I’m now back home after a 36 hour door to door trip from Monaco. Eight of those hours were spent in airport lounges, so I had plenty of time for my specialty – of running around airports during stopovers. I’m glad places like Singapore Airport have such long corridors, as it enabled me to get in several kilometres. And it was a good reason not to indulge too much in the food and red wine in the lounges.

Now I have to knuckle down and really start training for the Big Red Run at the end of June. I only have about two solid months of training to get myself in shape for this most unusual of events. I’ve never run a multi day stage race before, so it’s going to be new ground for me to cover, both literally and figuratively. I got off to a good start with a 20 km run this morning.

This is another photo from when I was running in New Mexico during my run around the world. Despite the remoteness and sparseness of the vegetation, running in deserts is rarely boring.

On This Day

Apr 15, 2012

Distance today = 56.93 km; Total distance = 5057.18 km; Location = Taos, New Mexico – 36 22.949′ N, 105 35.199′ W; Start time = 0910, Finish time = 1728

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168569181

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/168581029

Another long day in the cold (it snowed on the mountains last night), with a really long hill thrown in after half way. After a brief one day respite at 1,800 metres elevation, I’m back above 2,100 metres again.

Most of the run was along the upper reaches of the Rio Grande, including a long section in the Rio Grande Gorge – quite spectacular.

Not much else to report. I’m now in the town of Taos, which has a long history. In fact, in 1760, Comanche Indians kidnapped sixty women from the town. Many years later, one of them found her way back to the town to be reunited with her son.

There are two Garmin reports today, as the watch battery gave out again – it does not like long days in the cold.

Apr 15, 2013

Distance today = 35.28 km; Total distance = 19,514.66 km; Location = Mosonmagyarovar, Hungary – 47 52.337′ N, 17 16.184′ E; Start time = 0819, Finish time = 1354

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/298423693

Awoke to a stunning day. Perfect temperatures and clear blue skies. Once again, I was running with shorts and a T-shirt.

I headed out of Bratislava and was soon in the countryside. It is incredibly flat here in the Danube Valley. About half-way through my run, I reached the old border station, between what was then Czechoslovakia and Hungary. It has been essentially demolished by vandals, with broken windows and holes in the walls. At that point, I had made it to the 14th country of my world run – Hungary.

I finished early in the town of Mosonmagyarovar. We picked up new Hungarian SIM cards, and then headed back to Vienna to meet Jo, Dave, Sue, and Greg. Remember, I will be having a day off from the world run tomorrow, catching up with them. I’ll resume on Wednesday, where I left off today.

There should be plenty of stories over the next week or so, as our friends travel with us. The guys will be doing some running with me too. For those with good memories, you might recall that Greg, aka The Hud, ran with me on Day 1 of the world run, from the Sydney Opera House to Bondi Beach.