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Archive for August, 2014

Louvain to London

Saturday, August 30th, 2014

Louvain is a beautiful city.

Steffan’s children.

Hi Folks!

30th August I am in London staying with my Louis Brady my buddy I have not seen for 28 years! Now married to Orla.

Orla and Louis Brady

I have so many people to thank for such amazing help these last two week all the way from Louvain, Belgium.

Thanks to Irish woman Bridget Brady originally from Co. Wicklow, no relation to Louis and her partner Steffan. Brigid crewed for me for two days commuting me back and forward from my route. They are ultra runners and will be running the Kerry Way race in Ireland in a couple of weeks time. Last year Steffan won that race.

Steffan a navigation and gps guru  enjoyed plotting my daily routes in the area.

I was then handed over to Ludo an ultra runner who car and bicycle crewed me my last two days across Belgium.

Ludo ran me out of Belgium to the French border. My French route  was about 60km in the north east as far as Calais.

I could have gotten the ferry from Ostend in Belgium to Dover saving myself a couple of road days but decided upon the more connected up route from Calais.

My last day on continental Europe was perhaps the toughest due to persistent rain, heavy traffic even on the back roads all leading to Calais port.

 

French signposting not being the best caused me some frustration for example Dunkirk and Calais ports being about 30km apart the French just signpost as ‘Ferry Port ‘

On this difficult stretch I was joined by Theo, a man who has been a great supporter of the run.

 

Born in Holland Theo speaks with an Irish accent, married to an Irish woman.

He tracked me down about 20km before the port, parked his car arranged a complimentary P &  O ferry crossing. I spent the entire 90 minute crossing stuffing my face in the complimentary first class buffet bar. Theo was able to run the last ten kilometres with me.

A couple of weeks earlier he drove five hours from Strasbourg and met me on the road in Germany where he crewed for me for two days and generously paid for the hotel and meals for us for both nights. He then took Nirvana onto Calais.

Once in Dover I was met by Siobhan Clifford and her running hubby Billy who have organized part of their UK camping holiday around the run.

Breakfast with Siobhan and Billy

They crewed me for four days to London sheltering me in their large family tent in camping sites for three nights. Monday night, my first in the UK I was hosted by Sheila and Steve also their children Bryn, Archie and Nora who are  friends of Siobhan who happened to live in the Dover area.

So with Billy and beneath the white cliffs of Dover my final push towards Dublin began.

The first couple of days out of Dover were very slow due to very busy traffic on the A2. A really nice cop called Eddie Evans stopped to question Billy and me and we had a great chat and a laugh as though we were down in a pub having a night out! Eddie ended up saying he will follow my progress until the end.

Running into London was quite surreal experience for me, I just can’t get my head around I am almost finished. Billy and me and at times Siobhan ran through London, through Greenwich Park,

Hyde Park, Big Ben, Cutty Sark, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, so much to see in this fascinating city.

 

As mentioned today Saturday was a rest day, I chilled out with Louis and went to a rooftop cinema in Ealing to see a movie called ‘ The Breakfast Club ‘ That was after a delicious meal in a Japanese restaurant.

On Sunday I will be meeting up with Siobhan and Billy on the road out of London. They have offered to crew for me for a few more days before returning to Ireland. I cant believe that in two weeks time I will be running in Ireland

What can I say!! Thanks so much to so many people.

47,962km (just under  30,000 miles) run in 1,101 road days

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UK Route

Saturday, August 23rd, 2014
Belgium today, France tomorrow and England on Monday!
Thanks to Ludo for crewing 45km for me today and commuting me back to his home where Steffi his daughter cut my hair,
well three weeks today I arrive in Ireland :)
47,750km run for 1,095 road days
Below please find my UK route as kindly worked out by Siobhan Clifford and Tom Enright
I have been having a lot of rain delays and if for some unlikely reason I fail to run my last
85km to Calais, France before Monday and arrive in Dover on the 26th,  Days 1 and 2  will be run on 26th August
Thanks Siobhan for the easy first day, I presume its because I will travelling to Dover
I’m what! :)
This route is obviously subject to change,
You can also see the distances are much lower than
normal, well marathon runners need to ease down before a marathon!
Calling UK runners can you join in anywhere :)
If so or can offer me a bed night for a load of yarns or offer to crew please contact Siobhan Clifford of Blue Bubble Marketing
Blue Bubble Marketing will be promoting the run by way of their very effective marketing skills
I can do a reasonable commute from this route if next day you can return me to my finishing location
BTW Siobhan is in the Dover area now on her camping holiday with hubby Billy
All going well we will meet on Monday and hang out for a couple of stages
Do I have a speech prepared for my Dover arrival!
You bet I do and it goes like this
” I am so happy to be running on English soil,
Ireland and England have had a long conflicting history going back several centuries now
” You make claim to something we Irish cannot possibly accept
” Everyone knows the Irish are the worlds greatest tea drinkers!
So I am here to prove this! “
25.8.14

DOVER – BARHAM

15.3 KM

26.8.14

BARHAM – FAVERSHAM

25.4 KM

27.8.14

FAVERSHAM – GILLINGHAM

26.1 KM

28.8.14

GILLINGHAM – WELLING, GREATER LONDON

34.9 KM

29.8.14

WELLING, GREATER LONDON – EALING

34.7 KM

30.8.14

REST DAY

31.8.14

EALING – APSLEY

30.2 KM

1.9.14

APSLEY – WADDESDON

35.1 KM

2.9.14

WADDESDON – AYNHO

31.4 KM

3.9.14

AYNHO – PILLERTON, HERSEY

32.3 KM

4.9.14

PILLERTON, HERSEY – STUDLEY, WARWICKSHIRE

31.6 KM

5.9.14

STUDLEY – KIDDERMINSTER

30 KM

6.9.14

KIDDERMINSTER – MUCH WENLOCK

36.6 KM

7.9.14

MUCH WENLOCK – NESSCLIFFE

33.6 KM

8.9.14

NESSCLIFFE – LLANGOLLEN

32.7 KM

9.9.14

LLANGOLLEN – TY – NANT

25.7 KM

10.9.14

TY – NANT – BETWS – Y – COED

25.7 KM

11.9.14

BETWS-Y-COED – BANGOR

33.2 KM

12.9.14

BANGOR – HOLYHEAD

38.4 KM

13.9.14

FERRY TO DUBLIN 8.55 AM

 

Siobhan Clifford

Blue Bubble Marketing.

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Bailing out the Irish!

Friday, August 15th, 2014

Today I had a very tough but an  enjoyable day. A late start with  heavy rain most of the day. However it was really good enjoyable running with Benjamin a Berliner who tracked me down.  He helped me a lot today. Benjamin was very well read on my blog. Can you believe he even mentioned the red jacket. The red jacket I wore for the first 100 days of the run without taking it off because it was winter. He asked me jokingly if it was the same red jacket I wrote about in march 2011. ” wasn’t that in the Nebraska!” Then he asked me what was in my backpack. My sleeping bag clothes charger  bits and pieces ” And the magic letter!” He said long time readers to the blog  will know the magic letter is a letter of introduction from the Lord Mayor of Dublin. Also other interesting questions about the Darien Gap. Before he left he got some delicious goodies in the supermarket! Thanks Benjamin I enjoy the run with you it was great :) Benjamin confided in me a desire to run around the world but instead of using a cart he would use a wheel barrow!

But you are married with five kids and what would you do with your wife? I asked. I would put her in the wheel barrow! He replied. A stronger man than me I thought!

There was a lot of rain today but it didn’t dampen my spirits I really enjoyed today.  My Spot tracker didn’t update properly. I made it to Bonn the old German capital. 30km.Finished outside of McDonalds. Theo as mentioned in last blog had picked up Nirvana from Jurgen’s. We decided to call it a day because I was pretty cold from the rain so we will return there tomorrow. Theo had booked a very nice hotel and we had a nice dinner. Theo born in Holland, works  in Strasburg, France. Married to an Irish woman he has an Irish accent. A speaker of seven languages. So he took a bit of figuring out. He wondered if the reason the Germans – except for Benjamin -were not out supporting me was because they had already bailed out four million Irish people! He mentioned that he knew a woman that has a place for me to stay but the only problem is her dog does not like men! And Theo said Tony looks like a bag of bones so perhaps the dog will like him. So the lady said don’t worry I will lock him up in my bedroom! So Theo asked ….Lock who up in your bedroom…. the dog or Tony? :( I tell you its just as well I don’t offered easily. Later in an email from Benjamin ” I was shocked at how bad you looked!” My own sister Ann remarked on the Brno photos ” you used to look younger, nicer and fitter, what happened!?” And Tomás Rusek in Brno on the phone to friends.. ” Yes Tony Mangan he used to be a good runner!” And I am thinking I am crap now put out to pasture to run around the world :)   Theo had driven several hours all the way from Strasbourg in France he’s going to crew for me tomorrow what a guy thank you very much Benjamin and  Theo.

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Less than 1,000km to Dublin!

Friday, August 15th, 2014

Thursday 14th Taking a rest day in my German friend Jurgen and Irish wife Bernadette’s house in Sankt Augustine. Thanks to them for making me so welcome and I have met my tea drinking match in Bernadette! Jurgen used to live in Dublin and we were great buddies playing football, drinking pints in the Brazen Head among many other places for many years.  His English is so good he is an English language teacher having perfected his linguistic skills  in Dublin. A massive fan of music not to mention a Monty Python fan!  His favorite sketch being ‘ the smack on the head ‘ episode, indeed back in Dublin for many years he kept reminding me of this, teasing me and reciting those immortal words when I mentioned I got a smack on my head from Hungarian gypsies on a previous cycling holiday!
He met Bernadette in Dublin, they married and a few years later they moved to Germany.
So I had a nice restful day goofing off from all the work I planned to do here.

I have committed myself to being in Calais about 435 km away on evening of 24th. I travel to Dover, England on 25th. Dublin port is about 970km away. I will arrive in Dublin Port from Holyhead on September 13th at 12.10pm Hoping you can be there!

I will take a rest day in Ealing, London to see another old friend, a friend since I was 19, a man called Louis Brady who I have not seen since 1986. Now married with a family, so I look forward to that visit also.
Thanks to Stena Line for my complimentary passage to Dublin from Holyhead which Kevin Scanlon helped to obtain from the friendly Stena staff.
A  man called Theo Wells who has been a follower of the blog and has emailed me many times with encouragement and even arranged a few pairs of sponsored shoes during the run from John Buckley Sports in Cork. Thank you John and Theo for this.

Theo lives about three and a half hours away from where I am staying now and tomorrow evening will drive over to Jurgen’s place to pick up Nirvana.
Early Friday afternoon after Jurgen’s English language classes Jurgen will return me to where I finished yesterday, about 27km east of here. I will run with a pack as far as Bornheim, a bit more than a marathon away.

Theo has booked a hotel there for us and will crew me on Saturday, What a man, thanks Theo.
He has contacted a few runners in Belgium, so I look forward to running with them. I am very surprised there was almost no response from the huge German ultra running community.
I have about three more days on the road in Germany and then countries 36,37,38 and 39 will follow all within a week! That is Holland, Belgium, France and England. Ah Yes England I am especially looking forward to that and all the fry-ups :)
Theo is also going to see if he can get Nirvana transported ahead to Calais.
In Dover I will be met by Siobhan Clifford and her husband Billy. You may remember Siobhan’s Blue Bubble marketing company are going to be arranging my lap around Ireland and the associated logistics involved, So thanks to Siobhan and Billy for organizing some of their camping holiday around my run through the UK. I look forward to running with Billy who I am told is a very fast runner! And drinking lots of tea. They will then transport Nirvana back to Ireland in their camper, so that’s the plan.
Press HERE for my route to Calais

And my UK route please press HERE

Total to date 47,397km in 1,085 road days.

970  kilometres to Dublin :)

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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...

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