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Rajko: I was really pleased to see what they were up against and the setting was truly unbelievable. Looking at Everest from close distance was unbelievable.

Richard: What was brilliant was the obvious appreciation of the place, especially Murray. He got really involved with the spirituality and they seemed like wonderful people to stay with. It was great hearing Wolé saying those great things about his host. They got really stuck in this time more than ever. There were some beautiful moments when they were working the plough in the fields.

Rajko: I agree with you there completely. When you arrive somewhere like that and I am sure they were suffering with the altitude and being freezing cold, it's one thing to give your all to the final competition, but to really contribute in the practice sessions and in the day to day life. You could see that they all did this.

Richard: Better than you ever did certainly.

Laughter

Richard: Sitting around complaining all day

Laughter

Rajko: Actually that struck me first off, what you have just said about Murray. He fully went for it from the start and blew the others right out of the water in the early stages. I think they were in shock at how good he was and how much he was adapting. He almost intimidated them with how much he was going for it.

Richard: Yes, I think that kind of blatant confidence and real happy self assurance can have the affect on the others of making them feel slightly disheartened and second best. But as it showed it doesn’t always work and perhaps his flaw was almost being too confident.

Rajko: Yes, I just didn’t get that. I would understand that if a quarter of the way through the race he just died off, but he was not far from the end and I couldn’t understand how he couldn’t just pull through. Obviously I wasn’t in his shoes.

Richard: Well I don’t think it was from a lack of desire. I think that was a true case of being totally finished.

Rajko: Yes but if you were totally spent, then wouldn’t you fall over?

Richard: Well he as good as did. He slumped down and there was a sort of dazed look in his eyes. It was tragic to see because he’s obviously loved the whole week there. But to hit that big a wall I’ve never seen anything like that with someone who is so out of puff that you can’t even take another step and you can watch your rivals walk past you. I felt very sorry for him.

Rajko: I suppose what I would have loved to have seen, as with anyone watching, is that he deserved the victory from the start and I would have loved to have seen him get it. That leads me nicely onto my next point; the moment of the episode for me was when Wolé came through, because he is clearly not an endurance athlete 

Richard: I was thinking that same thing actually because of the suffering that Brad went through during the endurance races. They are both a similar build and I really feared for Wolé’s prospects at the start but he was terrific. He just kept carrying on until the end and he had a wonderful constant positivism. Rajko, you had quite a bit of that I seem to remember. He had a great self belief and terrific determination for a guy carrying that much body weight all the way up to the top.

Rajko: Well I could see that from being a boxer he has to have a certain amount of endurance but like you say, just his body weight and his mass, in a sense he had every excuse to just plod all the way but he did the opposite and I thought, I can’t believe this, he’s not going to win is he? That would have been absolutely crazy if he’d pulled through but either way he impressed me no end.

Obviously Ed was an absolute trooper. He had the endurance and I love to see it when people back up their word and Ed backed up what he said in one of his interviews which was that one or two times in his life he’s pushed himself to near collapse and I have to say he really proved it.

Richard: And I liked especially how he stuck to his game plan when he could have just jumped at the chance at rushing past Murray. But he promised himself a break regardless of seeing his rivals so close. It takes a hell of a lot of discipline to do that. I lack that kind of discipline altogether

Laughter

Richard: He was very measured. It was funny because the sport wasn’t a kind of fast paced, exciting, dashing around, obviously good viewing, but actually the whole mind games behind it made it compelling actually.

Rajko: It was a brilliant programme actually. Seeing the local woman and how well she did and seeing the endurance attributes of the locals. All those things for me made it defiantly the best programme so far.

Richard: I particularly liked the coaches outfit. The flat cap and the smart jacket all the way up to the top. I think that’s a look I am going for.

Keep an eye out for Mark and Rajko next week, who'll be discussing canoeing in the Amazon.