Race Report: Jungle Ultra

Thank you to iRunFar for publishing my race report from the Jungle Ultra. It's a good overview of the race and provides all the detail of each stage I ran in the jungle.

Slogging through the jungle on Stage 4: The Lull.

There are some more photos from the jungle here which show more of the terrain and race experience.


You might also like:

• Race report from the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (iRunFar report)
• Race report from the Atacama Crossing 2013

Winter in Santiago

I was away from Santiago for three weeks for the Jungle Ultra in Peru. It was already cooling down and transitioning into winter before I left, but when I got back it was definitely winter. This is my fourth winter in Santiago and I've only seen snow on Cerro Manquehue and Cerro Carbon once before [these are the two most accessible mountains about 3km from my apartment]. This winter it's already snowed on these mountains twice!

I headed out to run in the snow this morning and was fortunate to see the moon set and the sun rise. It was a spectacular morning and I really enjoyed myself. I love running in the snow and haven't had a chance to do it since I was living in AK so this was a real treat.

The moon setting behind a cloud-covered city.

Clouds sweeping through the city bowl.

This is a lot of snow so low on Cerro Carbon.

It was pure powder on top of the mountain.

Summit of Cerro Carbon with the sun rising behind Cerro Manquehue.

A beautiful sunrise this morning.

Multi-stage race backpacks (part 4)

This is the fourth installment in a series of reviews of multi-stage backpacks (part 1, part 2, part 3).

The previous posts were based on reviews from friends who had run the Atacama Crossing and the Sahara Race. They covered a range of packs from Raidlight to OMM and Salomon. This edition includes two reviews from friends who ran the Jungle Ultra with me. I'm quite pleased to add these reviews as they cover two packs that are newer models and they are becoming very popular packs at stage races.

Majo Srnik and the WAA MDS ULTRABAG 20l
 

1. What pack did you use during the race?
I used the WAA ultrabag (MDS).

2. Did the pack have enough capacity for all your gear?
Yes, the pack is very well made. I think that the Jungle Ultra is a very hard race so I was carrying more stuff than I wanted to, nonetheless, I had no problems at all with capacity. [This was Majo's first stage race and I'm sure in the future he'll have much more refined and lighter contents in his pack.]

3. What was the final weight of your pack and hydration system (without water)?
I believe 9.5kg was the weight on the start line.

4. How did the pack fit and ride while you were running?
Great! I needed to adjust the straps each day after the start as the pack was changing in size as I ate all of my food. As soon as it was correctly set up the bag was amazing!

5. What did you use for hydration (front bottle, bladder, etc)?
Two front bottles [750ml] and a bladder in the pack even though I'm not a big fan of bladders. [The race required carrying a minimum of 2.5l of water from each checkpoint].

6. Did you use the external pockets on the pack? What for?
Yes I did. The pockets on the waist belt I used for powdered "food" and electrolytes and that sort of stuff. The front pack I had loaded with everything I would need for one day of running so I would never have to take off my pack to look for things; it was very handy and didn't move much once I had it set up correctly.

7. Did anything break on your pack during the race? 
No. The only thing that changed is that the bright yellow pack is not so bright any more!

8. Was there any specific feature that you particularly liked?
Yes, the front pack that I mentioned before and the rain cover / rain poncho that was included as a part of the pack.

9. Was there anything that you would change about the bag?
Not really. I love this set up. The only thing was that the water bottles were not that good; I would invest in some better bottles next time.

10. Would you recommend the pack and would you use it again?
Absolutely! I was very happy with it and can't wait to run another race with the same bag. Now we have a special bond that will last forever :).


Matt Knight and the OMM Adventure 20l

 

1. What pack did you use during the race?
I used the OMM 20l Adventure.

2. Did the pack have enough capacity for all your gear?
The pack was just right to get all my kit in for the jungle.

3. What was the final weight of your pack and hydration system (without water)?
Without water my pack weighed in at 8kg.

4. How did the pack fit and ride while you were running?
The pack was secure whilst running and felt great with no chafing.

5. What did you use for hydration (front bottle, bladder, etc)?
For hydration I used the side mesh pockets for 500ml bottles and I bought the OMM water bottle carriers and taped these on my shoulder straps. [The race required carrying a minimum of 2.5l of water from each checkpoint].

6. Did you use the external pockets on the pack? What for?
I used the external pockets on the waist for salt tablets, shot blox and gels.

7. Did anything break on your pack during the race? 
Nothing broke on the pack but if you are going to use the OMM pack I would suggest adding on water bottle carriers. I recommend having them stitched on to the straps professionally.

8. Was there any specific feature that you particularly liked?
Mainly comfort overall it what I liked best about the pack.

9. Was there anything that you would change about the bag?
The waist strap pockets are too far apart. If they were nearer to the front it would be easier to access them for your snacks, gels etc.

10. Would you recommend the pack and would you use it again?
I would recommend this pack for jungle environment, however for a desert race I'd rather use the Raidlight Olmo 20l [Matt liked the Raidlight pack for the desert because it was compact and you can attach a sleeping bag to the outside of it which is better suited to desert conditions. The water bottle holders are also of good quality and the pack felt very comfortable in extreme heat when Matt ran MDS.]

From the Andes to the Amazon - in photos

Getting started in the Cloud Forest at 3,000m altitude.

The first obstacle on stage 1, 12km in.

Rise and shine: time to take on stage 2.

The first section of jungle after the Cloud Forest - hot and humid.

There's water everywhere in the jungle and 70 river crossings in the race.

Wet feet from the start on Stage 3.

It was awesome to run with Xavi for this stage.

The Amazon Jungle!

Stage 4 was deep in the jungle and tough going all day.

More river crossings with Xavi and Tony trying to cool themselves down.

An early start for the 92km stage 5 (which was shortened due to flooding).

Tricky footing after another river crossing,

Beautiful, wet and humid.

I was feeling the distance at the end of stage 5.

Happy at the finish in Pillcopata with Xavi (and Neus).

The boss of the jungle

I was in the newspaper today! El Mercurio is the most wide-read newspaper in Chile so it's fantastic to have such a large article included in the paper (especially in the sport section with the World Cup approaching). Claudio Herrera wrote a great article and it's clear that he's a part of the trail running community here and understands our world - we've raced and trained together so it was a pleasure to catch-up with him.

The article is in Spanish and I've included a translation to English below.

El Mercurio, pg 41, Wednesday 4 June 2014.

DANIEL ROWLAND WON THE 2014 JUNGLE ULTRA IN PERU (230 KILOMETERS)
The boss of the jungle
The Zimbabwean living in Chile has become a specialist in stage racing. Here the methods of a guy who left everything to run at the highest level.

Claudio Herrera

Daniel Rowland was born 30 years ago in Zimbabwe, he studied finance in South Africa and got a top job in a multi-national mining company. His work led him to live in Alaska and later in Chile where he's been for the last two years.

But he was putting off his greatest passion: running ultra-marathon races. Rowland thought it was now or never and left everything behind to dedicate himself exclusively to training. He has endurance in his blood. His father Jonathan completed 11 Comrades Marathons, one of the oldest ultra-marathons on the planet. "Today I can say that I'm not winning money, I'm using my savings, but I'm happy" he said, after winning the Jungle Ultra, a test of 230km.

The African has transformed himself into an expert in stage racing, he already won the Atacama Crossing and KAEM last year, races of 250km. His strength, he thinks, is discipline. In short, an ultramarathoner nerd [this is the best translation I have for a slang Chilean word. My friend Matias tells me that everyone wants to be a "nerd", but no one admits to it!]

"I like stage racing because you have to consider all the details: food, the route, competitors. I have been improving as a runner, but my strength is in the planning. For the Jungle Ultra, I trained with my race backpack (6.5kg), in blocks that simulated the five days of the race and with my race diet - consisting of 2,200 calories per day _ and I also did many bikram yoga sessions to acclimatize to the humidity" he explained.

"Everything helps because we ran in temperatures of up to 35C and 95% humidity. You can't imagine the jungle until you're in it, it's dark with lots of roots. I didn't see any animals, but other competitors spoke of snakes and wild boar. I don't know, I run very focused, I spend a lot of time preparing for a race and I can't let myself be distracted" he said.

Rowland (with sponsors Lafuma, Hoka, 32Gi and Injinji) is now preparing to step up to the classic 100 mile races, hoping to "professionalize" his passion. "It's now or never, running makes me happy, the rest is not that important".


Photo caption: Rowland at the finish line in Pillcopata in the middle of Manu National Park. He finished in a total of 27 hours, winning four of the five stages. 

Jungle Ultra 2014 - 1st

I completed my first goal race of 2014 in the Amazon Jungle in Peru, winning in a time of 27:01:20. It was great to be challenged by a new environment, meet new competitors in the trail running world and participate in a race by Beyond the Ultimate.

Sticky, muddy and tired and not even half way yet!

Full race report here.