by Guy Rogers

GARDEN Route extreme runner Jo McKenzie was one of the heroes of the epic ultra-marathon through the Addo Elephant Park at the weekend, winning the women‘s category and coming in third overall in a field which included top domestic and overseas men and women trail runners.

Billed as South Africa‘s only 100-mile trail run, the fourth Addo Elephant National Park 100-mile Trail Run was coupled once again this year with a 50-mile event – which was won by Kirkwood speedster Michael Hendricks.

The route of the Addo race follows paths and occasional short stretches of dirt road over the Zuurberg mountains, in the remote Kabouga section of the park, into the Sundays River valley, up onto the Zuurberg again and down to finish at the park‘s main rest camp.

Competing in a field of just 14 elite ultra-marathoners from around the country as well as Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Singapore, McKenzie, 32, completed the 100-miler in 22 hours and 48 minutes.

She said last night she had not been expecting to do so well.

“I was running with my good friend Mimi Anderson, who is a top UK trail runner, but she had a bad ankle and had to drop out.

“I felt a bit nauseous at the 140km to 150km-mark, but managed to keep going forward and in the end it just all came together.”

Married with two children, McKenzie helps her husband with the books in their Sedgefield timber business but still finds time to train with her club, Sedgefield Striders.

She has run the five-day Cape Odyssey and Augrabies extreme runs and is an old hand at the Sky Run which takes place in Ugie in the North East Cape every year.

But the excellent organisation and the route through a national park is what makes the Addo race extra special, she said.

“It‘s all off-road and we saw lots of game like warthog and different kinds of buck. The scenery was absolutely beautiful.”

McKenzie won the women‘s category of the race last year, but finished lower down in the overall rankings. The route was much tougher this year, she said.

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