Teacher's marathon effort

LONG way from home . . . at Machu Picchu

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"WOULD you like to see my feet?" . . . hardly a thrilling offer, but one posed by daredevil teacher Steve Hill after completing the gruelling 230km (142-mile) Jungle Ultra Marathon in the Amazon Rainforest.

After doing that kind of race, in temperatures of 35C and 100 per cent humidity, anyone's feet would be a mess.

Mr Hill, deputy head at St Joseph's RC Primary in Shaw, is known for his thrill-seeking adventures, which have included climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and completing the North Pole Marathon.

He flew out to Peru on May 28 and returned last Monday.

Bumped

After the Chronicle previewed his latest challenge, Mr Hill was upgraded to business class on his flight both ways and even bumped up to first class on the train back to Manchester, as one of the guards at Euston Station was from Lees.

Before his run, Mr Hill spent a week sightseeing, including a day trip to the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu.

A total of 33 runners had to complete five stages of the race in five days . . . 31 went on to do so.

"It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be," said Mr Hill.

"I don't think it can get any harder than that. The runners were professional and elite. There were seven German special forces there and a young man training for the SAS. Then you've got little old Steve, a school teacher from Shaw.

"They were all from a wide range of backgrounds. There was a lad from Belgium whose knees popped out. He was on crutches for the rest of the week. There was another man, he couldn't cope. On day two he went home.

"There was one who nearly didn't finish. He was doing it because he had a stroke at the age of 24. He should have died but he was proving people wrong."

Although Mr Hill was fortunate not to get injuries, he did have problems with his footwear which made the race all the more difficult.

He added: "There was a rip at the side of my shoe. I thought, this is only day two, I couldn't believe it. I thought it was game over. I didn't have a spare pair either. So I used zip ties and gaffer tape. Then my right shoe split as well. I was running for 16 hours with a huge, 6in tear down the side. Two days later though I found a lady in the village who sewed them up.

"My feet were a mess from day two. I didn't recover from that. Every step was painful. There was dirty water getting in my shoes. But I thought, I'm doing it, it's mind over matter and that kept me moving forward. The thought of coming back to the year six children spurred me on.

"There were parts where everyone had to just walk or trek because it was so dense and steep, grabbing on to branches, tumbling in to the side, coming out covered with ants. There were all kinds of ants, red ants, soldier ants, they're really aggressive things.

"I watched some of them walking with leaves on their heads. It was mesmerising. There are 100 or more mosquito bites over my body. You couldn't stay still because then the ants would go up your legs. There were butterflies there, I saw a few monkeys and big birds like eagles. I told the kids I was wrestling caymans ­- but I wasn't!

Push

"The jungle is alive, the whole thing is moving. It was different at night. A lot of runners didn't get the experience of running at night but I was behind so I had to. You don't think about it you just push on in the dark.

"You could feel the altitude."

Mr Hill finally completed the race on Thursday, with the local children joining him to the finish line. There he was received with a big, cold bottle of beer and a medal.

He arrived back home on Monday and after a long shower and sleep, he was in school the next day to greet the children.

"I was excited to see the guys at the school," Mr Hill said. "They were banging on the window, they were very excited to see me. "The children gave me messages to open on each day. One of them knitted an Oldham owl.They were with me in spirit.

"People have said, is that it now? I enjoy my challenges and I can enjoy them with the children.They're a big motivation and inspiration as I'm sure I am to them. Many times they have spurred me on. If it inspires them to dream big and show that anything is possible with self belief and hard work and determination you can achieve a lot in life."