At last, after getting a good rest on the previous day we were now fired up for the final Stage of the Jungle Marathon. The base camp was buzzing with a lot of excitement as all those on the start line now knew they were nearly there.The final stage was 32km long and was staged along the banks of the river Tapajos. You would think this would make things easy but as the sun came up it was clear we were in for a hot day, exposed to the baking sun for several hours.
So with lots of sun protection we set off, Mark, Dermot and myself and as we had done on all the previous days kept to our normal pace. Most of the remaining competitors jogged off but no need to change our game plan now.
Apart from having a camera crew in a boat following us for several minutes the first 10-15 kms were pretty uneventful. But as the sun got hotter Mark and myself decided to push on and get out of it as quickly as possible. So leaving Dermot just before CP2 we increased our pace significantly, still walking though.
As we got closer to the finish line we decided to get our national flags flying. I managed to pin mine to my walking pole and Mark used an old stick found on the riverside and managed to get his flying at full mast too. So with the poles sticking in our rucksacks and flags fluttering proudly in the wind we were well and truly excited about reaching the finish line a few kilometres away.
It took us 5hours 25mins to cover the Stage and the last few
hundred yards were pretty unreal. The finish line was in the main square of Alter de Chao and as we approached from the river we got several shouts of encouragement. From the river front we legged it up a series of steps and with the finish line only 20 yards away we held hands and jogged across the finish line together, coupled with a big shout of joy from both of us. We were immediately presented with our medals (well, a plate on a string), and got hugged by a few other competitors who had just finished before us.I must admit I thought I'd be a lot more emotional, even after I gave Mark a big old bear hug. I think we were both still shocked that we'd just finished one of the worlds toughest ultra events but we were both physically and emotionally drained too. And I can safely say that I wouldn't and couldn't have done it without Mark.
Since returning from the race I've had a lot of time to think about the race and every once in a while I find myself grinning like some deranged fool, when I think about what I achieved. The jungle marathon is one of a few ultra events that I've done and given the fact that less than 50% actually finished it this year makes it an even more remarkable achievement.
I'm not sure whether I've got the 'ultra bug' out of my system or whether I'd like to do something even more extreme. But even if I don't do anything else, at least I can say that "the jungle marathon did not beat me", "I beat the Jungle Marathon" and no one can ever take that away from me.
I AM RAISING MONEY FOR CANCER RESEARCH UK: http://www.justgiving.com/Jungle-Marathon-2009
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