“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Rachel Mueller

Amazon Jungle Ultra Day #5

 
A ridiculous 03:00 start to the day. Up and into race clothes for a different stage start time of 04:30.
With only another 2 hours sleep last night (same as the night before), eating brekkie was challenging.
Force feeding what your body wants to repel as soon as it’s gone in is not a feeling I can say I’m keen on.

 
If I’m honest as soon as I was vertical I had serious doubts my feet could hold up to the 50k+ today. I struggled to walk to the hot water supply let alone cover the distance of the stage.

 
Hobbling to the start line took for ever but once there with the other runners in a basking glow of numerous head torches, the excitement and trepidation was all I could think about.

Race Director sent us off and already my toe pain was not a happy pleasant one.
No sooner starting we had to stomp through a mini stream quite literally right from the start line. Looking back it wasn’t a bad thing for my feet. The cold water kinda made the stinging ease slightly so small mercies and all that.

I’d decided early on that if I could get past the agony of foot troubles, I’d run as much as possible and then power hike the ups.

 
Met up with Jacob from yesterday who was equally broken too so decided that we’d stick together until one of us fell back or wanted to get going.
In total darkness for the first 10k we managed to get it covered inside an hour and the temperature was still pretty low because sunrise still hadn’t yet sprung.

 
With the sun coming up as we approached CP1 it meant we needed to get a leg-on if we were going to cover ground before the heat hit us.
Out of CP1 with nothing more than a water top up and an anti nausea pill we headed straight into endless miles of white water river running.

 
It was absolutely relentless, wet, deep in places, slippery and never-ending but without a doubt my favourite part of the week.

 
Not sure what Jacob and I were doing different but we gained on front runners and overtook some. Absolutely excellent fun! Sure, some parts were waist high but mostly it was knee deep and felt so good to have numb feet from the cool water and fairly pain free for most of the duration.

 
Straight out of the river and into the jungle again with the sun hammering down.
Mud, mud and more mud until another meeting another 4K of river trekking albeit not as big as the one earlier all the way to CP2.

 
Quite astonished to come across a local guy just handing out free mandarins the size of small footballs to the runners and OMG they were bloomin’ amazing!! Not eating anything “fresh” for a week soon makes you realise what you’ve been missing.

 
CP2 was water and a few pork scratchings and then back out on the route again with my "secret stash" ready and waiting for the right moment to bring into action.

 
I’d deliberately saved a packet of Skittles for the last day as a mental boost for the killer long day so Jacob and I shared them periodically over the remaining distance.

The agreement was, each time we hit a CP we’d celebrate but having a few each.
Sweet deprivation for a week makes the taste sensations go mental but a great way to keep mentally strong and gave us something to look forward to at each CP.

 
Heading to CP3 we did our “Skittle celebration” and knew we were still on track to complete the stage before dark but with mostly jungle roads it was still gonna be a tough one.

 
Coming to the largest rapid river crossing it meant waiting for the locals to battle the white water across and ferry us over in a white water canoe.

All a bit hit and miss (literally). The fast flowing waters tended to drag us way too far downstream before being pulled in to shore by the landing team. Depending on how fast they latched onto the canoe depended on how far you had to retrace to get back on the route. In our case it wasn’t too bad and after a short shoreline trot we were back on the jungle trail and back into heavy jungle which in essence took us back to the finish line about 20k away.

 
Feet were generally back on fire again now that they’d dried out but having to concentrate on where you placed each footstep meant a small distraction.

 
Hit CP3 in early afternoon and although we were offered the same shorter or longer options it didn’t make much sense to tackle the longer one as A) we’d not done it yesterday so it wouldn’t count and B) my feet were in tatters. So slightly shorter one ahoy!

 
Jacob’s GPS watch was still working and somehow I’d managed to calculate the time we should arrive at the finish line to be around 16:00 providing we’d kept to a steady pace.

 
Gnarly, rocky and unbelievable uneven tracks undulated slowly down the mountain towards the village. The only distractions were keeping an eye out for snakes.

 
We’d inadvertently found kilometre markers on the roadside which we’d initially (and naively) thought would be the where the finish line was. Sadly, as we found out some miles later, they was simply marking the distance from the fork in the road and we still had several K to the actual village centre and the end.
That said, our spirits were pretty high and could see the village far in the distance and could hear the band playing so weren’t a million miles away.

 
In our moments of mindless encouragement waffle we’d decided that no matter what, we were definitely going to run (not sprint) the final straight to the finish line irrespective of how ruined our feet were so, out of sight and still heading towards the line we had a practice at running as if the line & welcome crowd were in sight.
I’m pleased to say it was a comical disaster! I think I only lasted about 20 seconds before my toes felt like I had someone inside my shoes ripping nails off.
Jacob did far better than me but we’d figured when the time came, emotion of completing, the support crew’s cheers and the locals welcome would overcome anything we’d be feeling physically.

 
Rounded the final corner and could see the flags, band, support crew and locals. Bestest sight EVER!

 
Being met by local kids who wanted to run to the line with us was superb and running in with Jacob was equally awesome.

 
We did our somewhat awkward “sprint” to the line and were met by our amazing Race Director, Support Crew, Photographers and Medics.

 
Adorned with our completion medals we were given a gigantic 1.1 litre bottle of beer AND a cold bottle of Coke. Epic!! Decisions decisions… which first!?!?
After a long sit down and beer I really just wanted to get out of the run kit and clean.
A quick 5 min bus ride back to camp to collect my suitcase I’d handed over 5 days prior was like Xmas day.
Clean clothes, access to a razor and wash kit meant a proper, albeit cold shower and able to start to feel a little human again.

 
I bodged my foot repairs until I could see a medic later and then it was back to the finish line to see the other runners come in (oh and top up fluids with beer of course!).

 
We had two more scheduled nights of camp before heading back to Cusco.

 
The following day was a totally chilled one spent exploring the village, eating and drinking local food (“monkey-brain” fruit was totally amazing) before the award ceremony.
Everyone assembled in the village square to hear the local Mayor extend his best wishes and applaud the finalists reciving their medals. Amazing how close you get to people that you’ve only known a week!
The evening was simply spent drinking with everyone having swarmed on a local café / bar.

 
In the morning we were collected by the numerous minibuses that had delivered us to this amazing part of the planet for the return journey back. I wasn’t looking forward to the 5 hour road trip back but was too tired to care really.

 
Arriving back in Cusco, BTU (Beyond the Ultimate) had reserved the entire hotel for us. Proper bed, HOT shower and cleanliness felt weird but so nice.

 
We had the remainder of the day to chill so spent it getting final souvenirs and new flip-flops (coz I couldn’t get feet into shoes).

 
Our evening was spectacularly messy. Everyone met at a local bar in town for a great night of excessive drinking. Swapping stories and experiences with runners & crew was amazing. Although we’d all been through the same challenges, our personal encounters of the event were individually unique.

 
Next morning it was the gruelling 20+ hour return flight home touched with a bit of sadness to be leaving such a stunning place and new found friends behind.

 

 
I can’t begin to thank BTU enough for organising such a fabulous event, the medics for putting up with our monotonous injuries and of course the Linkenbach family for the smiles, dancing, ukulele, encouragement, clapping, love and care you gave ALL the runners at Check Points throughout the entire week. Every single one of you made this beyond memorable!.  

 
Would I do this again? Absolutely!! In fact, I’ve missed the whole adventure, camaraderie, challenge and support crew so much, I’m heading back again in 2020.

 
Would I recommend Beyond The Ultimate as an organisation? 100%. Their Directorship (through Kris, Adam & Will), organising skills and support are second to none!

 
Would I think of doing one of their other event? Totally! I’m already signed on for their Ice Ultra in 2021

 
Undeniably the toughest mental & physical challenge I’ve EVER done in my life but worth every second. I can concluded that Ultra Runners are crazy, insane, funny, stubborn, kind, considerate, caring, positive and THE most awesome people to be assocciated with. What a community!

 
So what have I learned.......?

* Pain really is temporary.

* When you’re at your very lowest there's an undeniable strength in us to keep going.

* The harder you train the easier things are.

* Preparation is key to surviving Multi Stage events

* You can’t compensate for medical trauma in the Jungle – shit happens and is what it is!

* Never underestimate what you can do. Everyone's awesome.

That's it folks. A huge life chapter closes but the next one's are being written (Amazon 2020 & Ice 2021).  

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