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Transcript of Jungle Marathon 2013
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THE 2013
JUNGLE
MARATHON
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Only those who will risk going too far can
possibly find out how far one can go.
T.S. Eliot
From five miles up, in the comfort of a jet, the
canopy can seem endless. The treetops are a green
sea, waves of leaves and plants, upon which a river
appears draped. From hundreds of miles up, photos
from satellites reveal the true spectacle: a serpentine
shape cracked into tributaries, much like the roots
and trunk of a tree. Yet the real mystery lies below
that surface. Mingling in the vast canopy are the
mists, savannah, flooded forests, the river tribes and
their untold stories, an endless tangle of reds and
yellows, every kind of singing bird, every kind and size
of stinging, biting, running, flying insect and reptile,
not to mention the fire ants that emerge whenever a
human hand or foot delays in one spot too long.Below the canopy is a musical, beautiful, merciless
world that defies us to imagine it, and can kill us if
we enter it.
This is not science-fiction. Some numbers,
rounded up: The Amazon Basin is the size of the
United States and covers parts of seven countries.
The Amazon River acts as a drainage system for this
colossal region. It is ten million years old, just under
4,000 miles long, and fed by eleven hundred
tributariesa couple of which are a thousand miles
long. From a source high in the Peruvian Andes, the
river emerges at the Atlantic coast of Brazil through
an estuary that can swell to 300 miles wide. And the
impossible numbers dont stop there: the volume is so
strong that fresh water is still drinkable two hundred
miles outon the surface of the ocean.
The Amazon Rainforest is beyond hostile: it is
alien, a killing ground. One second you are walking
along a riverbank, the next you have gone a careless
handful of steps and entered a planet you have never
seen before. Anyone who has walked in the woods
after dark knows how quickly all sense of ones bearing
is lost. Now, bring that reality to a jungle as
impenetrable as barbed wire and steaming with the
humidity of a hot shower and teeming with things thatsee you as food. Raw nature has one code, and that is
life and death and the techniques used by predator and
prey to outwit each other. In such places where raw
nature exists, different rules apply: there are no rules.
We used to possess an aware
places, a sixth sense for danger. Perha
The word weird is an Anglo-Saxon wo
thousand years. Essentially it points to
of a spiders web, and in a mystical sen
workings of fate. When something str
the web, another part resonates. We f
something is afoot, but we dont know
know only that something weird is hap
word that we think is reasonably new
Spiders webs are killing machines. De
around for a long time.
We have been lulled into a sen
by advances in technology. Clichs de
sharing of information by using terms
cloud-based computing and the web
persuaded entire generations that dist
longer an obstacle, and that we are all
Its partly true. You lift a mobile phone
Someone listens: ten miles away, a tho
no difference.
But distance does make a diffe
not going away anytime soon. We just deal with it as much as our ancestors d
trekked in search of food and shelter fr
a dangerous territory to another part o
territory. Occasionally, though, we get
SOME
THOUGHTS ON
DISTANCE
Forward
BELOW THE CANA MUSICAL, BEAU
MERCILESS WOR
THAT DEFIES US
IMAGINE IT, AND
KILL US IF WE EN
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A solar mass ejection slams against our
planets magnetic field and causes a geomagnetic
storm. The Carrington event of August 28-September
2, 1859, rendered telegraph wires inoperable from
Canada well into the lower United States. Observers
witnessed electric currents possessing the wires
independent of batteries. The system broke down.
Some transformers caught fire. Morse code
became unusable.
Imagine a Carrington Event in a digital age
where satellites operate GPS systems and our
electrical grids are highly vulnerable. The fact is that
our planet could intersect with a mass particle
ejection hurled into space by a solar flare at any time.
We are one major solar flare away from being lost in
the dark. If consternation occurs after 30 minutes of a
Twitter outage, imagine the implications of a
continent-wide blackout lasting two months. Foodlines, fuel lines, chaos. Technology is fine until it
stops working.
How many of us have ever experienced being
so completely lost that a danger to life existed? For
many, being stranded in a snow-bound car comes
close. But if the lights ever go out on us, our lives will
be governed by a different set of rules: no rules. The
feel-good clichs will evaporate. No global village, no
connectivity, no clouds except the ones that rain
down on you. The other side of the country will be
the other side of the country. To get somewhere,
youll have to actually go there.
In an ultra-marathon, every step begins as a
step. After you are exhausted, every step is a mile. So
you throw away whatever you dont need. Thats a
side effect of distance. It strips you down to the
essentials. It removes civilization, layer by layer. The
longer it takes you to cross a given number of miles,
the longer the journey seems to stretch ahead. You
have soon discarded all the conveniences and kept
only what will help you stay alive. What comes next is
willpower, a refusal to contemplate anything but
reaching the finish. The longer it takes you to cover
that distance under severe stress, the more likely a
mental collapse. And so the body and the mindmust cooperate.
So why run in one of these events? An ultra-
marathon that challenges life and limb brings us close
to our origins: competition, the hunt for food, the
daily struggle for survival, and for some, a mental
capacity that separates us from those who linger inself-defeat and waste away. In a sophisticated world
of gadgetry, we have no technology to create the
special awareness needed for adapting and
overcoming obstacles.
Take a moment to consider the issue. The
world is not a village. The world is not a web, not a
wireless network. Surfing websites is not exploring.
We are small creatures living and breathing under a
thin, transparent atmosphere that separates us from
deep space. A persons identity may be made up of
many thingsan address, a job, a friendship,
marriage, children, an online presence, a business
large or small. But if our protective rock is removed,
we are microscopic stains caught in the struggle for
survival. We will be one of Teddy Roosevelts ants in
the Amazon. Now consider this: Can we simulate
that struggle?
Some of the Amazons earlier explorers have
left journals and books, though many have
disappeared with time. Lieutenant William Herndon of
the US Navy wrote a fantastically lucid report of his
1851-52 journey down the Amazon: The undergrowth
is so thick that is it difficult to see where the tigers
and the wild forest animals can get through The
foliage on the Brazilian side of the river is the richestgreen; the dew at night is quite heavy, and during the
calm days the sun is oppressively warm. At night we
secured the canoe to a stake on a flat in mid-channel.
Soon after we fell asleep, a tiger came to the bank,
and while smelling the party, growled fiercely for
some time; we were then kept awake by the
mosquitoes which swarmed about us The fire on the
shore disturbed an ants nest, and they gave the party
some trouble; they stung most unmercifully. Of his
Indian guides he wrote, They watch closely the
movements of all animals; could tell by the alarm cry
of the birds that someone approached, as they knew
the difference between the notes of a bird disturbed
by man, and those sounds produced from other
sourceswild animals, or one of their own feather.
In a contemplative moment in 1906, Joseph
Kerbey wrote of his trip up the Amazon, It is true
enough that the heat, coupled with the silent solitude
of these tropical forests primeval, places a peculiar
spell over life.
Teddy Roosevelt took a special interest inequipment and logistics, which is evident in an
appendix to his 1913-14 odyssey along the Rio da
Duvida (The River of Doubt), at the suggestion of a
Brazilian official that he explore it. The men should
be limited to one bag each. These bags should be
numbered consecutively. In fact, every piece in the
entire equipment should be thus numb
kept in detail in a book For bedding
a hammock, mosquito-net, and light b
folding cot is heavy, and its numerous
of highway system over which all sorts
crawl up to the sleeperthe ants are sp
The small duffle-bag is very convenien
and clothing, but generally the thing w
at the bottom of the bag! Roosevelts
almost kill himself in the Amazon in no
reflected his passion for the wildernes
President, he doubled the number of N
created 100 million acres of National F
protected the Grand Canyon and othe
wonders from development.
No issue of national importanc
you. If you possess an adventurous fra
are in decent shape, then a river in Souwaiting for you. The indescribable set
under that canopy is waiting for you. Y
such events are not for the faint of hea
arrive, not as a Western explorer in kh
hobnailed boots and jogging oxfords,
running explorer, perhaps dressed in t
Running Gear on Planet Earth: UVU ge
will be keep moving until you emerge
wilderness back to everything that is f
Or, as T.S. Eliots put it: We sha
from exploration, and the end of all ou
be to arrive where we started and kno
the first time.
Welcome to the 2014 Jungle M
254 km in 7 days. Shorter distances av
runs from October 2-11, 2014. Drinks af
GD
IN AN ULTRA-
MARATHON, EV ERY
STEP BEGINS AS A
STEP. AFTER YOU ARE
EXHAUSTED, EVERY
STEP IS A MILE
SOON AFTER WE FELL
ASLEEP, A TIGER CAME
TO THE BANK, AND
WHILE SMELLING THE
PARTY, GROWLED
FIERCELY FOR SOME
TIME; WE WERE THEN
KEPT AWAKE BY THEMOSQUITOES WHICH
SWARMED ABOUT US
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A
M A Z
O N
AN
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Some call the Amazon The
River Sea, so large is its estuaryup
to 300 miles wide in the wet season.
As the sun rises, a boat docks where
the clear waters of the River Tapajos
lap against shining powdery sand. The
runners disembark. Overnight they have
enjoyed a cruise from Alter do Chaco
to base camp in Prainha. Many have
slept for the first time in a hammock,
which suspends the sleeper safely away
from the ground while protected from
flying insects by a finely-meshed net.This morning is also first contact with
searing heat and humidity. The body
takes about ten days to adapt. Those
who arrive early have an advantage.
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UNDERTH
CANOPY
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254kmrunners will cover
7daysover
During the Jungle Marathon...
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99%Humidity in the jungle reaches
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0N55W
The race location
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800ants to every square metre
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THE
2013
JUNGLE
MARATHO
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Not far from the
Tapajosrunners step in
planet. Fire ants that bu
living creatures at every
possibly under the next
is safe. The jungle is an a
the runners must keep m
swamps, river crossings
and sliding descents, gr
the right word for what more like a constant sur
end of the first stage, a
campsite will treat the a
of the day.
THE JUNGLE IS
AN ASSAULT,
BUT THE
RUNNERS MUST
KEEP MOVING
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What could be swimming in
that waterCaimans with dagger teeth
and gold eyes? Piranha? Every breath
feels like drinking water. Through the
river they go and onward under the
canopy, where the sky is a series of
blotches overhead. That hammering
the runners hear is their own gasping.
If fear has a body, this must be it. Any
smiles disappear quickly. Blisters can
hobble the best intentions and weaken
the morale. But good news, the Jungle
Marathon medical team has developed
an effective treatment for blisters: an
injection of Friars Balsamcompound
tincture of Benzoinright into theblister, followed by fifteen seconds of
agony supplied by the runner. Then
the blister dries out. Okay for the
next stage!
THAT
HAMMERING
THE RUNNE
HEAR IS TH
OWN GASP
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Running uphill i
feature in the third stag
it the hardest part of the
for most. First a soaking
crossing, then all of the
obstacles joined by the
struggle of multiple steewelcome is CP2, the villa
and its friendly dwellers
parrots are common, alo
wildlife. Several runners
this stage after nightfall
campsite lies in deep jun
area with the highest co
jaguars in the Amazon.
roam in the dark, follow
wherever they lead, and
may hear or smell one a
compound: an experien
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Stage 4 is a stand-alone
marathon, which also acts as the
final stage of the 4-stage, 127km race
for some competitors. After 12km
of running, jumping, skipping and
dodging in the deep jungle, runners
enter a 1km fast-flowing river descent.
Given what theyve been through, the
fast river offers a respite, particularly
as the current can carry them
downstream to the checkpoint; but
they should remain vigilant for floating
tree trunks under the surface.
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Enter 2km of hell, the deep
swamps, where the jungle turns to glue,
a brown, limb-sucking sludge intent
on draining competitors of their will
to continue. But they cant stop in a
swamp, not with what lives in swamps.
Their reward comes in the form of thepicturesque village of Piquiatuba on the
Tapajos, followed by trail running and
hard jungle roads to the stage finish
at Jagaurari.
ENTER 2KM
OF HELL
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Stage 5 is an ov
typically begins in the d
during the 2013 race, thbe re-routed at the last
meant that runners beg
stretch during the hotte
the day.
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The course took them across
creeks and thrashing through dense
jungle, then around the edge of a
lagoon to finish the final 25km on the
sandy river beaches. On print it may
seem attractive, even wonderful, to
compete in such an environment, but
running another 25km on sand afteralready completing 75km is little more
than exhaustion piled on top of misery.
Competitors have little left at the end
of this stage.
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The End never looked so
good: Stage 6 completes the race on
the beach in Maracana. Those hand-
made clay medals mean something
that only those who have competed
can understand. Seven days of self-
sufficiency will make any lunch seemlike manna from heaven, especially
when followed by an evening buffet at
Santarems Eco Chic restaurant , Casa de
Saulo, where the finish party takes place.
THE END
NEVER
LOOKED
SO GOOD
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Mens 254 km Stage 1 Stage2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Total
1 Sinoca Marcelo (BR) Bib No. 35 3:06:33 2:35:21 5:46:23 5:10:33 14:35:14 1:04:00 32:18:14
2 Souza Rodrigo (BR) Bib No. 36 3:54:23 3:05:43 5:50:26 5:47:16 14:39:14 1:04:00 34:21:02
3 Haag Sebastian (DE) Bib No. 14 3:29:1 3 3:15:06 6:14:47 6:30:30 15:00:14 1:04:00 35:33:50
4 Rodrigues Gustavo (BR) Bib No. 76 4:03:40 3:24:39 6:36:33 6:28:14 16:00:51 1:15:57 37:49:54
5 Van Der Bas Jean-Paul (NL) Bib No. 78 3:32:13 3:05:08 6:06:35 6:15:32 19:12:20 1:00:15 39:12:03
6 Oyola Mario Angel (AR) Bib No. 25 3 :51:23 3:33:14 6:29:09 6:20:59 13:13:47 1:06:05 39:34:37
7 Sobczak Krzysztof (PL) Bib No. 37 3:31:13 3:10:09 6:33:40 6:36:20 19:13:20 1:04:00 40:13:42
9 Wolfe Jason (USA) Bib No. 44 4:16:36 3:06:07 6:14:47 6:50:25 18:59:30 1:01:35 40:29:00
8 Vicintin Alex (BR) Bib No. 43 4:09:07 3:54:39 7:13:42 7:44:07 16:23:50 1:04:00 40:29:25
10 Arneiro Roberto (BR) Bib No. 1 4:57:19 3:43:46 8:12:47 7:44:03 16:23:52 1:02:15 42:04:07
11 Morimoto Eder (BR) Bib No. 75 4:17:20 3:54:40 2:25:57 7:49:43 13:15:06 1:10:20 43:53:06
12 Almeida Jerlison (BR) Bib No. 73 4:23:24 3:54:36 3:25:53 7:49:43 13:15:05 1:04:00 43:57:46
13 Boter Regis (BR) Bib No. 4 4:1 9:16 4:02:10 8:13:01 7:53:55 19:03:35 1:04:00 44:40:57
14 Rento de Carvalho Geovane (BR) Bib No. 30 4:17:24 4:15:33 8:25:22 3:24:30 19:12:33 1:26:20 46:01:47
15 Luen Lien Choong (SN) Bib No. 20 4:41:07 4:15:35 8:23:19 3:01:51 19:30:20 1:14:45 46:11:57
16 HughiII Anthony (ENG) Bib No. 15 5:13:17 4:04:09 3:12:45 9:13:35 19:03:35 1:15:57 47:08:18
17 Vanzuita Marcelo (NZ) Bib No. 47 5:01:53 4:03:25 7:50:43 3:16:52 21:26:57 1:09:05 47:54:00
18 Leung Moon-Ka (CN) Bib No. 19 5:13:50 4:26:19 3:29:42 3:16:20 22:50:21 1:26:40 50:48:12
19 Da Silva Ricardo Conceicao (BR) Bib No. 8 6:02:46 4:38:39 10:51:03 9:26:56 19:03:35 1:12:40 51:15:39
20 Dimeo Alfredo (ENG) Bib No. 9 6:03:29 4:26:23 9:14:15 3:54:01 21:26:57 2:08:22 52:18:27
22 Buck Matt (USA) Bib No. 6 5:13:27 4:36:14 3:42:05 9:52:49 22:50:21 1:23:35 52:43:31
21 Jimenez Pedro Vera (VE) Bib No. 16 6:12:35 4:09:50 9:10:37 3:54:07 22:51:11 1:25:35 52:43:55
23 Roodenburg Jereon (NL) Bib No. 33 5:57:24 4:41:32 9:45:05 9:16:07 21:54:30 1:34:05 53:08:43
24 Vallestad Petter (NO) Bib No. 49 6:23:55 5:19:42 10:07:42 9:57:56 21:59:12 2:06:50 55:55:17
25 Tvedt Berndt (NO) Bib No. 70 6:24:15 5:19:44 10:07:36 9:57:54 21:59:12 2:06:50 55:55:31
26 Evangelista Cleber (NO) Bib No. 71 6:23:40 5:15:16 12:21:03 9:52:13 21:26:57 1:14:45 56:33:54
27 Giannella Antonio (IT) Bib No. 13 7:55:11 6:53:46 12:50:03 7:49:44 25:18:03 1:37:25 62:24:17
28 Sousa Fred!son (NO) Bib No. 68 4:00:43 2:54:18 5:27:02 Disqualifie d Disqualified Disquali fied Disquali fied
30 Assenmacher Michael (DE) Bib No. 2 7:43:17 5:11:15 10:58:14 9:56:52 0:00:00 0:00:00 Dropped out
39 Boscolo Vinicius (NO) Bib No. 5 6:23:45 5:15:21 12:20:56 Dropped out 0:00:00 0:00:00 Dropped out34 Menendez Luis Rend (AR) Bib No. 23 3:23:52 Dropped out Dropped out 10:46:11 Dropped out 1:45:10 Dropped out
29 Plessberger Bernard (AT) Bib No. 29 2:51:13 2:33:36 5:11:31 4:46:06 Dropped out Dropped out Dropped out
36 Yokoyama Yoshizo (JP) Bib No. 45 3:34:02 3:13:13 Dropped out Dropped out Dropped out 3:15:00 Dropped out
37 Sergio Retamales (CL) Bib No. 63 5:53:12 4:30:20 10:50:59 10:05:21 Dropped out 1:09:20 Dropped out
38 Ono Hirofumi (JP) Bib No. 72 3:15:22 2:57:02 5:46:29 7:59:29 Dropped out Dropped out Dropped out
Womens 254 km Stage 1 Stage2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Total
1 Terto Jacquelin e (CL) Bib No. 38 4:52:39 4:03:03 3:20:40 3:00:10 19:07:56 1:26:00 45:55:33
2 Danet Marie Ann (FR) Bib No. 7 5:13:29 3:23:01 10:09:05 3:47:27 22:50:21 2:07:20 57:40:43
3 Frankish Kim (ENG) Bib No. 12 3:3 1:30 3:27:53 16:26:01 13:38:09 25:20:50 2:03:25 74:32:48
4 Palmer Jacquie (USA) Bib No. 24 9:24:02 3:23:01 16:26:00 14:03:55 25:20:55 2:24:35 76:07:28
Mens 122 km Stage 1 Stage2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Total
1 Marques Lucas Antonio Junior (BR) Bib No. 22 03:32:28 03:05:22 06:22:15 05:55:04 18:55:09
2 Sgouras Memos (GR) Bib No. 61 04:20:21 03:53:10 08:21:35 07:45:57 24:21:03
3 Consentan i Clayton (BR) Bib No. 40 05:49:55 04:05: 38 08:19:03 08:10:27 26:25:03
4 Kraft Mike (DE) Bib No. 17 6:13:24 4:38:24 8:2 3:37 7:35:42 26:51:07
5 Games Maurici o Pinto (BR) Bib No. 57 05:23: 01 04:31:23 09:20:20 08:08:40 27:23:24
6 Ford Michael (ENG) Bib No. 11 5:18:21 4:36:49 9:21:33 9:13:33 28:30:16
7 Bums Ed (ENG) Bib No. 48 06:26:19 05:43:55 10:44:29 10:22:53 33:17:36
8 Schneider Jason (USA) Bib No. 52 06:26:13 05:43:53 10:49:46 10:29:46 33:29:38
9 Pina Henrique Correia (BR) Bib No. 28 8:07:46 6:53:47 12:51:20 7:49:44 35:42:37
10 Tarantino Caio (BR) Bib No. 53 04:57:20 04:01:06 Dropped out Dropped out Dropped out
Womens 122 km Stage 1 Stage2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Total
1 Henssler Andreia (BR) Bib No. 51 04:22:02 03:47:36 03:12:53 06:43:20 23:05:56
2 Bacon Stefanie (ENG) Bib No. 46 04:32:29 04:04:05 03:19:20 06:43: 25 23:39:19
3 Barcello Carol (BR) Bib No. 42 05:49:51 04:05 :35 03:19:06 03:10:26 26:24:58
4 Anna Chernova (CH) Bib No. 79 6:01:11 4:10:00 3:35:07 3:23:56 27:10:14
5 Barlow Amanda (AU) Bib No. 3 7:23:07 5:44:02 10:49:55 3:49:24 32:46:28
6 Whitney Danielle (USA) Bib No. 67 06:26:16 05:43:43 10:49:52 10:22:52 33:22:48
7 Curtis Karen (AU) Bib No. 50 06:26:09 05:43:53 10:49:50 10:29:45 33:29:42
Mens 42 km
1 Vaz Leandro Ribeiro (BR) Bib No. 84
2 Alves Marcelo (BR) Bib No. 69
3 Luciano Aurelio (BR) Bib No. 10
4 Lacerda Luiz (BR) Bib No. 39
5 Pijnappe l Joao Carlos (BR) Bib No. 74
6 Armenault Sebastian (AR) Bib No. 42
7 Lowestetter Fredrick (USA) Bib No. 80
Category Flona
1 Orlando De Sousa Patrocinio (BR) Bib No. 41
2 Gercilson Xavier Dos Santos (BR) Bib No. 62
3 Manoel Joao De Sousa Moreira (BR) Bib No. 59
4 Kelven Bruno Mota Da Silva (BR) Bib No. 85
Womens 42 km
1 Simons Sandra (USA) Bib No. 34
Category Flona
1 Alaene Xavier Dos Santos (BR) Bib No. 66
Event partners
Photography by Alex Beer
All text by Gerard Donovan
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Shirley Thompson.
Jungle Marathon Event Founder
What was your working
background before becoming a
race director?
I worked as a flight
attendant on private jets flying high
profile people all over the world.
What was your motivation
to begin running?
Mainly giving up smoking.
I have a naturally addictive
personality so I swapped the
addiction of nicotine for running!
Did you find you
had a natural affinity for the
longer distance?
It wasnt really something
I planned. I just enjoyed longer
distances so running in marathons
and ultras was a naturalprogression.
When did you start to enter
events such as MDS or Yukon Ultra?
The fist time I did the MDS
was six months after I took up
running, I was in my early forties. I
was totally hooked! The same year
I did the Trans 333 - which was
333km non-stop across the Sahara
in Mauritania.
Did your participation in
such events inspire you to set up
your own?
Yes, absolutely. After doing
the MDS the first time, I set up a
portal called eventrate.com ( which
is not live any more,) but it was
the first site to give info on ultra
runs and adventure races all over
the world. I had found there was
nowhere to find this information. Ithen started to be the UK rep for
various races and Jungle marathon
was a natural progression.
Had you ever been to Brazil
before the conception of the event?
Yes, I had been to Rio, Sao
Paolo and Brasilia several times
when I was a flight attendant, but
never the Amazon.
Did you anticipate the
scale and danger of the natural
environment?
No, not at all. Each km was
a new discovery!!
What barriers did you
come across in the initial set up?
The language and the
bureaucracy were the two main
barriers. Plus trying to convince
people that yes, there were
crazy people in the world who
would want to run through the
Amazon Jungle
Did you have any problems
being a woman trying to organise
such a race?
Yes, and I still do. I think
its a combination o
and being foreign!
How many
entered the inaugu
how much has it gr
I think we h
the first year and th
get around 65-70 r
Over the ye
must have come ac
inspirational charac
contestants have a
common or are the
their motivation?
Each and e
a reason to be there
that motivates themare there to test the
and tenacity, they a
against themselves
against everyone el
example of You vers
the philosophy beh
Watching each and
them is inspirationa
the same mental te
same slightly eccen
personality that enj
their limits by taking
in extreme environm
Its a tough
already a huge com
and money getting
For me the most en
the race is meeting
chatting to them at
stages and seeing h
on. I always want to
the race meets their
I really feel for those
Have you a
to expand the even
other countries?Yes, Jungle
Vietnam will start in
there is also a third
the pipeline...
S
T
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8/12/2019 Jungle Marathon 2013
37/38
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8/12/2019 Jungle Marathon 2013
38/38