Bienvenido a mis amigos mexicanos querido! Gracias por cuidar de mí tan grande aquí en México.
Mi sitio web tiene una traducción al español la posibilidad!
Por favor, sólo tiene que desplazarse hacia abajo y seleccione el idioma español en la herramienta de TRANSLATE en el lado derecho de mi página de blog. Espero verte en el camino!  Tony

Manuel called over to the Desert Inn Hotel for me at 3.30am and we drove out the 35k marker where I finished up yesterday. The loco wanted to have a sing song in the truck and I was doing all I could to keep my eyes open.

When we arrived he said to me.

” Tony do you want to start here or the other side of the mountain?

” Are you mad Manuel, never in a million years. I always start from where I finished the day before…..Every meter from Dublin.

So I ran on for a couple of hours 15km all uphill. It was nice and fresh at that early hour so I ran topless, just my yellow hi-viz vest on. As we approached the top of one hill he called me back to the pickup truck and gave me an orange.

” See Tony the top is only cien metros ( 100 meters) and then all downhill for the rest of the day!”

Joker, I didn’t see the top of that hill for another 26km!

Still I was delighted I was not pushing Nirvana over this mountain. She adds at least 2 hours to my day.

Manuel had even gone to the trouble of filling up a large plastic jerry can with water so as  I could have a shower with a hose when the going got tough. There were a lot of clouds this morning so thankfully I got an extra couple of hours bonus coolness until the brute escaped and poured down his inferno eyes upon me.

We stopped at a couple of rancho cafes along the way. At the second I treated him to a steak breakfast. I had one myself even though I wasn’t hungry as it was unlikely I would not have another opportunity till I got to Ciudad Insurgentes, about 60km away. I ended up taking it away with me, will have it for breakfast tomorrow.

WITH EL LOCO

For anyone just joining the blog; Manuel works for Los Angeles Verdes or The Green Angels.

The Angels provide a unique service I have not seen anywhere in the world in my almost 70 countries travelling. They scour the roads all over Mexico 365 days a year driving something like 20 million kilometers looking for broken down vehicles. They are all expert mechanics a bit like the Automobile Association but with a tourist helping hand slant. Their service is free. They even have a free phone number. Their hours are from 8 am till 8pm.

Manuel told me I have been given special treatment above and beyond their normal service because as he puts it my mission is special. They have escorted me a huge proportion of my run from the border at Tecate through Baja. In addition to escorting me I have been able to run hands free saving myself a couple of hours as mentioned before as they carry Nirvana in their trucks. As I always say this is about me pushing myself around the world and not about me pushing a cart around the world!

Occasionally as I climbed on and on he would put on the siren and frighten the bejasus out of me!

My arms and legs would stretch out hair standing on ends like I was electrocuted and then on the loudspeaker…

” Loco Tony, Cien Metros Mas! ”

” I will get you back for that… You just wait till you ask me to sign your activity sheet. What does Pesimo mean Manuel ”

” It’s worse than Malo, Tony, It means atrocious! ”

” Well that’s what it will be Loco, Tu es Pesimo! ”

So eventually after almost 41km and at marker 44.5 we get to a construction site where a security guard meets us at the entrance. I pull out my letter of introduction from the Tourist Secretary and a newspaper cutting and ask if I can sleep for a few hours under a shady water tank. The guard says sure, no problem.

GLORIA IS MY WATER TANK! ARMANDO AND LOCO LOOK ON

I am delighted to get out of this heat and to be able to sleep for a good few hours.

” This ok tonight? ” Says El Loco

” Sure is Manuel, what’s the Spanish for heaven? ”

” There are many names for heaven. ” He rattled them off.

One of them was easy to remember…. gloria.

” Tonight I am out of the inferno (hell) and into gloria. ”

” Anyway, Pesimo… Give me that work sheet to sign! ”

” What you going to put on the comments Tony? ”

” Loco! ” I said and did!

Had a half decent sleep but being so near the road anytime a big noisy truck went by it wakened me but I usually fell straight back asleep.

I was out on the road at 2.30am. I am finding it hard to get into a decent pace at this hour especially on days like this morning when pushing Nirvana, I guess it’s like shift work, takes some getting used to. My energy seemed to be drained and almost every kilometer to Ciudad Insurgentes was a battle, I stopped many times to rest.

One time I found this little fellow.

MY COLOURFUL FRIEND

Then for the last 7km I was escorted into town by a police officer. I threw Nirvana into the back of his truck, filled 2 water bottles and was flying!

As I ran towards the town from about 1km out I saw what looked like a green white and orange flag in the distance. Surely they didn’t get an Irish flag to welcome me!

Several locals are calling out their greetings, others are taking photos.  It seems my world run has captivated people in almost every part of North America I have been to. A bit different in Ireland where I have been more or less ignored, I thought as I ran towards the ” Irish flag ”

Yes except for a few loyal journalists and a wonderful Irish running community I have been ignored. Even when I splashed into the Pacific, not a mention, even when I had a 3 week timeout in Ireland all my emails resulted in was a 10pm late night slot on Newstalk. Even my offer to run in the Cork Marathon during my timeout was ignored, like all the other emails.

Those that read this blog and know me well know I rarely seek out publicity but it hurts when your own ignore you for some clowns with funny haircuts.

Then as I approached the flag I realized it was the green, white and red of Mexico and the red had faded to a sort of orange in the harsh sunlight here. That didn’t matter, this is another town, hundreds I have run through that have given me its heart. That’s all that matters.

The patrol car led me around the roundabout, turned left on highway 1. About a km further on down the road the towns new mayor, Martin Fuentes Rocha was waiting for me with several other people. I was brought to lunch of cactus plant, egg and meat. The cactus plant tasted just like a regular green pepper. I was given a motel room for the night at the cities expense.

WITH MAYOR MARTIN FUENTES ROCHA

Later Mayor Rocha brought me out to dinner in a chicken bar b q place.

He told me he has only been mayor for only 3 weeks  and pointed out the improvements. The bases of trees  on the main street have been painted white giving the strip a fresher look. A $70,000 corner clock that the previous mayor bought many years ago that worked for only one month before breaking down has now been fixed.

Tomorrow all the streets will be cleaned up, more painting. Bills have been paid and proper services which were neglected have been restored.

Tomorrow the next town Ciudad Constitucion is only 27km away, this towns only runner, also called Martin will accompany me at 6am. So too will mayor Rocha but in his pickup. We will stop and have coffee in his mams house on the way.

Martin told me that he worked in Texas in a similar town of about 11,000 people. He was an illegal. He worked as a welder and got tired of sneaking across the border. He managed that 4 times in the 14 years he lived in the states. On Christmas Day when the Border Patrol didn’t work he would walk for 14 hours and swim across the Rio Grande back to the states. The Mexicans, just like the Americans love a trier, at least he tried even if he failed. In Ireland we begrudge other peoples success.  I feel so lucky and must be one of the few Irish people that have had a SONG written about them while still alive.

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