SA's Gordon-Bennett goes from ice race to winning Jungle Ultra in Amazon

TimesLIVE

5 days ago

South African adventure trail runner Tarryn Gordon-Bennett has gone from breaking the ice to conquering the Amazon, winning the second Beyond the UItimate series extreme race she has taken part in as the first women in this year's Jungle Ultra in Peru.
Last year Gordon-Bennett was the first women and joint-sixth overall in the Ice Ultra in Swedish Lapland in the Arctic Circle, another gruelling test of human endeavour run over the same distance of 230km in the wilderness of Swedish Lapland in temperatures as low as -40°C.
In early June, Gordon-Bennett swapped snow for the mud, heat and humidity of the world's greatest jungle in the Amazon as one of nine women to finish from 14 starters and the first home in a five-stage Jungle Ultra. There were 59 starters overall of whom 36 finished, with the Beyond the Ultimate website saying the 60% completion rate is 'a stark reminder of just how relentless this race is'.
'With 230km of punishing terrain, scorching humidity, and soul-testing climbs, this year's edition lived up to its reputation as one of the toughest ultras on the planet.'
Gordon-Bennett, running again with her 'brother from another mother' race partner Andre Erasmus (joint-sixth), ended just under seven hours behind overall winner Nick Sunderland of Canada (27 hrs 15 min). She was again part of a group of South Africans that also included third-placed finisher Jared Coetzer (32:50), Nick Denoon-Stevens (15th) and Hannah Broad (16th and fourth women).
Jungle and ice toughness were bred from a previous notoriously tough occupation.
'I was a professional ballet dancer so I'm used to pushing myself really hard. I also have a very high pain threshold,' Gordon-Bennett told TimesLIVE.
The Jungle Ultra, its website says, is run through Peru's 'Manu National Park, deep in the Amazon rainforest, an unspoilt expanse of boiling jungle and breathtaking cloud forest running from the Andes mountains to the Madre de Dios River'.
Like the ice race, athletes take what they need on their backs.
'They just give you water and check you're medically fit at each water point,' Gordon Bennet said.
'You carry everything you need to complete the five days — food for each day including race fuel and drinks, hammock and sleeping bag, medical kit, emergency life straw, water disinfectant tablets, additional camp clothes, running clothes, capacity to carry 2.5l of water.
'Camp facilities provided were poles to pitch hammocks from and pit toilets; if we were lucky we got a flushing toilet in some of the overnight spots. Camp spots were normally next to a river so you could wash off the mud and sweat after the day's fun.
'I underestimated what you need after a stage, especially when coming in early. If you are in the camp at 2pm, you are starving and can only eat at 6pm when you have dinner.
'The beginning of the race was at altitude, very cold. Day three onwards was super humid and hot.
'Setting up the hammock correctly the first time was critical, otherwise you had nine other people tying their hammock over your cables and you couldn't adjust it later. If it started raining, you just got wet.
'There were people around you in the camp throwing up, moving in the hammock. We felt every movement by other people because it was a single pole we all tied ourselves to.
'We contended with a lot of terrains, from steep downhill mountain passes to riverbeds, muddy pathways up and down mountains. You had to focus on every single step to avoid tripping or spraining an ankle.
'There were insects — millions of ants, sandflies, mosquitos — all day, every day. We were all covered in bites.
'On day three of the jungle run more than 50% of the runners didn't finish and couldn't continue.'
The South Africans prepared for the Ice Ultra using snow shoes on beach sand. To replicate the humidity, denseness and terrain of the Amazon they trained in lush Magoebaskloof in Limpopo and ran The Hobbit 100, a scenic two-day mountainous trail run from Qonce to Hogsback in the Eastern Cape's Amatola Mountains.
'That had lots of technical climbs, lots of mud and slippery conditions because of heavy rains. The two-day event was cancelled and we decided to convert to the 90km non-stop, carrying backpacks, though only half the weight compared to our Amazon packs. Most of the crew got lost at night, which provided excellent physical and mental training for the Jungle.
'We had weekends away, having fun and running some amazing trails in the Drakensberg [in KwaZulu-Natal] and the Western Cape. We are privileged and spoilt for choice when it comes to trails and trail running in South Africa.
Image: Supplied
'Getting the right gear meant testing things all the time to see what worked. We needed to mix things up a lot to understand how the gear would perform in tough conditions. The right food, shoes, backpacks — it takes a lot of time.'
It's a fact that not everyone can do a Beyond the Ultimate event. Apart from the physical requirements, it's not cheap. Another indication of the South Africans' commitment shown in racing these events is it cost about R150,000 to compete in the Jungle Ultra for flights, accommodation, equipment and the entry fee alone is £3,500 (R83,000). Clearly they feel it's worth it.
'The Jungle ultra was more than just a race. It is more than six months' preparation, running with the same people four or five times a week; travelling, racing, eating, falling — you build a special connection,' Gordon-Bennett said.
'While the race was only five days long, the build-up and the bonds made with the people you run with last a lifetime.'