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30 Sep 2009 09:54:47
The University of Bedfordshire has opened its doors this week to three jungle marathon runners to prevent them going nuts in Brazil.
The three men, all from Letchworth Garden City in North Hertfordshire, are Arron Worbey and Darren Clawson, both policemen, who will be accompanied by Nick Trainell.
The trio are running the punishing Jungle Marathon in Brazil which is around 200km in six days with the fourth day requiring at least 50km of non-stop running!
This is in temperatures above 35 degrees centigrade and more than 90 per cent humidity, meaning the risk of heat stroke is exceptionally high.
Lecturers Paul Castle and Lex Mauger are helping the men to acclimatise to the heat this week using the University of Bedfordshire’s state-of-the-art environmental chamber which will drastically reduce the risk of heat illness and maximise their performance.
The chamber has been approved for use by visiting countries in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.
Dr Castle, who has worked with Paralympians in the past, said: “It’s allowing the bodies of the men to adapt to the specific conditions they’re going to compete in by optimising their thermo-regulation. This means they are much more likely to finish the event.”
Their journey begins next Wednesday (7 October) when they fly out to Sao Paulo in Brazil before taking an internal flight to Santarem and then travelling for 12 hours by boat along the Amazon river to base camp.
After spending a day doing survival training with the Brazilian army, the challenge begins alongside some 90 international competitors including state sponsored athletes.
The next six days will see them race on foot through the jungle, crossing rivers and swamps, covering around well over 100 miles – some at night!
They will have to carry all their own supplies, bar water, and the pack weight will be about 12kgs.
The challenge is not without its dangers either - last year a runner spent a week in intensive care due to the heat, a further runner broke his leg and there was an array of bites and infections.
Arron said: “We will have to deal with the local wildlife, which pose a serious threat to runners, including jaguars, snakes, scorpions, giant ticks and whatever is lurking in the rivers!
“Each night we will spend in hammocks near the river as it supposed to be the safest place at night.
“Due to the location, hospital treatment is several hours away and they evacuate runners by donkey and then boat.
“So if something deadly such as the Bushmaster snake bites you, we have been told we are as good as dead. You can see why this is officially considered the toughest foot race in the world.”
They have already raised £11,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital who treated Darren’s two-year-old son Hadley after he was diagnosed with a severe and complex form of drug resistant epilepsy.
His treatment, called the Ketogenic Diet, is a way of treating the most severe forms of epilepsy through food alone.
The hospital started to administer the diet to Hadley in June this year, six months after he first experienced problems, and although he still suffers from seizures, he has a much better quality of life.
Arron said: “We have spent a large amount of time training and fundraising for this event. Our current training schedule is sat at just over 80km a week.
“The entrance fees and kit costs have been around £2,000 each which have been paid out of our own pockets as we didn’t want to take anything away from Great Ormond Street.
“We’ve put our hearts and souls into this event; we’re absolutely exhausted with our schedule but know it’s worth the sacrifice.”
Arron was recently awarded the Royal Humane Society’s Police Medal and Bronze Medal by Princess Alexandra for disarming a person with a gun in Letchworth GC while he was off duty and also injured. He also went to 10 Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown and collect a national bravery award.
Latest news» 2009» September» It's hot work for jungle marathon trekkers
