Stage 2 - Saturday 11th October

(Apologies - this section of the blog slipped thorough the net...)

I won´t beat around the bush - Stage 2 was incredibly difficult!! We discovered afterwards that Stage 1 (in which as a group we had been considerably faster thn any previous jungle marathon posse) had evidently lulled us into a false sense of security. The terrain on Stage 2 was far more demanding than previously encountered, and the heat and humidity were simply immense! There were some awesome climbs, a rope river crossing (where several people managed to fall in and get soaked) and some mahousive swamps (which tended to remind one of Luke Skywalker´s raising of the X-Wing using the Force).

I discovered on this stage that I had become a total co-ord and fell over a ludicrous number of times. Some of these were due to trip wires (low vines) but other simply the result of a general loss of what the Spanish refer to as ´abilidad.´

My friend Mark once again suffered some foot damage (a photo of his manky feet following the MdS can be seen on that blog). Following Stage 2 he had blisters under both big toes which required him to have the toe nails drilled (burnt) through! Yes, this smells, although I´m told it´s not too painful. Fortunately the procedure was repeated a couple of days later and recorded by the Dave and Tony, the ITV crew. (Did I mention they have been with us all week and will be producing a documentary on the race...which I believe is due to be broadcast on December 3rd).

Unfortunately, one runner seemed to disturb a wasps nest which resulted in several people getting stung - one of whom had an alergic reaction resulting in temporary partial paralysis. (Fortunately he is fine now, although did drop out of the race as a result).

Another two runners gave everyone at this years Jungle Marathon what should be the only lesson they ever require on the grave implications of having things go wrong when exercising in very humid conditions. The end result was similar for both guys. One I believe as the result of an electrolyte imbalance, and the other simply from pushing too hard in these extreme conditions. Due the extreme humidity, runners are unable to lose heat through sweating since the already damp atmosphere does not dry their skin. This quickly causes the body´s core temperature to increase - and an increase of only a degree or so can be potentially fatal. Pushing yourself too hard in normal conditions is not so serious because simply slowing down or stopping enables the runner to quickly start cooling down, however, in jungle conditions this simply isn´t the case. Both guys reached the position where they were no longer able to control their core body temperatures (Their bodies mistakenly thinking they were too cold were actually reacting in ways to warm them up further - for example by shivering). One of the guys needed IV drips, and both had to take many ice-cold showers and be admitted to hospital for this very serious condition. Fortunately both runners are now out of hospital; one totally recovered and the other making good progress.

The absence of some of the medical support crew while hepling these guys resulted in Stage 3 of the race being cancelled. The camp was in very somber mood and our thoughts with the guys in hospital in nearby Santarem. (Stages 3 and 4 were then combined and modified in order that we would still end up at the planned camp at the end of Stage 4, so that Stages 5 and 6 could proceed as normal and that the overall distance would still remain above 200 km).