less than 14 hours till the start of the marathon and 18 till the start of my around the world jog.
Everything is packed, just bought the travel insurance..Nothing else to do just rest,sleep and wait..
Less than 20 hours after more than 20 years waiting…

This week felt like Christmas to me as I opened all the boxes of equipment from Great Outdoors..Then there was the rushing around the shops, last minute just like Christmas.

Then my younger sister Ann handed me a good luck card with a laminated message for me to take with me.

Immediately I burst into tears, I can hardly read or see the keyboards as the emotion has just gotten the better of me… The message could not have been more stark, more apt. It read:

Don’t Quit.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And when you want to smile but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit.
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with it’s twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the cloud of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit -
IT’S WHEN THINGS SEEM WORST THAT YOU MUST NOT QUIT.

A fantastic local business giving something back to the local community.
Jim and his team generously sponsored the accessories for my Chariot.
Two of his mechanics are running the marathon. Good luck and thanks lads

Many thanks to Simon Evans for his great World Jog website design I am thrilled!

Simon has gone beyond the call of duty, dealing with my constant stream of emails and never ending requests for changes and modifications!

Simon and his friend Fearghal have only recently returned from a bicycle trip around the world. Both have also been a useful source of information in my research..Thanks a million!
Check out his website for a great adventure.

178

It’s about time I introduced my new buddy to the world. I have had him under wraps for a few weeks now. This is my Chariot Cougar 1 jogging stroller kindly sponsored by Chariot Carriers of Canada.
I figure I needed the very best of equipment for this expedition and that’s exactly what Chariot are; not only the Rolls Royce of carriers but the Porsche too.. Shock absorbers 3 wheel drive all terrain stroller taboot.
So then it came to naming my friend, Nirvana, a state of bliss comes to mind…. Yes, that will do nicely .We are going to see a lot of each other over the next 3 years. A marriage made in Heaven, yeah sweet Nirvana is not going to be far from my sight.

I got the logo tatooed last week along with the start date of 25th October 2010 in Dublin. Underneath I got
‘ Finish ‘ printed with the date to be filled in at the finish line on the spot, that would be nice.

It’s hard not to be thinking of the finish as so many people are asking.. Thoughts of the finish while on the road can easily wear you down. Some people have come up with novel ideas which will definitely be implimented on October 29th 2013 all going well!!

The good wish and even the mass cards are flowing in. I even got a St. Christopher’s medal which will be at the bottom of my Chariot, I will need every help I can get, I guess.

NOTES ON THE START OF THE WORLD JOG

The Dublin marathon begins at 09.00 on 25th Oct.2010. I will run 4 hours 30 minutes fully equipped with my Chariot buggy. I will officially begin the World Jog at the marathon finish line at 13:30 on the road opposite number 7 Merrion Square North. I have chosen the finish line of the marathon as my official start because I will be trying to end this World Jog with a future Dublin marathon So the start and finish locations have to be in the exact same spot. I will effectively be running the Dublin marathon as a prologue or a warm up for my world run!

The marathon km’s will not count towards my overall distance…. But they will surely if I can manage to time the finish with a future Dublin marathon. I am hoping and trying for 2013 but it could be 2014.

In many ways my start is going to be very strange! As I come up to the finish line I will not be stopping my stopwatch, I will in fact be starting it for the start of the World Jog! As many of my friends have come from all over the country to see me off, and especially my incredible former crew man, Alan Young who has come over from Scotland especially to see me off… I can hardly just up and go! So, I have decided I will run around the block (stopwatch will still be running but distance not counting) to get to the Mount Clare Hotel, which is located 50 mts before the finish line! I will say farewell to my great running friends in the hotel. Around 3pm or 3.30 I will leave and run to a location near the South Circular Road where I will stay for the night as it it will be too late to run safely out of Dublin. My first days distance will be 3.2km.

I will then begin the World Jog in earnest at 8 am Tuesday 26th October running to Dunquin, selected as my final Irish destination because it’s Ireland’s most westerly place. I will then match up Dunquinn with Cape Spear, Newfoundland which is North America’s most eastern place. It is my goal to make this run as continuous on a world map as possible.
In Dunquin I have a major problem…. I do not have a jet on standby ready to whisk me to the small remote Canadian town of Cape Spear! So, as I will return on November 5th to Dublin airport for my trans-atlantic flight.
This is within the rules as clearly I am not advancing by mechanical means over land and besides I have already covered the distance. I could have gotten a flight from Shannon but it worked out about 50% more expensive.

To follow Tony’s progress click HERE

The World Jog kit list click > Here

Thanks to all the offers of help and accommodation on my Irish route to Dunquin, co Kerry.

As I have said before anyone is welcome to come out and run with me but if you are expecting a fast run you got the wrong man! I need to ease my body into this and will be running carefully at the start!

26th October: Looking for offer in the Newbridge area.

27th October Looking for offer in the Portlaoise area.

28th October Looking for offer in the Roscrea are.

29th October, Nenagh, Thanks To Margaret Fahy and a coach of Nenagh Olympic AC!

30th October, Dooradoyle, Thanks to Martin Doody of Limerick AC for his kind offer

31st October. Newcastlewest, Thanks to Finbar Murphy of West Limerick AC for his kind offer

1st November. Castleisland, Still looking!

2nd November. Tralee, Co. Kerry Still looking.
I want to run a little west of Tralee, prob about 10-15km, and as there are no convenient towns will have to transit back and forward.

3rd November. Dingle. Still looking. May need to commute a little from/to finish/start location.

4th November. Dunquin, Co. Kerry. Thanks to Colm O Thorna for sorting accommodation in Dunquin further details and gratitude will be posted when I obtain this information.