Mum’s marathon challenge through Amazon jungle

SHE’S taken on the Arctic and the desert – and now a South Wales mum is getting ready to tackle the depths of the Amazon in a gruelling 230km jungle run.

Extreme fitness duo Sarah Draper and Ann Evans are getting ready to take on their biggest challenge to date in a five-day jungle ultra marathon.

Running the equivalent of a full marathon every day, the pair will deal with temperatures of up to 30°C and 100% humidity as they trek through miles of Peru’s suffocating jungle undergrowth.

Starting on June 4, Sarah, 42, and Ann, 60, will first begin at altitude in the breathtaking cloud forest of the Andes Mountains before winding down single track roads to the valleys below.

From there group will reach the canopy in their journey through the Unesco world heritage site.

For Sarah, the challenge comes as the latest in a series of awe-inspiring challenges since founding Merthyr Tydfil gym Inspire Fitness and health programme Merthyr Girls Can.

The mum of two said: “It’s going to be 90 to 100% humidity and we are staying in hammocks at night – apparently dealing with the inspects and bugs is tough.

“We’re just going to have to get used to it when we’re out there.”

Carrying 10kg packs of food and equipment, the challenge will see the pair pushed to their limits in a group of the 50 bravest athletes from across the world.

Sarah said: “We’ve known about it for the last year so we’ve been continuously training but now we are doing three days of big runs at a time to get used to leg fatigue.

“Me and Ann used to know each other but we got really close three years ago when she started at the gym. My mum passed away when I was young so she’s like a substitute mother so I’ll be super protective over her.”

She added: “With the bugs and the heat it will be quite a shock. The desert run was three days and the Arctic was five days but this is a lot more distance. It’s as extreme as it comes.”

According to the intrepid athlete, the jungle run will also carry a larger meaning to mark her final transformation from fitness novice to ultra marathon runner 10 years after the death of her parents.

She said: “My father died when I was five and mother died when I was 19. Before I was a really outgoing child but after my dad passed away I became really shy.

“I had absolutely no confidence and going running 10 years ago brought that confidence back. The more I did it the braver I became.

“People I knew when I was 20 come up to me and say they couldn’t believe the things I do now.

“Now I just want other women to have the same benefits.”

In the run-up to the event the women are now fundraising to raise as much money as possible for Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff.

Any donations will add to Sarah’s previous charity total of £80,000.

To make a donation, visit www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ sarah-draper5