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XTERRA Brazil Champs in the Amazon

While hundreds of athletes work their way through the James River on Sunday, hundreds more will venture into the Amazon River, host to the XTERRA Brazil Championship on Sunday.

The race is comprised of a 1.5km swim, 30km mountain bike, and 9km trail run in the city of Manaus in Northern Brazil.  The venue is a military base and as such athlete safety and all activities will be supported by the Brazilian Army.

“The entire event is like a fantasy camp,” said Dave Nicholas after last year’s race. "Staff, officials, athletes, and families stay in the Capitol city of Manaus.  The race is held at a Brazilian Army base that is called CIGS; the Center for Instruction in Jungle Warfare.  Bikes and packet pickup are held at the Manaus headquarters of CIGS.  You give your bikes to the army and they are loaded carefully on trucks and taken out to the race site.  Nobody sees the course, swim, transition - nothing until the day of the race.

The caravan of buses leaves the center of Manaus at Ponte Negro at 4am.  It is about an hours drive to the port of Amazon where the army awaits you with about six spider boats (holds 10 people and goes about 40mph and is used to chase down drug smugglers) a huge barge and a flatbed boat.

This armada carries roughly 300 people another hour on the Amazon.  About 30 minutes into the boat ride dawn breaks over the Amazon jungle and it is a sight to be seen.  The water is dark but clear (figure that one out) clouds are huge and soft and puffy, the trees and jungle are endless.  You look out at this and think to yourself - did I ever think I would be on a boat going down the Amazon river to the heart of the rainforest and jungle?

The boats tie up at Camp IV and as you round a corner on the river you see huge XTERRA buoys.  The boats dock, a big Welcome XTERRA arch awaits you along with sweet coffee, fruit and bread for breakfast.  It is still only 6am and already you have experienced a weeks worth."

Oh yeah, and there was a race.  Learn more at xterrabrazil.com