I’m back from the most amazing, wonderful fantastic experience of my life and I didn’t get eaten by any of the huge ants, spiders and snakes! I am of course talking about the Jungle Ultra.
My 2 weeks were spent with a great group of people, everyone without exception got on, we laughed, talked, cried, ran, crawled, climbed. waded through rivers, clambered and slithered under trees, got chased by bees, stung by wasps, saw waterfalls tumbling towards the road over and down the other side, birds, butterflies and animal life, all part of the Peruvian Jungle, met local tribes and tasted their food (don’t tell Wes!!!)
During the race I had many WOW moments. The first was waking up in the morning at Base Camp in the Cloud Forest 3,500 mtrs above sea level with the clouds hovering over the canopy.
My 2nd WOW moment was on day two when we entered the Jungle “proper”. I was alone taking in the noises and beauty of my surroundings when suddenly a bright blue butterfly appeared in front of me. I stood there looking in awe at this amazing insect, never have I seen one of such a vibrant colour.
When the Blue Morpho Butterfly flies its wings are the colour of the canopy its sitting on.
We were privileged to race through Jungle that has never been open to the public before, it really was very special. Day 4 was the hardest day I have done in a staged race, trying to describe the near vertical “hill” we had to claw our way up is impossible, then going down hills that were so steep the easiest way to approach it was to sit on your bottom (this of course risked getting spikes stuck in your bottom and ants enjoying a tasty bite!) Branches that in most countries you could cling onto for support would be covered thick in large ants whose bit is extremely sore and bamboo with vast spikes.
The day I was dreading the most was the long day which meant 30k along the river, crossing approximately 50 times. I have a fear of water if its fast flowing or I’m out of my depth. There were occasions when the water was fast flowing and I know I would have managed it on my own (only because I needed to finish the race) but on the first “fast” river crossing I found Kenny waiting for me in the middle of the river – I could have kissed him (luckily for Kenny I just grabbed his hand!). That day I will never forget, the enjoyment, conversation, scenery and kindness of a fellow runner, Kenny you are fantastic thank you.
This race was very special in many ways, not only did I make new friends and race in a part of the world I have always wanted to visit, but I once again raced with a very good friend of mine who has gone through two hip resurfacing operations, fought his way back to fitness and achieved an outstanding 3rd place, for me a very proud moment to see him complete a race that a month before hand he thought he might not even be able to make the start line because of the pain he was in. Seeing him at the end with his medal and the biggest smile on his face made my race; he has proved beyond doubt what you can achieve anything if you want something badly enough.
There will be a race report, but as James Adams always says “it may take me sometime!”
A huge big thank you to my fellow competitors, you were fantastic, to Wes, Paul and the amazing crew and medics what a great bunch you were and for once I’m stuck for words, you were simply marvellous and finally thank you to my sponsors without whom i couldn’t do what I do.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored and supported me, you guys kept me going however many times I fell over on my backside, got stung by a wasp or chewed at by an ant – I did however say a few naughty words as I went on my amazing adventure! And finally to my amazing family, I love you.
1st Female 4th Overall.
Happy Training!
