SIX bankers are in training to take part next October in arguably the world’s toughest endurance race. The Jungle Marathon is a 200km unsupported stage race through the hilly, hot and humid Amazon jungle.
Competitors carry their own food and equipment. The only thing provided on the route is 12 litres of water per day.
Rising to the challenge are endurance race enthusiast Julian Winser, the chief executive of Schroders, four of his staff and former colleague Anthony Holt of Albany Trustees.
They are using the race to raise funds for the Rainbow Trust and Headway Guernsey.
Mr Winser, who has completed two equivalent events in the Sahara and Himalayas, said they had a long way to go to make the start line.
‘When we achieve it and look back, it will feel bloody marvellous, but to get there we will need to stay dedicated to a rigorous training regime.’
He said there were many positives from taking part, including the healthy lifestyle in the build-up to the event and the fact that, for many, it involved facing up to fears.
‘On top of that the team-building is fabulous and you learn so much about yourselves.’
His Schroders colleagues taking part are Michael Haenel, John Bell, Brian Bougourd and Nick Bennett.
They are sharing responsibilities, with one member coordinating the charity side, another looking after equipment, someone else organising the training and so on.
‘As we are a team, no one is doing it in isolation,’ Mr Winser said.
‘To competently take part you need to be able to run a marathon and then get up the next day and run 10 miles.’
Prior to commencing his finance career in 1985 he was a soldier.
‘When you leave the military one of the things you miss is the physical challenge.’
Three years later he was in Glasgow with his brother, Colonel Roddy Winser, who has remained in the army ever since.
‘He told me about an article he had read on the Marathon des Sables. They had just held the seventh and it was billed as the hardest foot race on earth. Late that night it seemed like a great idea, but my brother was always one step ahead and the next morning he told me he had signed us up.’
They entered as a team with three of Mr Winser’s Schroders colleagues.
‘Three years later it was time for another challenge. You can’t do these things too often as they become an obsession which takes over your life and puts a real strain on other commitments.’
In 2005 Mr Winser was among a team of five from Schroders who completed the Himalayan 100-mile stage race. At the end of that year he moved to Guernsey.
He expects this next challenge to be the toughest yet.
‘It will be way out of the comfort zone for most of the team.’
Mr Winser said they had devised a training regime working backwards from the race date.
‘In the last eight months we will be running a minimum of five miles a day, six days a week, and one of those runs will need to be a lot longer,’ he said.
‘I need to shed more than two stone before I properly start training.’
* To sponsor the team, go to www.justgiving.com/ schroders.
Article posted on 11th October, 2007 - 12.00am
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