PANGAEA 11 AMAZON CAMP – DAY 3

We awoke nice and early and put on our layers, new headlamps, beanies, gloves and ventured into the -10 degree conditions for a “casual” run up a mountain. The run was challenging, with many of us running in the snow (and seeing snow!) for the first time. Due to the large snowfall, we couldn’t get to the very top, but were still extremely high, about a thousand metres above sea level. Running down was extremely exhilarating and the sun was just peeping up, revealing a gorgeous snow covered Chateau d’oex village. The views were just breathtaking.

Hungry from our morning run, we ate a hearty breakfast and went to our first session which was on social media and journalism. We delivered ‘elevator pitches’, learnt about speaking to media and using social media to spread the Pangaea message – so watch out for us in your local paper (and do ‘like’ Mike Horn and the Young Explorers Program on facebook!)  

Next was lunch and following this was our session with much anticipated Mayo Clinic. We all had our blood pressure and heart rate measured and did the VO2 max test. We had to run and run, and run, on a treadmill until we reached a point of exhaustion. The elevation and speed kept increasing and we all pushed ourselves and encouraged each other to keep going. It was very challenging but extremely satisfying.
The final session for the day was from the Mayo Clinic, and we spent the evening working on our proposals for projects we want to implement during the Amazon expedition. It’s all very exciting and now we are about to head to bed, tired, exhausted but feeling very happy.