HE’S trudged through sweltering jungle, waded through swamps and crossed piranha-infested rivers and all to satisfy his adventurous side.

Chepstow accountant Gary Parker spends most of his working day behind his desk at his Newport office, so in his spare time he turns into an adrenaline junkie.

The father-of-four is no stranger to gruelling challenges, having served in the army for 10 years as a climbing instructor in the special forces.

But when he turned to civvy street in 1993, he decided to spend his free time taking part in more than 40 marathons, including the Marathon des Sables, for various good causes.

His latest expedition saw him take on the gruelling 200km jungle marathon through the Amazon rainforest.

The 53-year-old set off on his seven-day trek on October 7, complete with 22lbs kit on his back, but he said it was a lot harder than he expected.

He said: "I did a lot of training running around Wentwood with a sack on my back, but it wasn’t enough.

"It was a lot harder than I expected it to be. It’s so difficult to run in the jungle. It’s really hilly and you’re up and down all the time or going around things. The swamps were the worst."

Mr Parker said the toughest part of the race was a 92 kilometre stage, which started with a 200-metre swim across a river followed by a run.

He said: "By the time I was half-way through my feet were in bits. I started to wonder if I was going to finish it."

While another competitor came face to face with a jaguar, Mr Parker said the worst beasts were the ants, which ran up his legs as soon as he stopped running.

Although he was forced to pull out of the New York marathon, due to the state of his feet, Mr Parker is already planning his next challenges.

He said: "I did the desert marathon and wanted to do something in the jungle and now I want to do something in water and ice."

Mr Parker hopes to have raised more than £2500 for All Creatures Great and Small, a charity the animal lover says does a lot in the community for animal welfare.

THE ROUTE

THE course was just over 200km and took seven days to complete. It was broken down into roughly 18km, 36km, 32km, 90km, 32km and varies from deep jungle, to river crossings, to swamps, to village trails.