Distance today = 0 km; Total distance = 15,414.07 km; Location = Buenos Aires – 34 27.800′ S, 58 29.779′ W; Start time = n/a, Finish time = n/a

I am now back in Sydney, and have decided to enjoy a decent break over the summer holiday period. I will be heading over to Portugal in the second half of January to start the European leg of the world run. I will keep you updated as my plans evolve.

Yesterday I played a round of golf, just for something different. I’ll give you a hint – if you want to play golf well, don’t run 50 km per day for a year. I was terrible!

As some have noted, the program that provides the GPS tracker for the web site is closing down today. I don’t know what this means in terms of the map. Perhaps it will disappear; perhaps it will remain as is. But it will not update when I resume running. I have already investigated some replacements, and I expect to have a new system in place by the time I do start running in Portugal. In the meantime, my official run position is still in Buenos Aires, and will remain so until then.

I am very pleased to announce that local Sydney-based health food company, Honest to Goodness, has decided to donate $1 to Oxfam, from every one of their Christmas food packs sold in the lead-up to Christmas. This is all as part of the Tom’s Next Step Oxfam efforts. This is very generous, and greatly appreciated. Thanks to all involved at Honest to Goodness.

And I have another big announcement – this week, the company I founded, Oceanlinx, won a major award. The company took out the first prize in the Energy category at the Australian Innovation Challenge. This is a prestigious award, sponsored by Shell and The Australian newspaper. It’s further validation of the company’s wave energy technology and it’s ability to provide cost-effective zero-emissions electricity. Well done to the whole team.

Finally, I’d like to congratulate Tony Mangan on reaching Ushuaia, down at the southern tip of South America. It’s the most southerly city in the world. Tony has spent the majority of the year running the length of South America, from north to south – a much bigger feat than my recent west to east effort. Like myself, Tony will be spending the Christmas and New Year period back home – in his case, in Dublin. He then starts making his way across the Pacific, and will be in Australia from about March.