Having recovered from the disappointment of the Vietnamese Jungle Marathon being cancelled earlier last month, I have decided to board my flight to De Nang and run a solo 240km (ish) 8 day run through Vietnam. Obviously this challenge won't incorporate all the obstacles that the Marathon involved but I am confident that there will be plenty of other obstacles to keep me challenged.

My intended route will be:

Day 1: De Nang to Hoi An (27km)

Day 2: Hoi An to Ha Lam (30km)

Day 3: Ha Lam to Tam Ky (24km)

Day 4: Tam Ky to Tam Quang (30km)

Day 5: Tam Quang to Quang Ngai (43.2km)

Day 6: Quang Ngai to Mo Duc (23km)

Day 7: Mo Duc to Duc Pho (25km)

Day 8: Duc Pho to Tam Quan (32km)

The total distance will be about 235km, give or take. Due to it being a solo effort I will need to source food and water each day, find somewhere to sleep (initial research has highlighted that there aren't many hostels in this part of Vietnam) and carry all my belongings for the race and the hopeful holiday after.

I am going to continue my support of the STV Appeal, which helps to tackle child poverty in Scotland. Anyone who generously sponsors me will of course be excluded from the email next year when I finally get to take part in the official Jungle Marathon (fingers crossed).

I will continue to keep anyone interested up to date through my Blog (www.jamieinthejungle.blogspot.com), through Twitter (@jamieisrunning) and when I get to Vietnam via my Spot GPS tracker.