I’m back in Sydney now, disappointed about having to withdraw at the 75 km of the Anzac Ultra, but in hindsight, I do think it was the right decision. For once I was sensible. I’m not normally prone to making sensible decisions when it comes to easing off when running. But the fact that the course consisted of two 75 km laps meant that, when the problem arose at 65 km, I was soon in a natural location to make that decision. In fact, the 10 km I ran to the half way point was pretty much exactly what I needed to evaluate the decline of the Achilles. It was almost a no-brainer by that point. I’m hopeful the damage is only minimal and that I’ll be back to normal running fairly soon. Had I continued, it would not have been a case of minimal damage. I’m sure it was caused by the extreme steepness and unevenness of the trails in places. I’d done no training on those sorts of paths.

Kevin Carr has been in the thick of media attention after finishing his world run last week. He even did an interview with the Australian Today Show this morning.

Those who followed my world run will recall the Hud. He ran with me on my first day of that run, ran with me in Hungary, and also did the longest single day with me – 60 km in southern NSW. Well, the Hud is now going to be running from Canberra to Sydney for charity. Actually, he’s part of a relay team doing that run, but will be a vital and experienced part of that team, I’m sure. If you’re inclined to do so, you can donate to his cause on

http://everydayhero.com.au/event/neurabigrun_ga=1.69214800.1920622244.1426813186

On This Day

Apr 13, 2012

Distance today = 20.64 km; Total distance = 4945.90 km; Location = Santa Fe, New Mexico – 35 41.161′ N, 105 56.369′ W; Start time = 0920, Finish time = 1433

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/167684890

Last night we had dinner at a great local restaurant with Patty, a friend of my good friend, Cynthia. We had a wonderful time and the city appeared so interesting that I decided Santa Fe warranted an extra day – so I declared today a “short day”.

I only ran 20 km and used the time to call in to meet a very nice and very interesting couple, Gay and Andrew, at their home above Santa Fe. As well as the inspiring conversation, they also provided me with a lovely lunch. I then ran down and through the city and called it “a day” as far as the running was concerned. Santa Fe should definitely be on everyone’s agenda. It really is a fantastic place.

I think my body will thank me for the lower mileage today. It’s the shortest day I’ve had since the first day in Sydney.

Apr 13, 2013

Distance today = 48.19 km; Total distance = 19,433.13 km; Location = Wittau, Austria – 48 10.920′ N, 16 36.284′ E; Start time = 0824, Finish time = 1711

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297238205

Wow, when the weather changes here, it really changes!!! Today was close to summer. It was a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures in the low 20s. And it felt so different to the past few months. For the first time since Argentina, I was running in shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt.

I ran from the north and into the eastern suburbs of Vienna, on the opposite side of the Danube River to the city. I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago how I was running along the banks of the Donau. I hadn’t realised this is the German name for the Danube. So, this is my second experience of the river.  The fact I was running along the river valley, means the day was very flat – a nice change from the past week.

I am often asked what the hardest thing is about running around the world. I think I now know the answer – communications. The running looks after itself, but we are constantly at the mercy of our internet connections and phone reception. Take today, for example. Because we’re only briefly in Austria and Slovakia, we’ve decided to keep our Czech SIM cards until we reach Hungary, using roaming for phone calls. The downside is, we don’t have any internet on the phones. Carmel really needed to finalize accommodation for Vienna, and we’d had some offers from friends of friends. She vitally required the internet to check emails for phone numbers she needed to call. As the internet wasn’t on her phone, she went to McDonald’s but the Austrian McDonald’s Wi-Fi is hopeless, and kept dropping out. She then went to a different McDonald’s, but got the same result. And again at a third. She then found a café with internet, and this worked just long enough for her to make some progress, before it too dropped out. She managed to get a phone number to call, but then her phone couldn’t get through to that number. It was incredibly frustrating for her, and the result is that we could not take up the offers of accommodation, and have had to book into a hotel (luckily, the Vienna Marathon tomorrow has not resulted in a total book-out of the city’s hotels). Running is a breeze, compared to all that.

A minor milestone today, when I passed 4,000 km run in Europe since I started on January 24.