4 Super human running events to add to the bucket list
Are you the type of person who craves adventure? Perhaps you're a seasoned runner with a few world famous marathon events under your belt and need something challenging? Who said running was boring? We've found the world's most challenging running events you can start training for now.
The Jungle Marathon
Voted by CNN as the world's toughest endurance race, the Jungle Marathontakes in the heart of Brazil's Amazon jungle. Not for the faint-hearted, this ultramarathon requires you to endure temperatures of over 40 degrees and 99 percent humidity, but dehydration and heat exhaustion aren't the only things you have to worry about - anaconda, piranha and caiman (a close relative of the crocodile).
Tor des Geants (Tour of the Giants)
This race is enough to make even the most experienced ultra-runner quake in their trainers. Imagine the snow, fog, rain and hail combined with 25 peaks at 2000 metres for 330 kilometres. With no set race stages, you decide when to rest and when to run. Less than 50 percent of the entrants make it across the finish line. Tor des Geants takes place annually in September.
Iditarod Trail Invitational
The longest winter marathons takes place every February in Anchorage, Alaska. An elite event, only 50 runners are invited to join the Iditarod Trail marathon, a new brand of super human torture who have qualified in 350 mile race the previous year. One mistake in these harsh Alaskan conditions could result in losing your life.
And if you can't afford to jaunt off overseas and want to test your limits of human endurance a little closer to home; start training for XPD Australia's own Expedition Adventure Race World Championships. Competitors trek, mountain bike and kayak for eight gruelling days. It takes place every 18 months, each time in a new part of Australia.
Well, wait are you waiting for? Start training today.