Come October 10, a pioneering foursome will take Bermuda's name where it's never been before - into the most remote jungles of Fiji.

The team of Kim Mason, Jim Butterfield, Kevin Pearson and Lee Harrison have been training for the past nine months for Eco-Challenge Fiji 2002. It is the ninth edition of the world's premier expedition race and the Bermuda contingent is confident of completing the arduous, non-stop, multi-terrain event from which countless teams have dropped out in the past.

"There are those who compete and those who complete and we just want to complete it. We want to be the first Bermudian team to complete an Eco-Challenge.

"Our main objective is to start and finish as friends because 12 days with sleep deprivation and everything else we have to go through is a lot to take on. We get on really well so we're hoping we finish friends at least," said team captain Mason.

The objective of Eco-Challenge competitors is to cover a rugged 300-mile course without any mechanical transport but instead hiking, mountain-biking, sea-kayaking, white-water rafting, canyoneering (ascending and descending rock surfaces), jungle navigating, swimming and other disciplines as stipulated for various race stages. Eighty teams will contest this year's trek and each quartet must have at least one man and one woman.

There is no outside assistance unless a life-threatening situation occurs and a team is disqualified if even one member drops out - regardless of the reason - or if it uses its radio. Also, there must be no more than 100 yards between team members at all times - even when kayaking.

Teams race continuously for between six to 12 days, trying to reach each stage checkpoint within the time limit. The winning team receives $50,000; second $40,000 and third, $30,000.

"That doesn't even cover your costs because it's very expensive. The entry fee is $15,000 per team and there is endless mandatory equipment we have to take. The medical stuff came to over $400 and that's nothing when you consider we had to buy four mountain bikes (which they have to carry to Fiji with them), two white-water kayaks and two ocean-going kayaks.

"We have spent a minimum of about the $50,000 actually when we count up everything," said 46-year-old Mason; the catalyst behind Bermuda being represented in this rough-and-tumble event.

Having watched previous Eco-Challenges on television, she approached Butterfield about forming a team and then drafted in the other two who eagerly jumped at this rare adventure.

"I was living in Australia when the 1997 Eco-Challenge was held in Queensland and I remember commenting `That's something I would love to do' and now the opportunity has presented itself," said Pearson.

The 37-year-old reinsurance executive is the team's navigator and has honed his skills during two training stints in Costa Rica's jungles. On one of those trips, he and Butterfield placed fifth out of 12 teams in a 24-hour race.

Strict guidelines limit him to a compass to keep the team on the right track in Fiji.

"My duty is to know where we are; figure out where we are going and the best route to the checkpoints. Hopefully, we won't get lost or at least not too often but if that happens then I have to solve that," he said.

Butterfield, a 52-year-old well-known on the triathlon circuit, is feeling decidedly more confident about this mammoth undertaking since his Costa Rica experiences but still appreciates that he must expect the unexpected.

"Unlike most athletic endeavours I have taken on - where I know what the challenge is before I start - you don't know totally what this one is. There is no dash to the finish line. It's more an endurance test for days upon days. It's about how you overcome adversity and improvise.

"When you hear half the teams never finish - and many would be far more experienced than we are - you realise the challenge is huge. You just have to prepare as best you can. I think we've done the best we can given that we live in Bermuda."

Harrison, who completed the Marathon de Sables in Morocco in seven days - a120-mile running/walking race across the sand - in 1998, sees Eco-Challenge as the next step in survivor games. However, like his team-mates, the 45-year-old has second-guessed himself on occasion since training began. His greatest concern is sleep deprivation.

"If you can get over that - days and days with little sleep - and still have strength to go on, then you're doing well.

"The training is very intense but I am sure by the time I get to the end of it I will think it was worth it. We have a very good team and we should be able to complete this," said the Englishman who has lived here for 14 years.

As the team - whose members have also trained in the United States, Scotland and France - prepares to leave Bermuda next weekend for the 333-island archipelago once known as "The Cannibal Isles", Mason thinks they are ready.

All that's left is to conquer the wild stretches of Fiji's uninhabited interior.