Stages 1-4 in the jungle

I have been very lax about updating this blog but hopefully you have all been keeping abrest of news on the JM website.  K rang briefly to reassure me that he wasn't one of those who had to leave the race through dehydration; he sounded very sane and I was much assured!  Anyway, here's the news to date as posted on the website - Zin

 

Stage 4 Report Stage 2 took its toll on most of the field but even more so two of the faster runners both of whom were evacuated from the race with a heat stroke. Jungle Marathon takes place in an extreme location which offers dangers unique to the environment. Every measure is taken to minimise risk and provide safety, as two of our medics and our ambulance boat were away from race location, it was unthinkable to to continue without full support so stage 3 became a rest day.

Rather than miss the chance to see both stages, todays stage was a combination of the best (& worst) of stage 3 and stage 4
The stage began in Paraiso on a community trail taking runners into the jungle after 7km - then a further 25km of big climbs and descents the largest swamp crossing and a 200m swim across a creek. Runners arrived 100km refresh and animated, looking forward to the challenge of the 90km stage ahead.

Tonight will be spent in the community of Tauari, where runners get the chance to swim in a beautiful creek& relax before the taxing stage ahead.

Posted by: JM 2008 on Oct 14, 08 | 5:13 pm

Internet Outage by Inmarsat / Xantic We faced an 12 hour internet outage which was caused by our satellite provider Inmarsat/Xantic.
So we were not able to Send/receive messages on Monday 13th. All updates / messages will be done tomorrow. Sorry for the delay,

As of now Tuesday 14th of october 1am everything is working fine again.

Andreas

Posted by: JM 2008 on Oct 14, 08 | 2:59 am

Stage 3 Report Due to logistical reasons stage 3 didn't take place, today.
The race will continue tomorrow.

Posted by: JM 2008 on Oct 13, 08 | 1:15 am

Stage 2 Report Stage 2 was not without its casualties. 25km of mud, swamp & hills took its toll & by the end of stage two the total drop out total of runners has risen to 10.
The weather yesterday may have leaded runners into a false sense of security as it was unusually cool, but with the baking heat today & a lot of humidity, runners began to suffer from heat exhaustion & dehydration.
As the Brazilian runner Marcie Vielar reached Checkpoint 2 today he met a jaguar& reported that. He never ran faster in his life!
Runner are now eating attending to blister& cuts & relaxing at the campsite in Paraiso, apprensive about the 43km stage tomorrow.

Posted by: JM 2008 on Oct 12, 08 | 4:02 am

Stage 1 Report Heavy rain these last two days meant that todays stage was very muddy & slippery underfoot. Few runners managed to complete the stage without at least one fall.

By C.P. 1 the first runner had withdrawn, closely followed by two more at CP 2. Their withdraws were attributed to nausea and dehydration.
Todays stage was a short and difficult introduction to the race. 18 km of steep ascents & descents, a water crossing at the start and rope crossing across a deep creek.
The stage winner, Paulo Robson Almeda Sousa from Brazil finished the stage in a fast 2 hours 40 minutes and first first female was Jaqueline Terto
Runners are now challenging at a campsite and relaxing before 25km tomorrow which promises lots of mud & water.