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Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

June 21st means I am one year in Latin America, one year since crossing from California to Baja,Mexico

Total 19,342km for 465 Road days.

Thurs. 21st 54km From km 1,122 Marangani to Santa Rosa, km 1,176. Climbed over a mountain pass 4,393 metres above sea level. Shattered last 3 km today, crawled into town as after descending there was another climb to almost 4,000 m!

Wed 20th From km 1,084 in Tinto to Marangani, km 1,122. 38km today.

Tues 19th. 44 km today finish in Tinta. From km 1,040 in Quiquijana to km 1,084.

Mon 18th. 45km today From km 995 in Oropesa to km 1,040 in Quiquijana

Sun 17th 27km today. From km 968 Cusco to km 995 in Oropesa.

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A couple more good days took me to Huancayo where I took a couple of rest days to catch up on he blog – that was a ten hour rest day in an internet cafe. I also watched my team Leinster become European champions for the third time

I also sent the Heavy Bag onto Arequipa where an English man called Joss and Ana, his Peruvian wife have given me an invite to chill out in a few weeks time.

A couple of days later Joss told me the Heavy Bag arrived. It´s becoming a very effective system, sending on my 20kg supply bag of shoes and spare gear ahead.

Hopefully it will not get lost in the future, I could have two smaller bags going I suppose, but it´s so hard to do everything. I also use it as a backup in case I ever lose or have my atm cards stolen as I usually send at least one of my four cards with it, just in case. Same with my equipment and photo backup - I got spares – I guess one can never be too prepared.

I ran on, sometimes the roads were really bad, jagged rock and gravel. I felt much of that road in my joints. Sharp cluster thorns the same as I encountered in Nebraska get blown onto my shoes, socks and running tights. They are very sharp. I remembered how Nirvana got so many punctures there from them. The solution was a blue gue a tyre shop sprayed into her inner tube.

Here there were days when I had to wade across small streams or make my way across stones at the side. Some days there were as many as a dozen such streams.

Now I was running at a lower altitude, around 3,600 metres. It was cold first thing in the morning and as soon as the sun dipped behind the mountains. Now I am not looking for the shade on the side of the road as I was a month or so ago, at this time of the day I am looking for the warm sun.

Every day is a race to the next hospedaje or hotel. I just can´t contemplate getting caught out with no tent or sleeping bag. That is my decision door to door, the purist way to journey run, with just a 3 kilogramme pack on my back.

Running through a dusty village one day a woman came out of her house and gave me four potatoes.

The Peruvians are wonderful people.

As I run I am always checking where is my next water location. I usually just have one litre extra as it is rarely very far. There is no point in me carrying too much water, after all a litre is about a kilo in weight. Mostly I have more than enough in the two bottles in my hands and whatever I have in my pockets, that´s the plan, pockets to distribute the weight and keep as much off my back.

Next day, a 50km day I get stuck when I finish in a small village called Mantacra. It´s almost dark and there is no place to stay. I get talking to a man and ask if there is a priest. He brings me over to a house.

The pastors name is Isidor. They tell me I can stay with them, I am so relieved but they leave me outside the house talking to about a dozen children. I am giving them English lessons.

ENGLISH LESSONS

It´s really cold and I am very tired but managed to struggle through till I am called inside. There are two women there called Alisa and Albertina. They serve me chicken soup and then a chicken dinner, which for once is delicious and hot.

Alisa and Isidor

We talk for a while before they bring me next door to a shop which has little or no stock. In a corner they have sorted a mattress and blankets for me. It´s about eight o´ clock so I settle down to sleep.

Next morning around five thirty I hear whistles out in the street. I get dressed quickly, a nice early start. I say goodbye to the family and am surprised to see about twenty young boys and girls from the age of about four upwards out running. A middle-aged man is also running and blowing his whistle. They are obviously a running club, the man is their coach.

RUNNING WITH THE CHILDREN.

It was a nice, brisk morning. I ran with the children for about ten minutes till they turned off up a road towards a tunnel.

Next day, May 24th was a tough 57km day. I finished in a village called Anco. On the way a man called Jorge stopped me and gave me four large mandarins and another couple of lads stopped their car and gave me an energy drink, nice people in this area.

GRACIAS JORGE!

In the restaurant I suddenly felt nauseous. My head was swaying from side to side. I felt I had a temperature. I was almost falling into my bowl of soup. After about ten minutes it passed and I felt better, not sure what this was as I am well acclimatised to altitude.

Well if the problem yesterday was due to over doing it, today I ran 65km to finish late in a large town called Huanya. More oranges were fed to me by lads on a scooter, if it wasn’t for these roadside offerings I would not be getting my daily fruit intake as most times I buy junk!

TIGHT SQUEEZ WITH THIS BUS! JUST AS WELL NIRVANA WAS NOT HERE!

I met a German motor biker from Hamburg called Edgar. He says he selects a different part of the world and rides for about three or four months every year.

EDGAR FROM HAMBURG

Says it costs about the same to ship a bike over here as a flight. He was complaining that Spanish speaking people are the only people in the world that don´t speak much English. Motor bikers are not my favourite travellers. I see them almost every day, mostly Germans who rarely even wave as they zoom by. Its easy to spot them in the distance. They stand out from the local bikers as they ride decent bikes, have leathers, helmets and proper pannier boxes. He is also complaining about how far away the hotels are, I tell him to try running to them! On a motorbike one can be out of almost any discomfort zone, almost anywhere in the world in just a couple of day, easy or what? Too easy for ultra runners!

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THE LONG ROAD TO CUSCO – CAN I CAMP IN YOUR HOTEL ROOM PLEASE?

Monday, June 18th, 2012

At last I have caught up on the blog as far as Cusco!

I want to call this very long blog ” The Long Road To Cusco ” as it was about 1,300km from where I left the desert coast road.

This is a continuation of where I ran on from Violets house, the old lady in the mountains you might remember. Read that posting again > HERE

I also think this blog is too long for one posting so I am going to divide it up into about three postings, all subtitled: ” The Long Road To Cusco ”

I will post these over the next week or ten days… As always with catch up… Photos to follow.. Thanks for your patience.

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After leaving Violets house that day I ran on for a couple more days, stopping to talk as always to so many people on that rocky trail towards Acos. It´s funny but few people really know how far it is to the next town or village, some people hardly even know where the places are that I am running towards, everyone just assumes I am going to or from Lima.

One night I stopped at a place called Baños Colpa and it as a welcome change from cold showers I get everywhere. Here in this area is a thermal hot springs area and the local hotel had a hot tub with the thermal spring flowing in and out. The tub was a bit grubby but I still had a good soak for the two nights I stayed there.

I celebrated my 18,000th kilometre just before a mountain pass that was 4,780 metres above sea level, just about 16,000 feet. I wonder will this be the highest climb of the run, I think so, pity about the 220 metres, 5,000 would have been rare climb.

THE HIGHEST CLIMB OF THE RUN SO FAR! 4,780 MTS OR 16,000 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL

Next morning I had a very late start as the commute service was not the greatest. The collectivo, a battered mini van arrived around 1pm. There was only one space left, and that was on top of the roof! This was perhaps the most dangerous thing I have ever done in my life, to travel on the roof of that mini van as it drove over that rocky, narrow road, with little room to spare.

UP ON THE ROOF OF THE COLLECTIVO WAS PERHAPS THE MOST DANGEROUS THING I HAVE EVER DONE...BUT FOR THE OTHER LAD, JUST A NORMAL DAY!

The edges of the roads were soft and just one wrong turn of the steering wheel and the whole van would have tumbled down the mountains. I was that desperate to get going, I just jumped up on the roof beside another man while a cop car looked on.

HERE IS WHY... LIVING ON THE EDGE!

Eventually after an hour and a half of chugging through the mountains we made it to km 117 where I had finished yesterday, just 33km up the road.

That day was a disaster. A tough 13km only, mostly due to the late start. I was running towards a copper mine, a place called Chungar. There mine was partially on the main road and the heavy equipment drivers always honked and waved. One or two stopped to give me oranges and water. I decided to try my luck and see if I could sleep on the compound, so approached the security guards who went to great trouble to track down the human resources manager, a man called Luis.

ONLY HUMAN..... THANK YOU LUIS!

Luis told me that health and safety laws prevented him from allowing me to sleep on the compound. He told me to wait, so I did and was freezing as I stood there waiting. Luis eventually came back about half an hour later and told me there was an accommodation trailer just outside the compound and I was welcomed there that night. I reckoned he was checking out my site. Luis sent someone off to the canteen to get me some food. I think it was supposed to be for my breakfast as well as dinner but I as so hungry that I ate it all before having a long hot shower.

I have been told that many of the mines here in Peru are owned by foreign companies. It seems that Peru doesn’t have he expertise to operate them and is loosing a fortune to places like China that come in and plow away much of the countries riches. It may surprise many people to know that Peru is in fact a very rich country, with so much natural resources, gold, silver, nickel, gas, petroleum, it´s just mismanaged.

I had run into the compound that night and finished at km 130 which was at the security guards hut. Then I was driven around and around, so I didn’t know where I was.

Next morning Luis and the big boss patiently drove me around for ages as they were not sure where my finishing marker was. They brought me to a different km marker 130 but I knew for sure it was not where I finished as my km 130 was right at a security hut and this one wasn’t.

CONFUSION!

Eventually I learned that that was another older road as the road had since been rebuilt. Fair play to the men, once they understood my mission statement they ere very patient and in all spent a good half hour bringing me a further kilometre back out of the site to km 129 and I ran the extra kilometre.

Just outside the mine I saw another altitude sign, it was around 4,600 metres above sea level.

THE SECOND HIGHEST CLIMB SINCE MERRION SQUARE NORTH!

That day was a lovely Sunday morning. I ran on some trails and mountainous rocky roads, up and down some switchbacks across fields full of shy llamas.

I THINK THE LLAMA IS A BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL - CUTE AND GRACEFUL

It was a glorious day. I finished with 41km in a small town called Santa Barbara de something or other.

There was just one hotel, a small grubby place adjoining a restaurant.

RESTAURANT ADJOINING MY HOTEL WHERE I CAMPED IN THE ROOM!

I heard the old lady saying she could not rent me the room as she had no water. It was freezing outside, ” Stuff the water I said.. I will just camp in your hotel! ” Well not exactly camp, I just treated it as though I was camping.. No water, so what, it beats the alternative of sleeping outdoors. There is never any heating in these places, so as soon as I finished my dinner it was to bed fully dressed under the standard two blankets.

A BEAUTIFUL TRAFFIC JAM!

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MACHU PICCHU PHOTOS

Sunday, June 17th, 2012

SUNRISE AT MACHU PICCHU

THE LOST CITY OF MACHU PICCHU.

THE INCAS CUT THESE ROCKS BY HAND. PERFECT FITS EVERYWHERE.

THE SUN DIAL

I expect to run tomorrow, Sunday. I wanted to run today but discovered I had picked up a virus on my camera sd card. I reckon I got this in the backpackers hostel I am staying in here in Cusco.

It was a bit stressful as I could not view these photos also others taken in the last month. I went to a couple of stores before finding a place that was able to retrieve my photos

I then made a couple of back ups, one on a disc and the other on a usb memory stick.

I then bought a new sd card for the camera.

That is the reason for dumping all these photos here, I could live with the loss of the others but not these. I had planned to get the blog updated, but once again more delays!

On Thursday I took an excursion from Cusco to Machu Picchu and stayed there that night. Friday I got there before the hordes. The hiking was pretty tough, even for a world runner! Many people in my group thought I would be flying out the front but as I said to them they don´t have 19,000km in their legs and five months in the Andes!

Machu Picchu was a fantastic experience. I can see how the Spanish never found it. It is very remote and remember in those days there were no roads and more jungle.

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THANK YOU TO SO MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE FOR YOUR FANTASTIC SUPPORT.

Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

Greetings from Cusco. I have been very busy visiting the sights here these last few days. Tomorrow, Thursday I will be going on a trip for two days and one night to magical Machu Picchu Which I will visit early Friday morning.

As many people have told me they are interested in the area I am thinking of using my Spot tracker around the National Park as I will be hiking for about 4 hours on Thursday and about two hours on Friday morning into Machu Picchu. This of course is just fun stuff and will not be added to the overall distance of the run as it is off my route and just a side trip.

At last after a 29 year wait I will correct my biggest travel regret when I did not visit Machu Picchu while travelling in South America in 1983!

Briefly, I spent most of that year travelling in South America. In Bolivia I got an unbelievable cheap return flight back to Europe. It was almost Christmas, so I decided to return to Ireland for the festive season and return to Peru in the New Year. I could have made a quick trip to Peru then but didn’t want to rush it. Instead I spent ten days waiting for my flight in La Paz, next door in Bolivia. I never did return to South America, instead I got caught up in the rat race back home in Ireland.

I had always intended on this segment as being a kind of mini-break. I expect to start running towards Puno and Bolivia on Saturday, but unlike the Incas, for me this is not cast in stone!

I have been having a wonderful time here.

Many thanks to the following people for their wonderful support:

Gerry Duffy for sending me on my 26th pair of running shoes. I will start running in these soon. Gerry was able to send them to me to The Cotton Shop here in Cusco because the owner Peter Bohn from Germany was so kind to let me use his address as a pickup point. Thanks Peter and also to Kevin Flood from the USA who was able to get this contact for me. Kevin has been a great help these last few months. He is in a great position to research many obscure requests for me as he has a large contact list here in South America that he calls upon.

Thanks so much Kevin for your tireless work on my behalf.

Also sent here were 2 Dazer´s. Yes I now have 2 new dog zappers thanks to Sir Richard Beresford-Wylie, owner and inventor of Dazer international.
I lost my Dazer a couple of months ago, and that was my second! So Richard was good enough to send me a spare to keep in ” The Heavy Bag. ”

Many thanks to Greg Havely, Phil Essam and Jean Beliveau for their valuable input and advise helping me research my Australian and Asian routes. These areas have been researched a couple of times already but meticulous planning means I have to keep on top of things so as there are no surprises. 19,000km plus and not a foot wrong is due to this planning which is only ´time possible ´with their kind help.

To my sister Ann Salmon for helping sort out many personal affairs back in Ireland and taking care of my every request without question or quibble!

Thanks so much for the ongoing support of The North Pole Marathon, Ultra Running Ireland, Great Outdoors, Chariot Carriers Inc, John Buckley Sports, High-Five Sports Nutrition, Runaways, Drymax Socks, Dazer International and Dion Networks.
Also Thanks so much to the following people for their kind donations to the world run:
Matt Wade, Karl Heart, Ciaran Carr, Richard Nunan, Gerard Mangan, Feargal O’Shea, Paul Curtayne, Grainne Connor, Gary Condon, Conor Cummins, Anthony Lee, Paul Joyce and also Priva Tarbet.

I hope I have not left anyone out!

Thanks a million

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THE INCAS AND THE LOST CITY OF MACHU PICCHU

Monday, June 11th, 2012

Well it´s about time I mentioned something about the Incas, Cusco and the sacred lost city of Machu Picchu!

The Incas are by no means the oldest culture in South America but perhaps the most famous. Previously among others the Huari´s ruled.

The Incas worshiped the sun and moon. There is one theory as that this is one of the reasons they never used the wheel as the shape is similar. For such an intelligent people they were of course aware of it´s existence as archaeologists have discovered wheels on children’s toys.

Another theory is that they just had no use for it as almost all of the terrain was dense jungle combined by steep mountains. Also they had no ” pulling beasts ” as it was not till the 1540´s when Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro invaded South America with horses that the Incas became aware of them.

There are reports of the Incas being shocked and mesmerised by the charging Spaniards on horseback. The Incas believed the strange four legged creatures to be from another planet. Some of the roads I am running on now were probably narrow walking tracks laid by the Huari´s or Incas.

They used sheer numbers, perhaps hundreds of thousands of men, women and children and took decades to raise some incredible giant slabs of rocks up mountains using planks and tree trunks.

They were then sculptured and placed with such preciseness that even a blade of grass could not pass between the slabs.

Many of their ingenious engineering and craft skills are unknown as there was no written word.

Peru has always been a seismic disaster zone with major earthquakes coming as often as every fifteen years. The Incas designed their buildings and structures to be earthquake proof by not using mortar. This way a building can rattle and move and resettle without collapsing. Their doors and windows were designed the same way. Even today I see some mud and stone blocks just placed on top of each other without mortar, just some mud between the blocks.

The Incas were relentless in their recruitment drives. Everyone had to serve. Those that refused had to pay serious taxes in the form of barter. Those that protested, often whole communities were uprooted from their safe environment and transplanted to areas far away. The lack of survival skills then led to their demise.

There were few animals, except for an ancient breed of Peruvian, bald and black dog, the three sacred Inca animals the snake, puma and condor. The significance is that one is below us, one on the same level and the other above us. There were no cows or pigs either, just sheep and llamas.

Milk was gotten from the super food quima, though rich in nutrients. The quima crop was so powerful that it raped the soil of future growth till it recovered after fresh nutrients were spread.

The invading Spaniards plundered much of the riches of Peru and most of South America, shipping their gold and treasures back to Spain in ships that were so laden that they were almost sinking. It was Spanish ships that the sea pirates targeted. As one man said to me… Why would they pirates attack the English ships coming from North America, for they only discovered Indians?

It is amazing that the Spaniards never discovered the lost city of Machu Picchu… In fact this is proved as Machu Picchu was found unplundered after the Incas abandoned it in 1572 as perhaps the Spaniards were closeby. I took them a year to get to a close location but still they never knew of Machu Picchu, Peru´s number one tourist attraction.

It is suggested that most of it´s inhabitants died from smallpox.

The Incas chose the site as the mountains around hold a very high religious value to them, and also because of it´s inaccessibility to outsiders.

The city is saddled between two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at it´s back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides that lead to it have been terraced, not only to provide more farmland to grow crops , but to steepen the slopes which invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduce soil erosion and protect against landslides. Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu go across the mountains back to Cusco, one through the sun gate and the other across the Inca bridge. Both could be blocked easily, should invaders approach along them. Regardless of it´s original purpose, it is strategically situated and readily defended.

The world did not know of the sacred cities existence till 1911 when a local 11 year old Quechua boy led American historian Hiram Bingham to the site. Bingham was working for Yale University as a lecturer. As many as 4,000 of his finds were removed to Yale for ” safe keeping ” Today controversary exists as Yale still holds some of these treasures. In recent years there has been talks of the treasures being returned to the Peruvian government.

In 2007 Machu Picchu has been voted by a world-wide internet poll to be one of the New Seven Wonders of The World.

Due to continual economic and commercial forces which threaten the area UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on it´s World Heritage In Danger List.

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IN CUSCO.. 19,000km has been run!

Thursday, May 31st, 2012

Latest: 19,134km for 460 road days.

June 9th Today I ran from Chinllahuacho at km 911 to Cusco at km 968. A big day with 57km and a late finish.. Its a very big city. I am going to spend about 3 or 4 days in Cusco and Machu Pichu

June 8th. 33km today. From Puenta Sisma (bridge) at km 878 to km 911 in Chinllahuacho Finished early as I got an invite to stay in a Peruvian home.. Lovely family

19,044km run In 458 Road days. I plan to start stacking up the kilometres now as I just want to get to Argentina and further south. Am running really comfortably with my 3kg pack. Sometimes when I take my breaks I forget to take it off! Weight is no longer an issue. Sorry I am falling further and further behind with the blog but am sheduled some time off now so will see what I can get out..

Today Thursday 60km run.. Glorious running mostly downhill, except for the last 10km. 19,000km run!!

Yesterday Wed. 45km run.

I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGISE FOR ANY OFFENCE CAUSED TO IRISH READERS RE: MY RECENT RANT WHICH I HAVE REMOVED FROM THIS SITE.

I WAS WRONG AND WILL NOT MAKE ANY EXCUSES. UPDATE. IT WAS NOT A CRY FOR HELP OR A FUND-RAISING ATTEMPT, JUST A BADLY THOUGHT OUT RANT.

HOWEVER, I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO THOSE THAT HAVE DONATED AND WILL ACKNOWLEDGE ALL SOON

UPDATE. Total 18,939km for 456 road days.

JUNE 5TH. 45KM TODAY… FINISHED ABANCAY

June 4th.. 52km today. I finished about 35/40km south/west of Abancay, so commuted there. Will return to same spot at km 353 in morning and run to the city, so should be here tomorrow night also. I got so many issues going on I am finding it impossible to get the blog up to date. I continue to meet many interesting people and have so many photos to show. The mountains are incredible, this is my fav part of the Andes

I should be in Cuzco and Machu Picchu by the weekend. Machu Picchu is not on my route as you can see so I will make a side trip from Cuzco. This will be the very first real sight-seeing of the run for me! God knows when the next sight-seeing will be, perhaps Lake Titicca in Bolivia. Sight-seeing is not my thing – but some things and places just cant be ignored. As you can tell from the photos on this blog I am more of a people person. I will then run south to finish Peru, making another side-trip to see a friend in Arequipa for a day or two. Thats the plan for the next three weeks.

June 3rd…48km today, ran well after a sluggish start as first 35km were all uphill. I finished in a small village where Marie-Lou the local teacher let me stay in a school room! She gave me hot tea, bread and blankets! Then coffee and more bread in the morning

June 2nd I had a lovely 33km today, mostly downhill and stopped many times to talk to the locals. Nobody speaks English here but my basic Spanish is holding up well!

Total 18,794km for 453 road days. I am about 300km away from Cuzco.

June 1st 41km today then commute to Andahuaylas.. Will return to today’s finishing spot about 30km away and run to my hotel in Andahuaylas tomorrow.

TOTAL IS 18,761KM FOR 452 ROAD DAYS.

THE 20,000th KM WILL BE RUN IN BOLIVIA NEXT MONTH. THE 25,000th Km MORE THAN LIKELY WILL BE IN ARGENTINA IN THE PATAGONIA REGION BUT AS I RUN THROUGH JUST A SMALL BIT OF CHILE, THAT´S ALSO A SMALL POSSIBILITY.

MAY 31. IN URIPA. 30KM TODAY. TOTAL 18,720KM FOR 451 ROAD DAYS.

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quick update

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

LATEST….TUESDAY 29TH IN ACROS..

THE ROAD TO CUZCO IS A TOUGH ROCK ROAD.. TOTAL 18,653KM FOR 449 ROAD DAYS.

ITS VERY COLD IN THE EVENINGS AND EARLY MORNING. UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE COMMUTE SYSTEM AS ITS TOO FAR ON BAD ROADS WITH NO SUPPORT VEHICLE.

YESTERDAY I DID NOT PASS A SINGLE HOUSE,SHOP OR VILLAGE BUT AS ALWAYS MY LUCK HELD AS THERE WAS A MAJOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT GOING ON. THE CREW FED ME BOTH DAYS ON THE ROAD AND GAVE ME WATER. OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS 80KM AND NADA!!

ALSO STAYED IN ANOTHER PERUVIAN HOME. ITS VITAL I GET A ROOF OVER MY HEAD EVERY NIGHT AS I AM RUNNING WITH JUST 3KGS AND NO TENT OR SLEEPING BAG, JUST MY LIGHT WEIGHT TARP. NOT MUCH INTERNET TIME… THIS IS THE TOUGHEST SEGMENT OF THE ENTIRE RUN THAT IS FROM AYACUCHO TO CUZCO.

I FEED ON ALL YOUR GREAT SUPPORT AND COMMENTS WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH… THANKS SO MUCH IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE EVEN ONE COMMENT TO THE BLOG FROM MY RUNNING CLUB MSB WHO HAVE NOT SENT EVEN A SINGLE COMMENT IN OVER A YEAR TO THE BLOG… THAT HURTS I WEAR THEIR SINGLET EVERY DAY WITH PRIDE.

KEEPING MY SPIRITS HIGH IN THE ANDES!

26 MAY.

HI ALL AM IN AYACUCHO AND ITS BEEN 6 DAYS SINCE LAST INTERNET AND MAY BE FEW MORE TILL NEXT. BEING KICKED OUT OF INTERNET CAFE IN 5 MINS!

TOTAL = 18,546KM FOR 446 ROAD DAYS.

LAZY UNMOTIVATED MON = 17KM AND LATE START AND THEN TUES WAS 27 DUE TO RAIN

I DECIDED TO PICK UP THE PACE AND WED WAS 50KM, THURS = 57KM, FRI 65KM, TIRED SAT, WONDER WHY SO ONLY 44KM TO AYACUCHO.. WANT TO PUSH THE PACE FROM NOW ON AND MAKE UP LOST TIME IN THE ANDES…. aM RUNNING WITH JUST 3KGS TOTAL INCLUDING MY PACK AND MAKING IT TO ACCOM EVERY NIGHT WITHOUT COMMUTE.

I CARRY ANOTHER ALMOST 2 KGS OF GEAR IN MY POCKETS OF RUNNING TOP AND HIGH VIZ VEST. THIS SEEMS TO BE THE BEST RUNNING WEIGHT FOR ME AFTER MUCH TRIAL AND ERROR!

THE DRIVERS ARE AS BAD AS COLOMBIA AND SO TOO ARE THE DOGS!!

DAYS ARE HOT AND HUMID, EVENINGS NOT BAD.

HEADING FOR MACHU PICHU AND CUZCO SUNDAY…

THANKS FOR SUPPORT

GOTTA RUN! TONY

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MOUNTAIN PEOPLE

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

I MEET SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE MOUNTAINS, PERHAPS I SHOULD JUST LET A BLOG DO THE TALKING.

18,000km for this mountain man!

: LLAMA CROSSING..THIS MAKES A CHANGE FROM BEING RUN DOWN BY TRUCKS!

: DON´T THEY HAVE A FUNNY EXPRESSION?

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THE OLD LADY IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

Still deep in the rugged mountains bound for Huancayo I finished after a 30km day in a small village called Huachinga.

THE RUN INTO HUACHINGA. VIOLETS HOUSE WAS THE FIRST HOUSE I CAME TO.

It was like a village that time left behind. Though there were street lights in the village plaza, there was no electricity anywhere in that village of 200 as far as I could see. No televisions, signs of newspapers, the only connection to the outside world were the battery operated radios that people listened to. Normally even very poor people have satellite dishes or antennas, here nothing, not even power.

People in the previous villages had told there was an hotel here. On the way into the village a lady at the very first house I passed greeted me. I asked her about the hotel. She told me that if I had no luck to return to her and I could stay the night. I asked a couple of people, nothing doing, the hotel had long since closed down, derelict, just like the plaza which was overgrown by grass. I was about an hour away from the next village called Lamblam where I was also assured, but the offer I had here was just too good to be true.

HUACHINGA PLAZA

I was delighted it had been closed down, this would be a rare experience to observe very closely life in a Peruvian home.

Back at Violets house, as the lady is called, I talked some small talk with her and some of her neighbours. There was a man called Luis also there. I took photographs and asked Luis, probably in his forties to take one of me with Violet. I reckoned he had never taken a photograph before.

THE LOVELY VIOLET.

She told me I was the very first gringo this remote village had ever seen. Inside Violets house, which was really just a converted barn with a bed, table and chairs I drank some coffee and bread she had given me. She told me her husband was out working in the fields as a potato labourer. Her house was full of potatoes. They were everywhere, under the bed, table, in every corner. They are obviously very poor. I shared my spare food with them. In the morning I will give her my hotel money. This is always a very delicate thing to do as the poorest people in the world are often the kindest one could meet. I try to do this in as sensitive a manner as possible. What with their wonderful hospitality, kindness, also not wishing to offend or whatever they are still very poor and need it more than I do.

LOIS AND SON

I also got a smell of varnish in the house. Lois had come back in and sat down to talk to me. I took a bit of a dislike to him when he started only what I would call interrogating me. Then I realised the varnish was coming from him, I suspect it was not on his clothing but he had either been drinking it or inhaling it.

He was right up in my face almost shouting…

” But what are you doing here…?

” How can you afford to do this…? ”

” Have you money…? ”

Then he asked me why I had finished early for the day instead of running onto Lamblam!

He was getting so carried away that I just wished he would go away… Then Violet started to briefly get in on the act, also shouting up into my face. This was after Luis asked if had any weapons! I was starting to become very uncomfortable here and wondered what I would do as it was now very dark and cold outside.

I told them I write and this is more or less my work… So then I was asked if I was a journalist and what was I doing!

Eventually and thankfully Luis left after telling me his wife left him for another man, I wondered why. He has custody of their small boy while she has custody of their young daughter.

I enjoyed my coffee in peace after that and talked to Violet. She had boiled the water over an outside fire.

She told me she is very sick and can´t afford the doctors bills, so has to live with her illness. Then she tells me I am welcome to sleep in her bed. Worried about the illness I decline and tell a fib saying I am more comfortable on the floor. Being a former barn it´s a rough kinda potholed floor, it was to be an uncomfortable night, that night. Several times I looked over and was almost tempted to get into it but I resisted.

VIOLETS BED, MINE ON THE ROUGH FLOOR AND POTATOES EVERYWHERE

Violet and her husband had obviously gone to sleep in another building. There are so many abandoned derelict buildings that this didn’t surprise me. Luis told me that people can´t just move in and take up occupancy.

BEFORE LEAVING THE STRANGE GRINGO STOPPED TO TALK TO SOME VILLAGE FOLK

Before Violet left me for the night she showed me a small piss pot I could use as they had no toilet. She told me they sometimes use an old abandoned house for a toilet. If I needed to go out in the middle of the night there was a big stick to beat away the ´Bad Dogs ´as she called them. I could hear the bad dogs barking all night, and had no reason to go outside.

In the morning Violets son and daughter came over to see me, we chatted and had coffee and bread before I left.

Violet then told me her illness was a sore back, so I guess that I could have slept in her comfortable bed!

THE OLD LADY IN THE MOUNTAINS

I was told not to be surprised if ´townfolk ´from the villages ahead wanted to see my passport. They are harmless and are just likely to need to be reassured I am not up to anything bad. Not really sure what they could tell by my passport I was glad of this tipoff as perhaps I would have been a bit apprehensive and resisted, if such a situation seems calm enough I will just show it, but may try showing my photocopy first.

Violets son walked me to the edge of the village. I talked to a few more people among them a woman who was holding something that was smouldering in her right hand, then I realised it was dried cow dung to start a fire for presumably her breakfast.

ADIOS HUACHINGS, YET ANOTHER INDELLIBLE MEMORY

Posted in jogging | 5 Comments »

INTO PERU´S RUGGED MOUNTAINS

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

JUNCTION TO HIGHWAY 18 FROM THE DESERT BACK TO THE ANDES MOUNTAINS

It was nice to be back running after my 3 day break in Lima.. Now I am heading back into the Andes mountains after a break in the desert for about a month… That sounds funny…. Take a break in the desert… But that´s exactly what it was, a break from the mountains.

I now feel refreshed. I enjoyed the desert stretch and thankfully did not have any problems with the infamous petty theft on this coastline, issues I mentioned before…

My mind is still rock solid.. One or two people have emailed me asking me if this is really the case and hoping I am not just saying so!

Those that know me and hopefully those that don´t know me but follow this blog know I don´t have an ego.. I try to make this blog as honest as I can with all mistakes highlighted and there were a few in this blog update! I try very hard to try to take the reader along with me as though they were running with me.

On this run the only times I have felt down was in Flagstaff, Arizona when my ipod got stolen.. I know that´s stupid and I got little to worry about… And then for a few days in Ecuador when I was going through a serious energy crisis… From nowhere tears gushed out of my eyes… I stopped dead in my tracks and asked myself what this was all about as even then the future of the run was never ever in doubt, that I am sure of.

That same night I read the message my sister Ann handed me the night before the run started. A message called DONT QUIT.. > Read HERE. Once again I don´t know why I read it, I have only read it about two or three times. I guess because its been in my bag ever since the start, I am so aware of it… No quitting has never ever been on my mind and never will be as long as I am healthy.

Yes I guess I fet a bit worried and down when I was on the USA /Mexican border READ HERE waiting to cross into the great unknown. After the much highlighted, if not exagerated dangers which some armchair and even bar stool travellers told me I was headed for… ” No Tony, The trouble is getting out of Mexico, not getting in! ” A whole bar room had laughed. That was in BK´s Bar back in Snyderburg, Pennsylvia, USA, I think. They were a great bunch of lads but it was a typical ongoing brainwashing comment all the way across Canada and the USA. I kept it out of the blog so as not to worry my folks. READ HERE

THIS NICE LADY STOPPED ME TO OFFER ME SOME PAKAI FRUIT

So I ran along highway 18 towards Cuzco feeling like the luckiest man in the world, living my dream. I think some people believe dreams should be easy peasy.

Running towards the ancient Inca empire… Even though it is about 1,000km away I was so excited.

Since leaving the Pan-American Highway the road has rapidly deteriorated. Less traffic.

Now I am back to my dinner plate sized hard shoulder. That´s the way it was for almost 50km all the way to Sayan.

A lady stopped to give me a pakai fruit. Pakai grows on trees inside a large leaf. Its very succulent and fruity with a big black pip in the center. Peruvians keep stopping me like this, to help or even just to say hello, just like the folk on Irish country roads. They ask me why I am not travelling by car or even on a bicycle and I reply that this is the reason, that to travel by foot is perhaps not only the most adventurous way to travel but also the most rewarding and the greatest travel experiences can be had.

SOMETIME PEOPLE JUST SET UP SHOP IN MY HARD SHOULDER! HERE THEY ARE SELLING CORN. WHAT´S THE SONG ABOUT COTTONFIELDS?

Sometimes I got to run wide of the shoulder as people set up shop. Today I stopped in a village where people were drinking a black beer which they mixed with cola.. More stops, this is great I am building up my picture of these wonderful people. I am sure that sometimes this is the reason my blog falls behind, not only due to time pressure but that I need to get the ´full picture into my head. ´ And that sometimes takes time.

WHERE IS ALL THE TRAFFIC GONE TO?

So where is all the traffic gone and what has happened to the road? I asked myself.

If you go to Google Maps and ask for directions from Lima to Cuzco this is the road they suggest.. So that´s the road I took. Others know better and take a different route, their hard luck was my wonderful time here. Perhaps the toughest and most challenging segment so far, but a fantastic experience was had!

Once again I wonder about Cuzco being such a major tourist centre, so where are the buses and trucks! Why are the bridges now posted with a 10-15 ton max capacity instead of 50 tonnes! Well Google maps as good as they are got this wrong and I followed for the next week like a sheep, or rather a llama.. But wow what a rugged experience I had. Many elderly people told me I was the very first gringo that they ever did see and not once was I asked the terrible question about where was my bicycle, not hard to figure that one out as not even the cyclists, amazingly have taken this route it seemed to me.

THE START OF MY ROUTE TOWARDS CUZCO IS A SURPRISE... BUT I THINK I AM IN FOR A GREAT EXPERIENCE

I had sent my ´heavy bag ´(as regular readers know is my main supply bag which I keep mailing on ahead) onto Huancayo about 320km away. I had looked at the map and figured about 8-10 days with lots of places to stay. Well this segment was to take two weeks and my distance was closer to 450km! That road I mentioned earlier from Huaura to Sayan was soon to deteriorate to a rugged mountain track, so rugged it was that efficient running was incredibly difficult. Even when walking I stumbled on the jagged stones and rocks which were just spread out on the road for the traffic to flatten. Flatten they didn’t as time after time I got shock waves through my joints as I trod on them and also from the discomfort of constantly altering my stride. Shifting and weaving my meandering way along those rocky potholed road tracks.

SMALL VILLAGES AND TOWNS ALL OVER PERU HAVE A MOSQUITO ERRADICATION FROM FRUIT PROJECT GOING ON,

Running, or more marching on towards Huaycho I took a wrong turn, or rather didn’t turn right at an insignificant looking bridge. I had just ran on a further 5km. So after being corrected by an insistent man I returned to the bridge. I did not log theses kilometres into the total distance.

I made my way up a very steep hill for about two hours and was told there was no hostal or hotel for a long way ahead. I also realized that many people have little or no idea of where small villages or towns are or in many cases have never even heard of some of the places I am headed for. So the idea is to listen to everyone and figure out who knows what correctly.

Yes a gps would be nice now, but I try not to get bogged down by the weight of so-called unnecessary gadgets.

I had even sent my backpack onto Huancayo figuring I would be okay for this segment with my strong, sturdy satchel, it is of such good quality that I could easily run with my laptop in it. Not so, I soon discovered, and decided it best to return to Sayan that night to purchase a small backpack, recheck my route and tell people back home that I may be out in a wilderness for the next few days.

Most of Peru´s roads are serviced by buses or mini buses also here what are known as ´collectivos ´which in this area are battered Toyota Corolla estate cars. I have commuted in some of these with as many as ten people crammed into them! The collectivos run along designated routes, stopping along the highway to cram in yet another passenger with bags and even chickens in. They are like cheap taxis and are best picked up in the towns and villages, only trouble is you got to wait a while for them to get their starting quota of about five passengers.

Needless to say seat belts are not even considered and stupid people like me are asked to unbuckle it as it´s preventing another passenger getting in. The police just seem to turn a blind eye, or more than likely are paid off. Many people would not be able to make a decent living if the police enforced every regulation they were supposed to, so perhaps there is a different side to them. The last collectivo departure from Huaycho to Sayan that Sunday afternoon was around 4pm so I took it back for the night.

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE DREW ME OUT A VERY DETAILED MAP.

Next morning back in Huaycho I was directed up this track above. I had asked my way towards Acos as the maps were still unclear. On I shuffling, it was pretty hot. I met the lady in the photo above and asked her the way, she didn’t know. I was lucky that the man pictured in the middle was working in a lime tree field had overheard our conversation. It seemed he had plenty of time on his hands as he came out and insisted I had been given wrong directions back in Huaycho which was now about 15km behind me. I was told that Acos was the other side of the mountain. People here have a funny way of pointing, they often move their fingers around or sometimes with a clasped fist just wave their hand around, often towards the ultimate location of the destination and not the way to go!

This man had a lot of patience and when I told him there was no way I was going back as long as there was an alternative, even if longer route ahead of me. There was another way, though much longer I decided I wanted to push on ahead.

We all sat down on the track while he drew out a detailed map. This man knows his mountains.

A long time ago I had learned that one of the first essentials to pack for the road in the morning are a pen and paper. Imagine being in this situation and having neither!

THIS MAN LOOKS LIKE SOME KIND OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL STOPPED FOR A CHAT...

On I went along my new route. I was enjoying myself, stopping to talk to several surprised but always friendly people. They waved from the fields and came out of their houses to talk or greet me.

I stopped at a small village for a snack. so many people don´t like being photographed so I try to photograph them before they see me. Often I sneak a photo while asking, not a nice thing to do I suppose. That´s what happened here on the way into this shop. When I came out of the shop the woman was giving the child a body wash in a large basin.

SNACK STOP

These shops obviously don´t get much business but as long as they have a decent stock the customer will just ring the doorbell for attention. Often the shops are closed or have a gate closure across the front so as the owner can just go about their daily life, changing the babies nappy or plucking a chicken or whatever.

SURELY NOT AN IRISH DANCE IN THE ANDES!

A little further up the track I came to this village. It was around lunchtime and the residents were in high spirits… The amount of stops I could make and do are unreal, not really good time management but a hell of an experience management.

COME DANCE TONY!

And they danced on and on. The harp which is the Irish national symbol is a very popular instrument here in Peru. I have seen people on television on many occasions playing it.

AND THE BOYS DO WHAT BOYS DO... THEY LOOKED ON AND DRANK!

On and on I marched for as I mentioned running was not so easy and if anything was just about the same pace as running. All trail runners know what it´s like to be running up a steep mountain trail. To be so stubborn to keep running. The absolute killer blow in these races is to be passed by a couple of efficient marchers, seemingly not out of breath as they talk about last nights dinner and whats on television that night!

In such situations not to walk even though running is less efficient can be a pride thing for the runner. That short walk can give the runner a chance to recover, or even prevent an injury.

Further on up the trail I met about a dozen men and women having a late lunch and drinking more cola beer…. Jokingly they told me they were working very hard. Around the corner I got attacked by a swarm of bees. They were everywhere, on my arms, hands, face, hair. I ran and then stumbled and fell on the ground. As I got back up picking up my two water bottles I got stung in the face, I felt lucky to have gotten away with only one sting!

Then I saw the people were probably working on these bee hives, about fifty hives. I was to see several more the next couple of days. That´s when I did some of my hardest hill running, funny what you can do when you really want to!

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About Tony

I have always considered myself to be an average runner. In school, I was even bullied for I was a sports wimp. Through hard work, dedication, perseverance, self-belief and a strong mind I succeeded in not only running around the world but breaking four ultra running world records during my competitive career. Having previously cycled around the world I didn't start running until I was almost 30. Then I had a dream of running around the world. For many reasons, I waited for over 20 years. One reason was to establish my pedigree as an endurance athlete. I started and finished my world run as the current World Record-Holder for 48 Hours Indoor Track 426 kilometres (265 miles), a record I have held since 2007. I also broke and still hold the World Record for 48 hours on a Treadmill 405 kilometres (251 miles) in 2008. When I retired from competition, more pleasing than any of my world, European or Irish records I had the respect of my fellow athletes from all over the world - in my opinion, sports greatest reward - an achievement I am most proud of. Then I finally put myself out to pasture, to live my ultimate dream to run around the world! This blog was written on the road while I struggled to find places to sleep and to recover from running an average of 43.3 kilometres or 27 miles per day for 1,165 road days. There were many nights I typed this blog on a smart phone, so fatigued my eyes closed. Many journalists and endurance athletes have referred to my world run as the most difficult endurance challenge ever attempted. During my expedition I rarely had any support vehicles, running mostly with a backpack. In the more desolate areas I pushed my gear, food and water in a cart which I called Nirvana, then I sent her on ahead to run with my backpack once again over altitudes of almost 5,000 metres in the Andes. I stayed in remote villages where many people had never seen a white person before. I literally met the most wonderful people of this world in their own backyard and share many of those amazing experiences in this blog. My run around the world took 4 years. There were no short cuts, I ran every single metre on the road while seeking out the most comprehensive route across 41 countries, 5 continents, I used 50 pair of running shoes and my final footstep of the run was exactly 50,000 kilometres, (almost 31,000 miles) I eventually finished this tongue in cheek named world jog where I started, at the finish line of my city marathon. I started my global run with the Dublin Marathon on October 25th 2010 and finished with the Dublin Marathon on October 27th 2014 at 3 05pm! Thank you for your support, I hope you can share my unique way of seeing the world, the ultimate endurance challenge! Read more...