Once was not enough for Daryl Suen.
He had so much fun last year surviving the blade of grass to saw through a piece of raw meat.
All competitors are required to carry mandatory supplies: enough food to last seven days, hammocks with mosquito nets, 2.5 litres of water, insect repellent, a compass, safety pins, a knife, a medical kit (containing salt tablets, pain killers, disinfectant, bandages and tape), a flashlight with spare batteries, waterproof matches or lighter, and enough water purification tablets for at least 10 litres.
“Last year was tough, because I was burnt out before the race and I didn’t bring enough food, and I also had a tough time figuring out salt balance and hydration because of the humidity,” he said. “I thought I was eating close to 3,000 calories a day and I was eating more like 1,000 a day. I didn’t realize it until my body started metabolizing itself (on Day 2) and I was running a temperature. Everything was going wrong and I hit the wall. A lot of competitors were either in such rough shape they couldn’t stomach their food, or some people had too much food and were giving it away to reduce weight, and that got me through.”
The high humidity severely limits the body’s ability to cool by sweating and runners dehydrate and overheat quickly, leading to problems which led to his own kidney problems. He was thirsty, yet unable to urinate.
Suen felt terrible for the fourth stage, but it was on flat ground and only 18km long, designed to give runners a break before their 86km trek the following day. Suen walked the entire 18km and came in last with one other runner. The take-it-easy strategy paid off and by the end of the long fifth stage he’d worked his way back up to 12th place.
Runners have added incentive to finish the fifth stage before dark, because if they don’t reach the last checkpoint by a certain time, the trail is closed due to the threat of jaguar attacks. Runners who don’t make it though in time have to spend the night at the last checkpoint, then finish the course the following day, while the faster runners have a full day to rest before the sixth and final stage, a 24km beach trail run.
“The last stage is along the beach on one of the rivers and it was all sand again, and my feet were hurting, so that was a walking day for me,” Suen said. “I was limping around for a good five days afterward because my feet were in such rough shape, all around my toes and the balls of my feet.”
Suen placed 29th out of the 63 who finished the race. His Commonwealth team finished third in the team event. Teammate James Lowe of England won the men’s race in 38 hours 47 minutes four seconds, while Suen’s time was 61:21:16.
“I’m hoping to do really well this time,” Suen said. “It depends who shows up for the race, I guess. I’ll have a ton of food this year, and I have special hydration and carbohydrate drinks. I’d love to take home the trophy.”
It costs $3,600 to enter the Jungle Marathon, and that doesn’t include the flight to Brazil. Suen wasn’t planning on entering again this year, but when friend Elly Johnsen, Suen’s aunt in Hong Kong and the Investors Group in Prince George offered to fund the $8,000 trip, he couldn’t say no. The money came through with 10 weeks to go before the race.
Suen says he’s in better shape for a long run because he focused over the summer just on running, rather than the triathlon training he did last year leading up to the Subaru Ironman Canada race in Penticton. He discovered the Jungle Marathon in 2005 while searching the Internet for training tips to help him in the Kelowna Marathon.
Suen’s fisheries job the past few months has taken him in remote mountain camps around Kamloops, where he’s had plenty of opportunity for marathon-distance runs before work while carrying a heavy backpack through the desert. That means starting his days at 3 a.m. with runs over steep trail runs.
With all this self-induced pain and suffering, why on earth does Suen want to put his health at risk racing through the jungle again?
“It’s really fun if you can figure things out, it’s truly an adventure,” he said. “My ultimate goal is just to get through it healthy. If I can do that, I just want to see how well I can do with 10 weeks training. I think I’m in way better shape this year.”
Suen plans to keep up his running through the winter. From the steamy furnace of Brazil to the Canadian deep freeze, if he can get sponsorship, Suen is considering entering the 480-km Yukon Quest run in February. In that race, runners pull their supplies in sleds, covering the same course used for the annual sled-dog race.
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