ADDO ELEPHANT TRAIL RUN
EASTERN CAPE
6 –8 Mar 2020
Hot, hotter, hottest.” That’s how Dr Johan Jordaan (39) of Bloemfontein described his journey to his third Addo 100 Miler to us after he’d finished in seventh place (29h13min).
This year’s race had 457 starters over the three distances (100 miler, 76km, 44km) gobsmacked at just how hot it was, especially the 100 mile runners in the infamous 17km stretch known as the Valley of Tears. This undulating, tough, and technical section takes most 100 miler runners around six hours to complete before they reach the famous Ellie’s Tavern checkpoint.
From there, they have another 32km of digging deep – very deep – to the finish at Zuurberg Country Inn. The air temperature at checkpoint 13 – the entrance to the Valley of Tears – on Saturday at 12:30pm measured a record 55 C. This prompted race doctor (who is also the Springboks’ team doctor), to call a temporary halt to the 100
