The Jungle Ultra is a 230k self sufficiency staged race over 6 days in the Jungles of Peru.
Peru is a country I have always wanted to visit and to be given the opportunity to race in the Jungle was a great excuse. Although I did have my worries, lots of bugs, snakes and for me the worst fear were the river crossings, but if you don’t confront your fears they will never go away and will always be a hinderance – time to take a step into the unknown.
I met up with Debbie,Tobias, Kevin, Steve and Chris at Heathrow where we had different short haul flights to Madrid, then continued our journey to Lima together and were split up for the final flight to Cuzco – now our adventure was about to begin.
My marvellous friend from South Africa Guy Jennings at arrived the day before, but was waiting at Cuzco along with some of the others for the long bus trip to base camp. We clambered into our mini buses and set off on a six hour journey, travelling along twisting and narrow mountain roads, with stunning views at every turn. There were occassions when the road disappeared into the valley below (I kid you not!) I had to close my eyes otherwise I would have got out of the bus and walked.
We stopped off at a village to stretch our legs, what an amazing place it was, full of colour, buzzing with activity and the most wonderful coffee shop I have ever been too, camps coffee (you know the liquid stuff) and hot water from a thermos flask, but tasted delicious. Guy bought some local bread and cheese which was extremely yummy.
Over 6 hours later we arrived at the base camp in the Cloud Forest which joins the Andes Mountain range with the Amazon basin and Manu Park, 3,400 meters above sea level, it felt like standing on top of the world.
It was dark and the rain had started to fall which didn’t make getting our luggage out of the mini buses down the camp very easy, thank goodness for my dolly trolley. Our homes for the next couple of days was to be two men (or women) tents; I shared with Debbie who like me talks a lot so you can imagine when everyone was tucked up in their sleeping bags Debs and I continued to chat! (we did do it quietly promise!)
I’m not a huge fan of bugs and creepy crawlies so you can imagine how I felt when I had needed a pee in the middle of the night – I lay there trying to think of something else, when this didn’t work there was nothing for it but to grab my slipslops and head torch and head out into the unknown!
Having searched around a bit I found a nice spot checked there was nothing nearby , all clear, time for a pee (with head torch off so I didn’t attract any unwanted visitors) You know those moments when you want things to happen quickly in case a snake decides to come a bit you in the bottom – this was one of those occasions when I peed for Britain – on and on and on………..good grief, it was a relief to get back into my sleeping bag in one piece feeling quite smug that I had been so brave 🙂
The following day was kit and medical checks and collecting our race numbers. My number was 101 which made me giggle as I thought of the TV programme Room 101 where you can send something you don’t like down the rubbish shoot – perhaps I would be doing that with my number at the end of the race, who knows. From where the tents were pitched to the breakfast hut was a downhill walk along a track then steps, this was easy and no one gave it a second thought, the way back however was a different matter, I would find myself having to stop at least twice coming up the hill as I couldn’t breath. Much to my relief everyone else was having the same problems with the altitude.
Backpacks had been packed and repacked, weight shaved where possible until there was nothing more I could take out to make it lighter, starting weight was 10kg which I was very pleased. On the start line the locals had made each of us wonderful bracelets out of Huayruro seeds, a good luck charm. For me they bought back lots of wonderful memories as my father used to have thousands similar seeds which for betting in card games.
Just before the start myself and Helen walked up the road (not a road by UK standards) to have a pee, both agreeing that running up this for half a km at the beginning of a race wasn’t going to be easy or pleasant.
After a few words from the local Mayor it was all systems go…..well the legs worked but the breathing couldn’t keep up so I found myself walking and running, not the way I usually like to start a race, but I needed to get ahead of as many people as possible as the next section was single track and I didn’t want to hold anyone up. On a positive note I was running with Guy who is usually way ahead of me – poor man had to put up with my endless chat for the next 10k or so.
Leaving the road we headed into the Cloud Forest along single track which was beautiful as it meandered down to the river below. At one point the track became extremely narrow and I was worried about loosing my footing and falling, probably best not to look down.
As we got closer to the river the track became steeper but the scenery continued to be amazing. Much to my surprise and shock I got stung on the bottom by a kamikaze wasp, OUCH – not sure what I had done to upset it.
We reached the river in good time with only Drew and Tobias ahead – not that I was being competitive! grabbed some water then clambered up the mud slope out of the river bed and proceeded to stagger up the steep track to the “road” Guy who is like a mountain goat (even with his two hip resurfacing operations) was way ahead of me and didn’t seem to be puffing or panting, unlike me who sounded like an old train as I heaved my body upwards occasionally stopping to take in the view (ha ha!) It was a huge relief to finally reach the top and get my breath back.
The last 21k of the day was downhill along the road. Let me describe the road. Its full of huge holes, rocks, landslides, waterfalls flowing down and over them so not difficult running but I didn’t want you to think we were running on a lovely tarmac surface! My breathing became easier with every step, beautifully coloured butterflies adorned the roads, waterfalls were beautiful and there were different coloured flowers at every turn, it really was a beautiful run.
I arrived in camp in a great time and 3rd overall for the day, a good 34k. Guy unfortunately had to take it easy on the last section as it played havoc with his hips (he beat me easily on all the other days).
Camp that night was at 1,600m above sea level at a lodge called Cock of the Rock which is the name of one of their local birds. We were spoilt with a wonderful dip in the river, showers (very basic) and the hammock station was under cover in case it rained. The Woolley Monkeys thought it would be fun to try and nick our food!
Putting up my hammock for the first time wasn’t as difficult as I had thought it would be – luckily for me Drew knew how to put them up so he did help me. Later that night once all the hammocks were set up the supports started to come away which had Tobias not noticed would have resulted in a domino effect! RD and crew called and eventually everything was sorted, time for bed. That night I froze, I don’t think I have ever been so cold in a race before (not even in the Arctic) I had no more clothes to put on so I wrapped myself up in my flysheet which helped a bit; for once I was relieved to see the sun come up.
Day 2 – 32km
Getting dressed this morning wasn’t very pleasant as all my kit was still wet from the day before and I was struggling to get my body temperature up – my teeth were chattering so much I thought they might wear out! Drew very kindly lent me his lightweight down jacket which instantly made a huge difference enabling me to eat my breakfast without chattering teeth!
The course today was to take us into the Jungle proper which I was very excited about. First we had a 14k road section (remember what I said about roads!) which lead us to a large village where all the locals came out to cheer us on, the children waved flags and ran up the street with us. The 2nd CP was just before the left hand turn into the Jungle. I topped my water bottles up and headed down the jungle path.
I have to admit I was feeling rather excited, what would I find, perhaps a snake or a large hairy spider! The going underfoot was muddy, the track was covered in a layer of fallen leaves and I had to watch my footing as there were roots that stuck up from the ground. The canopy overhead hid many amazing birds and bugs of all sizes. The hugs would drop onto your arm as you ran past a low hanging branch, these had to be removed quickly before they decided that you were dinner!
Quite happy in my own little world, looking around, listening to the sounds of the jungle I had my first WOW moment. The most beautiful large butterfly I have ever seen fluttered past me and danced around my head. It had florescent blue coloured wings. I remember stopping dead in my tracks for what seemed like ages looking at this stunning insect, eventually managing to get a picture of it but sadly with its wings closed – still beautiful.
To my surprise about 3 km further down the track was CP3 which was supposed to have been 10k from the last CP, either they were in the wrong place or I was going very fast!! (as it turned out the CP was in the wrong place – shucks!)
Heading towards the final CP of the day took longer than anticipated, the jungle was warming up and humidity levels were high. There were lots of water crossings, in fact at one point I had to wade down a river which was lovely and cooling on the feet. For the first time I saw long lines of large ants carrying leaves, quite an amazing sight.
It was a huge relief to see the CP. I was low on water feeling very hot and bothered, but after replenishing my bottles I didn’t hang around as I just wanted to get finished, it was after all only 6k to go.
Having left the CP my energy levels were low so decided that I was going to enjoy the last section, not put any pressure on myself, take photos and take in the scenery; this I did and loved every minute, even did a bit of singing!
Every competitor had to go through the same routine on arrival at camp; take shoes and socks off and soak our feet in a mild solution of antiseptic to avoid our feet becoming infected, I quite enjoyed this as it was 10 minutes of sitting down chatting!
The camp we were staying in belonged to the rangers, no hammocks tonight but very large 4 man tents; Once my pack was safely put into my tent Guy and I went down to the river for a dip – Well I say a dip, Guy just got in, where as muggins here took ages to get myself into the cold water but it was worth the wait as the cool refreshing water washed over my legs.
Race briefing for the next day was due to start at 6.30pm, unfortunately at about 6pm the heavens opened it the rain came down, no one in their right mind was stepping outside their tents. Our tent sprung a leak in the roof so being girls of many talents we taped it up – brilliant. However the rain continued to come down, the tent roof began to bow with the pressure of the water all hands on deck as we pushed the tent roof upwards causing gallons of water to fall to the ground. Poor Helen moved round the tent as the night went on to get away from the water which seemed to be spookily attracted to her and in the early hours of the morning one of the tents collapsed (thankfully on one was inside at the time)
Day 3:
Todays start was delayed by an hour due to the heavy rain, but as soon as it stopped and the sun made an appearance the temperatures rose as did the humidity levels.
The first 5k was a lovely run, the last section along a very fast flowing river. My heart rate was pretty high at this point, not because of the running but because to cross the river we were to be put in pairs on a zip wire, not something I was particularly looking forward to with my fear of water.
On arriving at the CP our numbers and times were taken and timing was then stopped until we reached the other side. Guy was great and gave me a big hug as he knew that for me this was a big challenge and I had to fight hard to hold back the tears. Finally it was time for Kenny and myself to go. The harness was too big for me so I was a wee bit concerned that I would fall out of it, but they assured me everything was quite safe. Once on my way across it wasn’t quite so bad, but I did have to laugh or it would have been tears of fear falling down my face!
Once on the otherside I was extremely relieved and continued on my journey. The stage today was known as Logging as we were to go through the local logging routes. The devastation these cause to the jungle is unbelievable, mud up to our waists, slipping and sliding everywhere (I don’t think I have ever been so muddy before) and each time I got covered in mud there would miraculously appear another stream or river to cross.
As I ran along another fast flowing river towards the final CP of the day my heart rate went sky high, at some point I was going to have to cross this river and as far as I was concerned there was no way I could wade or swim across it was far too fast flowing for me. I thought my biggest nightmare was about to come true, I was terrified, how was I going to do this, I had to cross the river to finish the stage, even telling myself to man up was going to be a problem. The CP guys were cheering and waving their arms about as I ran towards them, all I could do was burst into tears when I reached them saying I couldn’t go across the river, I would drown if I did. My fear of the fast flowing water had fuddled my brain, not enabling me to think properly or remember what had been said at the race briefing, there was in fact a boat to take runners across – you can imagine my relief, although even in a boat it wasn’t very pleasant. Once on the otherside of the river I kept going, but mentally it took me a long time to get over what I had just been through and I did pathetically find myself crying for the next half an hour for no reason at all.
Mud was everywhere, I slipped and slid my way along the course and at one point starting singing “mud mud glorious mud” – now I know how a hippo must feel!
Arriving in camp was glorious. We were privileged to be staying in a local village who later that evening put on a wonderful display of music and dance together with some fantastic food. During the ceremony they passed around a small fish for us to sample that had been cooked in bamboo in its own juices, absolutely delicious.
I slept like a baby that night, the only thing I remember waking me up in my Hammock was Guy who kept on prodding me. I thought nothing of it until the following morning when he said”christ woman, for someone so small you snore very loud” OOPS! (it was I would like to add the only evening I snored!)
Day 4
All the runners woke early to prepare themselves for another day. I had slept like a baby but apparently no-one else had enjoyed such a blissful nights sleep in their hammocks due to a certain person snoring! I did wonder why Guy kept on to wake me up during the night, I just thought his hammock was FAR too close and wished he would stop being so restless – ooops!
Todays stage was lovingly known as “The Lull” and was a mere 26k – simples! FAR FROM IT
In all the races I have done this stage has to be the hardest. Not only because of the route but as it turned out we did 10k more than we were supposed to have done. On my notes for this stage all I have put is “HORRID”
I was excited about today, we were privileged to be running in Manu Park which usually isn’t opened to members of the public unless they are with an official guide; boy were we in for a treat. Because today really was tough my mind seems to have blocked a lot of it off, but from the village we meandered down tracks towards a CP at the river where our time was stopped while we waited for the boat to come and take us across; a great time for a chat and photos.
Once across the other side of the river the timer was started again and we continued our journey into the heart of the jungle. The going got tougher and tougher and the distances seemed to take forever. Myself, Dominic and Henrik were all running fairly close to each other which was great and lovely to have the company, especially as the tracks were becoming narrower and a bit hairy in places. Running wasn’t too bad but we did have to watch our footing and try not to trip over roots. On one occasion we had to carefully maneuver around a wasps nest and a large number of very large ants which of course ended up all over our backs but thankfully we were all able to wipe them off each others packs or it could have been quite nasty. We stopped not far from the river to look at the amazing shapes and beauty of the trees, they really were quite stunning.
The track now really did become extremely narrow, so narrow that in one place it had collapsed leaving a gap which had to be crossed. Sounds easy but when you looked at the distance you had to fall it was pretty scary. The only way across was by hanging onto a vine (felt a bit like Tarzan at this point but not as nimble!) I didn’t like this section and if I’m being completely honest it terrified me as pulling yourself across wasn’t easy. Thankfully the three of us helped and supported each other.
Eventually we saw the river, hurray not long to go now. We clambered down to the boat which took us across the river where we then had to climb up to the CP using a rope for support. Muggins had slightly lost the plot at this stage as it had taken far longer than anticipated to get to this point and as I climbed to the CP I had a camera thrust in my face…..not good timing, especially when you think you only have another 2k to go and we are told that the finish is a further 10k away………….you can imagine what we all said!
At this point I needed to have 5 minutes away from everyone. The CP staff were fantastic and their usual cheerful selves but unfortunately it wasn’t what I required at that particular point in my journey. Having filled my water bottles I left the CP and waited just round the corner for the boys. Dominic followed fairly quickly but Hendrik decided he wanted to spend a bit longer. We were joined by the South African photographer Theo.
We followed the red marker flags further into the jungle discussing how far we thought we had actually run and surely this must be longer than 26km – either that or we were going much slower than we thought!
The next section was by far the toughest. Two hours later we kept thinking the finish must be just round the corner, but no sign of life could be seen or heard. Then came the hill – well it wasn’t exactly a hill it was near vertical muddy slope and it went on and on and on and on. Poor Theo spent his time trying to prevent his camera getting covered in mud, for every step taken you would slide down about two and any branches that were available to hold onto for support were yet again covered in bloody ants! I would stop every so often to admire the view (get my breath back!) and make sure that Dominic was ok as he had fallen behind.
Getting to the top was a fantastic and a great sense of achievement, surely we must be nearly there? If there is an up there is always a down and yes, the down was just as bad and as long as the up. However, we got very excited when we heard voices coming towards us, yippee we are nearly there. NO ….it was some of the crew bringing us extra water. I was fine but Theo had run out and had been sharing mine, so great timing. We asked how much further to go and they said one and half hours! WELL a bit of a muttly moment; we were not happy bunnies.
Just over 9 hours later we ran to the outskirts of a village, I didn’t want to get excited at this point just in case it wasn’t the finish, but then more people appeared, more noise and clapping and I ran to the finish line followed by Theo taking photos. I have never in all my life been so relieved to get to the finish of a day, a day I thought would never end. Physically I was fine, but mentally it had broken me.
The crew as always came to my rescue, sorted out a shower and feet then I felt fine again. It was good to see everyone finish today, great running by all and proud to be part of such a great group of runners.
Once again I slept like a baby, although I didn’t snore!
Long Stage 65km
The long stage had been shortened because of the extra 10k that we had done yesterday, although personally I would have been happy with the original distance.
The first 15k was uphill, through the village we had been staying near, encouraged and supported by all the locals who had come out to wave us on our way. The route took us over a bridge and towards the next village where we would find CP 2 located on the river. There was now 45km of running along the river with well over 50 river crossings – not something I was looking forward to.
Having sorted out my water bottles I continued along the river and met up with Kenny who was taking stuff out of his shoe. I waved chatted briefly and continued on my way knowing he would catch me up. The first river crossing wasn’t too bad and I felt extremely brave. Kenny overtook me and I waved him good bye. I was enjoying the scenery and even managed to spot an otter like animal coming out of the water.
The next river crossing looked slightly more of a challenge. slow flowing water to begin with, fast in the middle then slow again. Panic set in at the thought of having to cross this, but to my delight I saw Kenny standing in the middle of the river waiting for me – how marvellous was that. He knew I had a fear of water so had waited for me instead of going on, that was a truely wonderful thing to have done and something I will never forget. We stayed together for the remainder of the day, two mad Scotsmen exchanging stories and laughing. Running along the river was wonderful, we saw abandoned lorries, locals fishing, washing their clothes, or just out for the day having fun. Invariably I would fall over in the shallow part of the river and always in front of witnesses – very embarrassing!
At one point the branch of a tree caught my pack and as it twanged off hundreds of biting bugs landed all over me, it felt as though I was on fire as they bit into me. Kenny was trying to get them off, hands and body were going into weird and wonderful positions in an attempt to get the little critters off me and prevent any further bits, the easiest solution was to get into the river and splash water all over me – horrid.
On leaving the river we re-entered the jungle then back towards another river where we were ferried across for the final climb up to the village where we were staying for the night. A fantastic day, great company, amazing views and quite simply a WOW day.
The following day was our rest day and we were treated to archery, dancing and songs from the villagers a wonderful experience.
Our last morning and we were all up extremely early ready for the start – the sun hadn’t even come up at that stage! The last day is always a mad dash and I really didn’t think that my legs were capable of dashing, but as always my body surprises me and I felt fantastic. We ran through farmers fields, over a bridge and through the large jungle town of Pilcopata. The whole town had come out to see us cross the finish line which was fantastic and extremely emotional. I had finished, completed a race I never even thought I would have the courage to start, but once again I proved to myself that I am capable of more than I think I am have begun to conquer my fear of water.
This is a race you must try, its an awesome location, great crew and organisation, plus you will have the adventure of a life time. What made it so special for me was the wonderful group of people I was with, each and every one of us got on and shared this great experience whether a runner, medic or crew. I was very proud of my friend Guy Jennings who after not just one but two hip resurfacing operations fought his way back to fitness and came 3rd overall, a moment I will never forget.
I have missed out so many things in this report and haven’t found the words to describe some of the wonderful things I saw and experienced but I hope it gives you an idea of what happened during my wonderful week in the Jungles of Peru.
