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Jungle Marathon 04
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Any feedback on this years Jungle Marathon? I was thinking about doing it next year.
It looked pretty hard with a high drop out rate. How was the organisation? Did the issue with the results get sorted out?
It looked pretty hard with a high drop out rate. How was the organisation? Did the issue with the results get sorted out?
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i have done the race 2 times now,
finishing both. The race is very tough, but beautiful. Many runners with MdS experience said JM was tougher - partly because of the wet / thrashed feet. The high drop out rate is mainly due to dehydration. The organisation was good/friendly - but very experienced - which created some problems: runners were treated differently during the course and with the ranking - some runners got severe time penalties while other didn't get any - even though they did the same mistakes. Some runners even got penalties without doing any mistakes. The race ended in chaos - nobody knew at the finish line who had won. Results and penalties were made up to fit the race organisers. Thus - this isn't a race were you can expect to be treated fair - something you might expect after spending lots of money and suffering.
- all participants ´should be treated equal
- what the race director tried to do was talking/negotiating with everybody - instead of giving all the runners same rules. This was very unfortunate.
- many runners were very critical about how the race management managed to solve the situation, and no runners I talked to would return next year.
Thanks for the info. The problems with the penalties must be very disappointing, especially if you are racing competitively. I suppose I would just be looking to get to the end rather than being concerned about race position so it might be less of an issue for me. Nevertheless I would still expect them to be consistent in the way they treated people. Maybe next year they will have more experience and these problems will not occur?
I can imagine that it would be harder than MdS as the humidity makes it hard to lose body heat unlike in the desert where sweat evaporation provides a very good cooling effect.
Have the final results been announced yet? Theres nothing on the website.
Cheers
yes the results have been posted on the website.
But - since they have been manipulated by race directors - the results are not worth a lot. (Example: as the only runner the winner in the female class, Anna McPherson, got an 11 hrs time bonus for resting 9 hrs during the long stage). This is of course impossible for the race direction to explain.
Appearently the race reports on www.sleepmonsters.com is missing at the moment - but I just got news they will be up again soon.
cheers
Everything Freddy has said is correct, but as I was right at the back of the field, I personally wasnt affected by the upset caused by the various time keeping errors. There undoubtedly did seem to be a lot of variations of time penalties.
I believe the organisation will get better on this score and will undoubtedly learnt a lot during JM 2004.
I am also of the opinion that the race director did try unduly to make the race as difficult as possible - quite a honourable thing to do considering the nature of the beast - but I believe the environment in which the race takes place is taxing enough without (for instance) having to do 3 stages starting with full submersion river crossings or having to do 24k on the last day along sandy beaches in the heat of the midday sun.
Over the coming weeks I gather the organisers will be seeking feedback from the racers and if/when this happens I trust that they will take on board the comments and constructive criticisms they might receive.
However, whilst the above highlights some negative aspect - my overall impression was that the race is a superb event that will go from strength to strength. In my humble opinion the MdS is absolutely nowhere in the same league for difficulty - I suffered like hell in the Jungle and the only time I have ever suffered like that was in the Yukon 300.
I would recommned this race to anyone who want to find out what it is like to be in absolute pain, being unable to breathe in the suffocating humid atmosphere, who want to really encounter snakes spiders jaguars and flippin nasty thorn bushes (still pulling half cm thorns out of my leg) and who basically is masochistically orientated and who really needs to be humbled by a few hills, trees and rivers.
How are the feet Freddy?
Loved reading your reports...
The very best of luck with whatever you get up to next.
lfw (Martin)
good to hear from you,
I hope you're alright - my feet are getting better, almost OK now 3 weeks after the race - thanks.
yes it's true what I highlighted above was mainly the ranking problems at the end of the race - but I agree with you that apart from that the race is a very special experience and holds many unique aspects of adventure.
It seems strange though that there have been none - or almost none discussion after the race on the eventrate runners forum site. Actually Andrea has been shut out from the forum by Shirley - and also put her ranking "under enquiry". Well - she doesn't miss anything since there is no debate at eventrate forum. The confusing way the ranking was "decided" is now under investigation in Brazilian media. You know - a similar thing happened last year, when a brazilian was about to win the race. This runner came 2nd - and still haven't recieved his prize money - as is the situation with partners & workers at the race 2003. What do you say about the situation? Did you talk with any runners about the race afterwards?
cheers
Fredrik
The environment whilst very difficult is (if you have the time and energy to enjoy it) absolutely stunning. The people you meet in the villages are as friendly as you could ever wish to meet
.....and the jaguars where considerate enough not to eat anyone.
It is certainly an experience that I WONT forget in a hurry - but like other races I have done, my memory is quickly forgetting the horrible hard bits and all I can remember is the absolute buzz of the race.
On a serious and sensible note - this race is not for beginners (albeit some did the 04 race as their first race of this type and did extremely well to boot) and is not for the squimish - I dont think anyone found it easy and even the "Big Boys" who do these races for a living found certain aspects far harder than they originally anticipated.
There was a lot of discussion regarding all aspects of the race at the Party and during transit home. I wasn't so aware of the timing discrepancies as you were - basically because it didnt personally concern me - but after the prize giving I did hear a lot more about other racers concerns. The ladies result being perhaps the most hotly discussed. I still dont know the facts of what exactly happened and perhaps some would say it is none of my business anyway - but I hope they can resolve the matter in the very near future. Whatever the outcome - the top two ladies were awesome and both deserve a lot of credit.
With regards to the 03 race, I havent got an opinion as I dont know what happened. As I understand it though, this years race was run by a different race director and with a different race organiser. I think they will learn a lot from the 04 race provided they listen to what the racers and staff tell them.
A little different to the Brecon Beacons then?!
Well done you - hat metaphorically tipped in your direction.