I had another good run this morning just, with just a little temporary soreness at the usual stage. I only covered 7 km yesterday, and the relative rest seems to have done the injury a favour. The coming week should benefit it even more.

Once again, don’t forget to watch the documentary about my world run tomorrow night at 9 pm on the ESPN program Aussies Abroad. You’ll need access to pay TV. If you don’t have access to pay TV, or if you live outside of Australia, I will attempt to post a link within the next week that will allow you to watch the show on line.

I’ll be cycling for the next few days, but will take my computer with me in expectation of posting a few blogs.

As I have mentioned recently, the World Runners Association will be formally established in two days on Oct 1. I have appended below the press release concerning this event. The On This Day segment is below the press release.

World Runners Association (WRA) Media Announcement

The World Runners Association (WRA) will be officially established on October 1, 2014. The WRA is the international governing body for the sport of multi-day solo running and walking events that involve a circumnavigation of the Earth on foot.

The Association’s inaugural President is Mr Phil Essam, a long-time and well respected advocate of the sport. Based in Canberra, Australia, Mr Essam will preside over a WRA membership that includes all those who have completed, or are currently in the process of completing, a fully documented circuit of the planet on foot according to the Association’s rules (a full definition of these rules is appended to this document).

The WRA will adjudicate on official attempts to run or walk around the world, including the ratification or otherwise of claims for a variety of world records. These records comprise the categories of Longest Circumnavigation of the Earth on Foot, Fastest Circumnavigation of the Earth on Foot, Most Circumnavigations of the Earth on Foot, Oldest Person to Circumnavigate the Earth on Foot and Youngest Person to Circumnavigate the Earth on Foot.

The WRA will maintain an official and on-going register of the progression of these world records and an official list of all those who have successfully circumnavigated the world on foot according to the WRA rules. While decisions about these records will be determined by the WRA, other organizations are invited to publish these same records in hard copy or electronic books and magazines they may issue from time to time.

The mission of the World Runners Association is to officially represent legitimate runners and walkers who have, are, or are intending to circumnavigate the world in way that is open, transparent, and consistent with the WRA’s rules and guidelines. Though not affiliated with the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), it is the intention of the World Runners Association to maintain a regular dialogue with the IAU.

As the authority that arbitrates on the acceptance or rejection of claims for successful attempts and world records in this class of athletic endeavour, the WRA will apply a rigorous yet unambiguous adjudication process. The overriding goal of the WRA is to ensure a consistency and uniformity in the rules for running and/or walking around the world, and honesty and transparency in any claims associated with attempts to do so.

The WRA is a not-for-profit organization operating on an internally democratic constitution. Membership of the World Runners Association is by invitation, though all those who are adjudged to have successfully completed a circumnavigation of the Earth on foot will automatically be invited to become a member of the organization. No joining or other fees are involved.

For information on the WRA, please visit www.worldrunnersassociation.org. To contact the WRA please email either admin@worldrunnersassociation.org  or pandbessam@bigpond.com.

WRA Rules and Guidelines for Circumnavigating the Earth on Foot

1.      The runner must start and finish at the same place (except when starting on the edge of one continent and finishing on the edge of a fourth continent).

2.      The runner must cover a total of at least 26,000 km on foot.

3.      The runner must cross at least four continents from “coast to coast”, covering a minimum of 1,000 km on each continent. The two “coasts” of any given continent must front different oceans#. A tolerance of 1 km from the waters of the ocean is allowed. The four “core” continents must be crossed contiguously. (i.e. no gaps).

4. The order of the four continents (and any additional land masses) that the runner takes must be longitudinally consecutive. For example, an acceptable order would be Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, South America. An example of an unacceptable order would be Europe, Australia, South America, Asia, North America.

5.      The runner must pass through antipodal points, within a tolerance of ten degrees of latitude and longitude.

6.      The runner must run more than 50% of the total distance. (i.e. walk less than 50%).

7.      The runner may take as many breaks as desired, with one year as the maximum for any single break, and do as he/she pleases during these breaks. Any time incurred during breaks, however, will be included as part of the runner’s official time. The total length of all breaks must constitute less than 50% of the overall time involved in the attempt.

Note: for world walkers, the same rules apply except for Rule 6.

# In the case of the European “east coast” and Asian “west coast”, this is defined as either the Bosporus / Sea of Marmara/ Dardanelles waterway, OR  the border between Russia and either Georgia, Azerbaijan, or Kazakhstan, OR the edge of the Caspian Sea between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, OR the ridge line along the Ural Mountains in Russia.

On This Day

Sep 29, 2012

Distance today = 51.43 km; Total distance = 12,386.49 km; Location = Ripley, New York State – 42 17.297′ N, 79 42.081′ W; Start time = 0810, Finish time = 1620

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/228191434

I had a very enjoyable run along the shores of Lake Erie today. And it was the flattest day of running in several weeks. To top it off, I crossed into my 21^st US state of the run so far – New York State.

I headed into downtown Erie this morning, and ran along the harbour. This was once a very important port in the region, and dates back to the era of the French. From there, I headed along Route 5, also known as East Lake Road, and followed it for the rest of the day, through local wine country. The weather was ideal all day long.

When Carmel tried to find accommodation, she was told there was an annual wine festival on this weekend. I had passed hundreds of cyclists, who were riding from winery to winery.  Apparently there were no vacancies anywhere in the region. Luckily, the local campground had a single old caravan spare, which we grabbed. As it turns out, we are in the town of Ripley, believe it or not!

PS As of writing, Carmel is having trouble with uploading the photos due to a weak internet connection – she needs a strong link for all those MBs. They may not be published until tomorrow.