It is now time for me to hold my hands up and make a major confession! You see I underestimated the distance required for me to run this world run in the manner that I have dreamt of.. A run around the world in the most continuous route possible, connecting up all the continents with no cutting corners on continents. By my latest calculations I will need to run in the region of 50,000km / 31,000 miles. I had estimated 42,000km/ 26,000 miles. I guess I just got scared off while counting or lost count? A world journey is generally considered to be such if 26,000km/ 16,500 miles are travelled. The reality is my criteria is much stricter and a more true world journey as I will be running almost twice that! I have made it very difficult for myself, more difficult than it ever needed to be, but that is my dream.
I will continue to keep all my records in order for authentication even though logic would suggest this is a ‘ self authenticating journey. ‘
Meaning that if I have gone to all this extra trouble and hardship, more than required as mentioned above, which also dragged me through the worst winter in North American history with all its storms and blizzards. ( I could have flown from Ireland to New York instead of running through Atlantic Canada and stormy New England in the winter and just headed for sunny Florida and Central America) Well it would never be conceivable that I would cheat and take a ride of a few kms anywhere else on the run!
By the time I get to the tip of South America I could have easily had one world run chalked off by using this inferior criteria, so I just better make sure I get to the finish!
It is a bit ironic that my deficit is 8,000km / 5, 000 miles = About the exact distance I have run since the start 7 months ago ( 8 months by the time I get back from my time out.)
This is too much to make up in the 2 years 4 months till my original target finish date of October 2013 with the Dublin marathon. My new targeted date will be the Dublin marathon in October 2014. This will also allow me to take more rest days and shorter running days for the rest of the run.
Some very rough ‘ ball park ‘ figures and estimations:
8,000km / 5000 miles run to date.
Mexico and Central America. Another 5,000km / 3,200 miles
South America.
Another 12,000 + km circa 7,500 miles
AT THE TIP OF SOUTH AMERICA ( TIERRA DEL FUEGO) THIS IS ROUGHLY THE HALFWAY MARK WHERE I EXPECT THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY TO BE SPENT.
New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia (Melbourne to Darwin via east coast) circa 9,000km 5,600 + miles
South-East Asia to China: Another 6,000km circa 3,750 miles
China to Dublin: Another 10,000km circa 6,200 miles.
My targeted pace per month will now be 1,000km + a few kms per month = 620+ miles.
The reality will be that I will probably run a few more per month to make up for my next time out. I have not decided on when or where that may be.
Some of the statistics of this run are quiet startling! Did you know that if I just ran an extra mile per day over 1,000 road days I would have an extra 1,000 miles! Or 5 weeks extra mileage to take for a time out! But I can not get greedy. All along I had been secretly estimating that this run would be completed in about 950-960 road days. Some people had actually billed this as 1,000 marathons in 1,000 road days! Now its looking more like 1,000 50km’s and it wont be 1,000 days it will be more like 1,200 + road days.
Thanking you for your very loyal support. I hope you will stay with me for the longer haul!