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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