FEATURE
ADVENTURE
find the route but it’s useless. What to do now? Head back into the jungle or stay put? We decide, mainly through fear of the jungle at night to stay put. We immediately light a fire and once lit there’s an overwhelming sense of calm and relief. There’s something very powerful about the heat and flames of a fire – Kipling’s King Louie’s desires were right all along.
Just as the fire is pleasantly
crackling away there are spots of rain and a distinct change in the mood: a sense of dread fills the air. The rain is light and sporadic and doesn’t seem malevolent. As drops get heavier I cover the pile of firewood we’d gathered under a hammock’s rainfly, and the lightning show and thunder rumbles liven up and creep closer to us. Soon the rain gets so heavy it starts extinguishing the fire.
cuts, no sores. Nothing. The run down to the finish line was
exhilarating. Crucially we were past the half way mark and the weight of the challenge lifted. It feels surreal to have completed stage 4. To be in one piece and to feel strong and positive is a turn up for the books.
Stage 5 – The Long One As the name suggests the Long One is no walk in the park, we have 92km to cover. We set off just after sunrise, I teamed up with a fellow Ultra Marathon novice, Peter, and we agreed to run the stage together. Today was a mixture of road, jungle, farmland, grassland and rivers. We reached a particular river and zigzagged our way down the valley, crossing it every few hundred metres, but wading isn’t the most economical form of locomotion. The day pushes on and we continue
to run. As dusk sweeps in I locate my head torch and glow sticks although they’re not for the after party quite yet. As the darkness fell and the day vanishes we find ourselves at a wide river crossing. The river isn’t deep but it’s broad and fast flowing. It’s fairly unnerving to cross a river in the dark. It’s the sort of thing you tell children (and adults) not to do – it’s pretty dangerous. Another runner, Alex, joins me and Pete and the three of us continue together. Up ahead we see a light, it’s another
runner: Anne-Marie. It turns out the red flags that had been marking the course had run out. We check up and down the riverbank on both sides to try and
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We get another rainfly and the four of us hold it over the fire to keep it and our spirits alight.
Another hour passes and we’re still
there – soaked and exhausted. Just as the desire for someone to pick us up grows stronger and stronger there is a light. A huge truck ventures slowly up the riverbed towards us, the feeling of relief is immense. We, quite literally, jump in the back of the gigantic truck and get taken back to basecamp. Is that it? Are we done? The drive back feels strange. It’s a relief that we are alive and safe but there’s a hunger to finish. For those who had finished, including the winners Simon Grimstrup and Camilla Elmann, they were back in Pillcoppata celebrating the completion. There were also several runners that were still out there. They had passed the point at which we had lost our way in the light and continued along the way. But we weren’t exactly sure what was to happen next, for us. We had covered over half of stage 5 but still had plenty to do. The next morning we were offered to be driven back to the spot and resume the race. It was back on. The four of us are dropped where
we left off. I felt as good then as I did before the race had started, or maybe even better. I was so keen to finish this beast. I chatted to the other three in the car and I think they sensed my enthusiasm and suggested I go for it – run ahead. So I did, right out the gate. There were only 40 or so kilometres to go. Easy. Several hours earlier it was our
saving grace, but 2km into the restart the sight of the truck that had picked us up the night before was disheartening. The message from the team was “stop”. The night before there had been a
lot of rain and it was continuing to pour further up the valley. The rivers were rising and the safety of the runners and crew was in danger. For those who had slept at checkpoints during the night and were still on the course were also evacuated. We were all given the appropriate time penalties depending on how far we had reached but were all classified as finishers. It was understandable given the conditions, but still a huge anticlimax. It was a shame not to finish properly and run across the line one last time, but nothing could be done. I felt proud of what I had achieved and how far I had come. I learnt a lot about my physical and mental ability in the jungle. More specifically, I learned a massive amount about my feet and the importance of technique, skill and strength for running. I acquired knowledge of the jungle terrain and really discovered what trail and off-road running is all about. I had a lot of good conversations with myself along the way and I feel I now have a better understanding of my mental capabilities. Dealing with prolonged physical activity is surprisingly taxing on the brain but it’s so rewarding to push yourself to the limit and reap all the lessons you learn from the recovery. I went into the race as a completely naive amateur with moderate expectations. I am now confident to say that I’m a somewhat lesser naive amateur with a higher, inflated, sense of expectation. Bring on the next adventure…
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