This morning I visited a pre-event breakfast for a run taking place on Sunday and Monday from Canberra to Sydney. It’s being held as a fund raiser for the organisation Neura, based at the Prince Of Wales Hospital in Sydney. The run is actually a continual relay over the 280 km or so between the two cities, and one of the eight members of the team is The Hud. For those who aren’t familiar with him, The Hud ran with me on the first day of my world run from the Opera House to Bondi Beach, then again with me in Hungary, and finally, he ran the furthest with me of anyone in a single day of the whole world run, with 60 km in southern NSW, following that up with another 51 km the next day.

If you’d like to help out The Hud and his team mates raise some money for the medical research that Neura does, you can donate via their event on

http://everydayhero.com.au/event/neurabigrun?_ga=1.69214800.1920622244.1426813186

As for me, I can’t say I enjoyed running in the rain that has returned to Sydney, but I got through 11 km this morning, including something new I’m trying – strengthening routines with some skipping and bounding. I’m hoping it will give me that edge I need to “beat my age” in the City to Surf on August 9.

Today’s photo from the world run is from the prairies in South Dakota. As you can see, there’s not a lot of variety, but there wasn’t a lot of traffic either, and that’s always a positive.

On This Day

Apr 30, 2012

Distance today = 42.89 km; Total distance = 5809.49 km; Location = Boulder, Colorado – 40 03.586′ N, 105 16.985′ W; Start time = 0912, Finish time = 1522

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/173445044

A relatively short day – a little over a standard marathon, which just happened to be distance between towns – saw me in a little earlier than normal.

I am now in Boulder, which is a town with quite a bit of history. Boulder has been the temporary home for a quite a few great athletes seeking a pleasant location to embark upon altitude training, including Rob de Castella in the 80s. It’s also the setting of the TV sitcom Mork and Mindy, as well as being a favourite town of many people, including Lamar North.

It really lives up to what I’d heard about the place, and even has lots of houses in the style of Mindy’s. There are also heaps of cyclists, although I didn’t see too many other runners. All in all, though, it’s great to see so many people getting around under their own steam. That’s the sign of a city that’s already living in the future.

Boulder is also the home of the US National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). As those who are familiar with me know, I have been involved in renewable energy technology development for the past couple of decades. Tonight I’ll be catching up with a friend or two from NREL, who I’ve gotten to know over the past few years.

Today was a milestone day – I passed the 5,800 km mark, which means I have now reached more than 20% of my journey around the world, and within four months too. Wow, it’ll be over before I know it.

Apr 30, 2013

Distance today = 51.65 km; Total distance = 20,223.24 km; Location = Paracin, Serbia – 43 53.177′ N, 21 23.070′ E; Start time = 0810, Finish time = 1724

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305649957

Yet another hot one, with the maximum in the shade reaching 36 C (97 F). That’s what two independent thermometers read – for two days in a row now.

There was a bit more running on the road today, as the towns were more sparse. I did pass through the very large town of Jagodina, which stretched on for several kilometres.

The day was essentially flat, except for one large and long hill in the middle.

The Serbs continue to be extremely friendly. Carmel mentioned this to a girl recently, who replied that she thought Serbs had a bad name amongst the rest of the world. Perhaps for this reason, they all seem keener than ever to dispel this perception. As far as we’re concerned, it’s working – Serbs are right up there with the friendliest people we’ve ever met.