Nothing too exciting to report in regard to my running at the moment. I’m managing to cover at least 100 km each week, sometimes feeling very good, and at other times quite tired. Nothing unusual in that though.

However, on a related front, I will be delivering the keynote speech at the Annual General Meeting of the Spartans in Melbourne on Monday. The Spartans is a club that consists of those who have run ten or more Melbourne Marathons, which is actually quite a few people. And I believe there are some who have run more thirty Melbourne Marathons. This should be a good event, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and I’m looking forward to it.

Keeping with the theme of the last blog post, here’s another photo of me in bed on the world run, although this time I’m asleep, wearing an eye mask. I think this was taken in Chicago. I must have been tired.

On This Day

Sep 17, 2012

Distance today = 51.06 km; Total distance = 11,755.29 km; Location = Weston, West Virginia – 39 02.809′ N, 80 29.945′ W; Start time = 0821, Finish time = 1619

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/224035389

The forests of West Virginia must be teeming with wildlife, because the roadkill toll is definitely on the up. Raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, rabbits and deer all made unfortunate appearances today on the road. I also heard a woodpecker, which was very much alive.

I also startled a deer, rabbit, and squirrel when I ran past them. All three were drinking in a stream. It was a like a scene from Bambi.

I passed through the delightful little town of Glenville mid morning and had a late breakfast with Carmel at a local cafe – a delicious vege omelette. From there it was on to the finish in Weston, the boyhood town of Stonewall Jackson.

I must admit, I’m sick of hearing barking dogs. Everyone around this region seems to keep dogs, either on a short leash or in cages. I assume they are used as guard dogs. Because of their lack of freedom, they’re all quite mad, and go nuts when I ran by.

However, one place today had three dogs tied at equal distances from each other, followed by a goat. It appeared to be a guard goat. As the great Bobby Quin will tell you, “A good goat’ll do that”.

One final observation – the drivers of school buses seem to be the fastest and most reckless of all drivers in these parts. They fly around blind corners, sometimes on the wrong side of the road. They are worse than what I would have expected from Otto on The Simpsons.