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Xavante - Log Running

Episode 2 of 6

The Xavante tribe run for miles under the Brazilian sun with a 50kg log on their backs in the ultimate relay race. How will the western athletes cope?

Series which follows five athletic adventurers from the west as they compete for glory against tribal champions in some of the remotest corners of the globe, with the ultimate aim of being crowned the Last Woman Standing. They have just a week to master an indigenous sport, training and rituals, whilst eating and sleeping as their fellow competitors do.

In the second programme, the five athletes take on 'log running' with the Xavante tribe in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. The Xavante live in woodland along the Rio das Mortes - the river of death - and they have a reputation for being fierce defenders of their lands. It is natural, then, that their favourite sport is a display of brute strength, stamina and speed.

Men and women compete separately in 'log races' in which teams of runners go as fast as they can over many kilometres. The women run with logs that weigh almost as much as they do on their shoulders - passing it from one to another in an extreme relay race as they run the course in the blistering Brazilian heat. Will our western girls be able to earn a place in the teams?

1 hour

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