Yesterday I passed 140,000 km of running since I started to log my mileage back in 1983. In that time, a total of 12,189 days (more than a third of a century), I have averaged just a touch under 11.5 km per day. You may think this is a lot of running but Serge Girard, the French man running around the world at the moment (www.sergegirard.fr), recently passed 200,000 km over the same period of time. Serge certainly beats me on that score.

Another photo here from the world run as I ran past a level crossing in Illinois. It was incredibly hot at the time. I’m not sure how I survived day after day of such extreme temperatures.

On This Day

Jun 29, 2012

Distance today = 50.51 km; Total distance = 8524.80 km; Location = Kellogg, Minnesota (4 km south of) – 44 16.526′ N, 91 59.300′ W; Start time = 0908 Finish time = 1727

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/194032109

I won’t keep going on about the heat and humidity, but suffice to say that over 1200 “heat records” have already been set in the US this summer alone. Today half the country was over 40 C.

Intead, I’ll focus on the fact that I got to run right alongside the Mississippi River for about 25 km. I’ll get to do more of this over the coming days – one of the great pleasures of the world run.

There are several names for the road along the river that I’m running on. Besides Highway 61 and the Great River Road, I found out today that it’s also called the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway. For those who remember the 1970s series Little House on the Prairie, you may recall that Laura was a real person who recounted her childhood in a series of books, from which the TV series was made. I didn’t realise she was prominent in these parts.

I had lunch in the town of Wabasha, and learned that it was the location for the movie Grumpy Old Men. The Mississippi must freeze in parts during winter, as those guys did a lot of ice fishing (through a hole cut in the ice). Or maybe they fished on one of the many adjacent small lakes.

I’m really looking forward to the start of the Tour de France tomorrow. And that’s followed by the Olympics, so there’s lots of great sport coming up to take my mind off the run for a while.

Jun 29, 2013

Distance today = 50.42 km; Total distance = 22,307.17 km; Location = Balladonia, Western Australia (40 km east of) – 32 26.902’ S, 124 00.007′ E; Start time = 0753, Finish time = 1602

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/334701681

Carmel has invented a great way to prevent the crows from eating my food drops – she builds a circular wall of rocks, puts the food and drink in it, then finds a bigger rock to put on top as a roof. It works beautifully.

It was another day of perfect weather. There was not a cloud in the sky, and I mean not the faintest hint of a cloud, anywhere at any time, the whole day. I’m feeling very lucky at the moment.

I reached the beginning of the second longest stretch of straight road in the world. I now have only 140 km before I get to the next curve.

Our good friends, Guen and Jeff and Annie and Michael, arrived this afternoon. The girls will be heading off tomorrow, to take the car back to Julie in Perth. The guys will now be travelling with us with the caravan until Adelaide.

It should be a great odyssey, and we really appreciate what they’re doing for us. Stay tuned for some interesting tales over the coming weeks. We are currently enjoying our first time together in six months, snuggled around a camp fire.