I’ve been trying to come up with a new running challenge for the near term and wasn’t having much success. While this is far from certain, I think I might now have the right answer. I’m considering a 50 km race in Canberra in early April (part of the Canberra Marathon weekend).

It barely qualifies as an ultra marathon, but the reason I’m interested is because 50 km is the distance I averaged per day during my run around the world (not counting days off when I travelled between continents or had a brief rest). On the occasion of those 50 km runs, I averaged about 7 hours for the distance. I’d like to see what I can do when I’m fresh and not running that far every day. If I do decide to tackle the Canberra 50 km, I will likely commit to it within the coming weeks.

This is a photo from the first day of the world run. Carmel took this just moments after I finished that short prologue stage at Bondi Beach.

On This Day

Jan 16, 2012

Distance today = 56.45 km; Total distance = 822.93 km; Location = 4 km east of Greta Valley, NZ –  42 57.262′ S, 173 00.672′ E; Start time = 0850, Finish time = 1658

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/142138917

A bit of a slog at the office today. The next 300 km are along the main highway in NZ, so it’s not the most enjoyable running. Still, I got through a decent distance, similar to what I have to do each day this week in order to make Wellington by Saturday.

I had a nice lunch with the support crew at the Waipara Springs Winery, followed by a 22 km afternoon into the wind. I can’t complain.

For those following the Garmin data closely, it seems I didn’t turn off my watch when I stopped. It was 56.45 km when I stopped. After getting into the support vehicle for the drive back to the hotel, I noticed the distance ticking up rapidly as we headed off. I quickly turned off the watch, but not before it was reading 57.31 km. Therefore, I have subtracted the extra 0.86 km from the Garmin reading. The official distance for the day is 56.45 km. Don’t be fooled by the high speed shown at the end of the data. It doesn’t count.

Finally, I would like to thank the Waipara Hotel for the accommodation tonight. Once again, great Kiwi hospitality.