Distance today = 56.42 km; Total distance = 24,349.96 km; Location = Coonalpyn (8 km north of) – 35 38.089’ S, 139 49.363′ E; Start time = 0822, Finish time = 1631

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/354287811

A lot of main road running today, as I headed south-east along the Duke’s Highway. It’s a stretch of road I cycled three years ago with the Tour de Bois. It’s not the most inspiring road I’ve run on, but it’s always nice to re-live a day from the Tour.

The day began with a tailwind, which helped me to set a good pace for most of the day. It was still slow compared to what most runners run at, but it was quick by my recent standards. By late in the afternoon, the breeze had become a headwind, which I hope will not persist into tomorrow.

I finished with a solid 56 km, feeling fine, but still with some residual soreness in my quads. This should pass by tomorrow.

Distance today = 53.08 km; Total distance = 24,403.04 km; Location = Tintinara (18 km east of) – 35 57.610’ S, 140 13.303′ E; Start time = 0813, Finish time = 1626

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/354806134

More variable weather today, ranging from lovely sunshine to cold and windy rain squalls. For the most part, the wind helped push me along, although it changed direction often.

The wind was so unpredictable and strong in specific locations, it ripped the entire top off a caravan on the road ahead of me. I thought there had been a major accident as I approached, with police and emergency services lights flashing, and traffic being directed around what looked like a wreck in the middle of the road. It was a wreck, but not a car – just the body of the caravan. The chassis and wheels were still attached to the tow bar of the car, which was unaffected.

I passed through the towns of Coonalpyn and Tintinara during the day. From Tintinara, the run was exactly what I had done as a training run in 2010 during a stage of the Tour de Bois. It is the first time during the whole world run that I have run an entire section I’ve done before.

Tonight we’re staying in Tintinara, home of Tin Tin, and the scene of Reefton Humblewood’s most shameful episode ever on a Tour de Bois – the less said about that, the better.

The less than interesting highway of late has left Carmel uninspired to take photographs again. Hopefully she’ll find more inspiration tomorrow.

Distance today = 54.00 km; Total distance = 24,457.04 km; Location = Cannawigara – 36 15.199’ S, 140 40.459′ E; Start time = 0814, Finish time = 1615

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/355307275

The weather was much kinder to me today, with no rain or wind.

After 18 km, I reached a sign indicating it was 2 km to Keith and 500 km to Melbourne. The significance of this is that I took a photo of the same sign in 2010 as I passed it on the Tour de Bois. I clearly remember thinking at the time that I would be passing that same sign in a few years, having run most of the way around the world. That moment arrived today. It almost felt like I had seen the future.

Other than that, the day was fairly uneventful – just a solid 54 km.

N.B. The official distance of 54 km today, differs from the Garmin data by more than 800 metres. For some time now, I have suspected the Garmin device has been short-changing me in regard to the distance I’ve covered on some days. It’s often difficult to be sure of this, so I accept the data as is. However, on certain occasions, like today, it’s easy to check. Running entirely on the same highway, from the 108 km peg to the 162 km peg, I was able to compare the data with three other types of distance markers – the kilometre pegs (each km), distance to town markers (each 5 km), and Google Maps. All three of these were consistent with each other today, but the Garmin differed by the amount mentioned above. When it is so conclusive, I feel it’s important to adjust the total.

Assuming the Garmin has, from time to time, been registering less than what I’ve really run, what implications does this have? Luckily, not much – it simply means I will probably end up running a bit more than what my official total says. At least my official total will be a lower bound – I know I will have run at least that much, and probably more. If it was the other way around, it would be a serious problem, as I couldn’t then be sure I’d run the required distance of at least 26,000 km.

There have been times when the Garmin has attributed more than I have really run, but these occasions have been very rare, extreme in their error, easy to spot, and simple to correct. For example, like the time it added 1,360 km to my distance for that day – it’s not likely I’d ever miss something like that.

PS Thanks to David from Duke’s Motel in Bordertown for his generosity tonight.