peter left me at the turn around point and I was lucky enough to find myself running with Flip Jurgens (trail running veteran, winner of the Augrabies race and survivor of the Badwater Extreme Marathon.)  He regaled me with stories of the Badwater which made me so deeply grateful that I was running the Addo and not the Badwater that I was unable to succumb to the feelings of self pity that notoriously surface just before dawn.
As the dawn broke on the morning of 3 May I knew that I had only 20 km to go and that I was miraculously in first place (women) and the combination of that knowledge and the first golden rays of light gave me a second wind.  I left Flip with eternal gratitude for his company and (to my enduring surprise) actually sprinted down the Zuurburg Pass.  This extreme enthusiasm was somewhat misplaced and took a severe toll.  At the bottom of the pass and with 8km to go I experienced my first wobble of the race.  Mercifully it was short lived and I managed to trot the remaining distance to the finish line 6th overall and first woman in a blur of tiredness and excitement.
My goal for the Addo had been to finish my first 100 Miler before the cut off without expiring and it had never entered my mind that I might win the race.  Regrets to Jo Mackenzie (who is a superb athlete and a credit to the sisterhood!) who was injured and forced to withdraw from a race that she would certainly have won otherwise.
Thanks to Nadia and Estienne Arndt, Addo, Dr Charl and all the brilliant crew who make this race so spectacular.

 

Report 100Miler

Trail Run Report (by William Robinson)
What were you doing at 1am last Sunday morning? Were you out for a run, in the starlight, enjoying the cool, still night air? Were you miles away from the urban hum of traffic and people, enjoying the bushveld serenity of one of South Africa's biggest national parks?

I was.

Last weekend I ran the Addo Elephant 100. Let me spell it out: One hundred miles of trail-running through the Addo Elephant National Park. Up and down ridges and valleys, rough jeep tracks, winding passes. On and on, hour after hour. The sun rose, the sun set; the moon rose, the moon set. Some saw a second sunrise before stumbling into the finish at the Addo Main Camp. Yes, one hundred miles is a long way.
The 100 is an iconic distance in trail running, especially in the United States: Leadville, Hard Rock, Vermont, Wasatch and Western States are the most famous. I was looking forward to testing myself over the longer distance, even though this was double the length of my previous longest trail run.
After a brisk start in the crisp morning air, I soon fell into step with Hiroki Ishikawa, a Japanese Montrail-sponsored athlete who has run all the races mentioned above. Together we forged ahead for the first few hours, passing the marathon mark in around 3:36 which included several very steep sections of track. Around here we were treated with our wildlife experiences for the day: within 10 minutes we passed kudu, baboons and warthogs enjoying the early morning sun.
We dealt with the next 20 km, which did not include much flat ground, at 6-7min per km. We wound our way through valleys and forests, disturbing a secretary bird which quickly flapped away. We splashed through some ponds in the road, hitting Check Point 7 at 40 miles in 6:06. The next section was a 5 km slog on some incredibly steep jeep track up and up to the Zuurberg plateau.
The road along the top of the ridge gave us amazing panoramic views of the area. This section allowed for easy running on the smooth, flat track, with just a single rock lying in the path to test our agility. Of course I clipped it with my toe and ended up in the bushes. At least I was not caught on camera! We left Check Point 9 (79 km) at 8:01. That was the easy half.
The final section before hitting the gravel road at Zuurberg Inn is a zig-zagging horse trail which gains a fair bit of altitude in not very much distance. This section is lovely, for those who get to it before dark, but I was not really appreciating it as the 90 km of trails were beginning to cause some aches and pains. I started recovering by the top, and I jogged in to CP 11 (60 miles) in 10:37.
Admittedly, I did slightly envy the 25 milers for whom CP 11 was the finish line. I also envied the 50 milers who had remaining just 20 km of mostly down hill road back to the Main Camp. Us 100 milers, however, first had to plod through 22 km out over a substantial pass and down into the next valley, and then 22 km back again to the inn, before going on down to the main camp.
Hiroki had gone ahead after CP 10. Bruce Arnett caught up to me at 100 km as the sun was setting, and we ran together for the next 20 km at a fair rate, passing the exhausted Jap at CP 13. We turned around at CP 14 with the clock at 13:08. Just a marathon to go.
Yes. A marathon. With a 250m climb in the first 15 km and a 600m drop down to the finish. And we had already covered 118 km. Bruce's body was evidently still working. He cruised through to finish in 18:11, a new record for the race by over 40 minutes.
I plodded on behind, running when I could, which was not much. I had no energy and no appetite. My shoulders ached. My stomach muscles ached. The people at the check points were kind. They made me soup and coffee. They offered me all sorts of food for which I had little enthusiasm. They gave me blankets to ward off the evening chill. They did not let me stay too long.
I promised my family: two hours for the 14 km to Zuurberg Inn, then three hours for the last 20 km to the finish. Not wanting to keep them waiting, I kept pushing on, watching the time, trying to estimate how fast (i.e. slowly) I was shuffling, walking. My last concern was a sub-20 hour finish. With a surprisingly good run down the pass, and then a little spurt in the last 2 km, I was safely under. 19:51. Second place. A silver buckle. One of twelve finishers out of 21 starters.