That this race warrants being taken seriously as an extreme endurance challenge is aptly summed up in the advice offered by a previous competitor to the effect that the Marathon Des Sables should be used as training for the Jungle Marathon. Yet even this may not be enough to ensure success, as in previous races a number of MDS survivors have failed to finish...an unequivocal warning that this is clearly not your average ultra!

For a trail ultra warrior the 200 km distance option over six stages is not in itself too daunting. Nor is the requirement that competitors be self-sufficient…carrying everything needed in a backpack, including food, clothing, hammock, survival and medical kit etc. The devil, as the saying goes, lies in the detail.

Energy sapping temperatures and humidity ensures a constant challenge to avoid the perils of dehydration, and exacerbate the arduous nature of a route that entails not only relentless steep ascents and descents, but also crossing numerous swamps and rivers…with the resultant hazard of virtually constant wet feet.

For good measure there is the not inconsequential task of negotiating the notoriously dangerous Amazon jungle… home to seemingly endless threats to one's mortality. From Jaguars to Snakes to Piranhas…all have as their mission reducing runners to the food chain!

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