E93. Beautiful but Brutal | Jungle Ultra 2024 with Ben Harrison, Jemma Harding and Mark Reilly

Everything Endurance

The Jungle Ultra is Beyond the Ultimate's 5 day, 230km journey deep into the rainforests of Peru. Runners arrive in the historic city of Cusco, are escorted over the rugged Andes Mountains, and begin their journey in the Manu National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. The area is beautiful but the terrain and the climate alone give this event a reputation for arguably being the toughest race on the BTU roster.

Stage 4 in particular is notorious as possibly the hardest stage of any BTU race.

In this episode, Will catches up with the winner Ben Harrison plus two more Jungle legends in the form of Jemma Harding and Mark Reilly. The trio recount the highlights, the challenges and their tips for success in such extreme environments.

Mark was running for Reverse Rett, a charity looking to cure Rett Syndrome, a severe neurological disorder which effects his daughter. Learn more here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-reilly

Jemma was running for Rock2Recovery, a charity that supports the armed forces, veteran, those working in the emergency services, and all their families who are affected by stress. Learn more here: https://sportsgiving.co.uk/sponsor/activity/a-5-day-230km-ultra-marathon-through-the-amazon-jungle/jemma-harding

Congratulations to Noora Hintsa, the winning Female athlete at Jungle Ultra 2024. Noora was unfortunately ill at the time of recording but we will feature her in a future episode!