FROM THE EQUATOR TO 10,000 MILES!
THE EQUATOR AT LAST!
TOTAL TO DATE 16,707 KM FOR 392 ROAD DAYS.
25/3/2012. FROM CATAMAYO GAS STATION (KM 951) TO KM 983. KM MARKERS SUDDENLY APPEARED ON THE ROUTE TODAY! PAN-AMERICAN ROUTE 35. START WITH 2 AND A HALF HOUR CLIMB, RAN NON-STOP TO SAN PEDRO AND THEN MORE CLIMBING,T OTAL CLIMBING TODAY =25KM. TODAY 32KM RUN. FOG AND HEAVY RAIN SET IN FOR THE LAST 5KM. I WAS LUCKY TO GET MY BUS BACK TO LOJA AS MSEVERAL DIDN’T STOP.
24/3/2012. FROM LOJA, HOTEL DEL BUS TO CATAMAYO GAS STATION = 36KM, START WITH 15KM UPHILL AND THEN NICE DOWNHILL AT END DAY, TOUGH DAY.
22ND AND 23RD 2 VERY EASY REST DAYS IN LOJA EATING STEAKS 
21/3/2012 FROM SANTIAGO TO LOJA = 33KM A VERY TOUGH DAY… AND COULDN’T FINISH MY STEAK! THAT WAS VERY TOUGH TOO!
Osvaldo seemed to be very excited about the run and after I finished my celebratory ice cream and soft drink he invited me inside to the store which had a restaurant. We took pictures, chatted for about an hour, I was in no hurry, today was a day I had been dreaming of for so long. Almost 16,000km by my route. Osvaldo’s wife served me a delicious bowl of potato soup also a chicken, rice and vegetable meal.
THANK YOU OSVALDO!
A young German man called Martin also worked there to learn Spanish.
He told me about his first night in Quito, the Ecuadorian capital. He was outside playing football in a poor area of the city when a few men came along and robbed them at gunpoint. They left them naked right there on the football pitch. You can have all the hiding places in the world but in situations like this I guess all you can do is plead for your passport and underpants!
Michael told me he couldn’t understand this as all the lads had their passports and valuables inside in the hostel.
I ran on feeling great and ran the hardest 3 hours in many a month. I was feeling strong… Yes there is only one song to play tonight.
Next morning I took a wrong turn at the start and ran 8km out of my way.
So I returned to the junction and stopped for breakfast. The man there asked me if I was mad because he saw me running one way out of the town, returning and then wanted to run towards Palugi.
I finished that day with 41km, not counting the extras! To cool down I got my haircut and had a delicious Chop Suey.
I figure Chinese food is a good and safe option as I am not fond of the food here in Northern Ecuador. Sometimes the meat just tastes like rubber, almost impossible to chew, so what’s the point? Though the soup is often delicious, it’s a bit of a sickener to spoon out chicken claws from the bottom of the bowl! I have been told to expect whole chicken heads in other parts!
Just after I passed 16,000km for the run there was flooding on the highway. The police were out directing the traffic. I just ran through leaving jealous motorists stuck in a 5km traffic jam in both directions. It was nice, safe and quiet for me!
SORRY FOR THE DAMAGED PHOTO.
I don’t see many altitude signs but reckon I am around 2,000 metres, not very high I know but never the less I am breathing very heavily.
Richard, my American friend who is coming out to run with me in a few days says my HEAVY BAG as I know call my 18kg and growing supply bag has arrived in Guayaquil.
Then what goes up must eventually come down, even if sometimes I wonder!
I had a lovely mostly downhill and flat road for 36km all the way to Latacunga.
There was also a lot of roadworks and widening the highway so I had huge sections of closed highway both in the middle of the road and on the right side to myself, very nice.
There are a lot of poor people living at the side of the road and from what I can see the roadworkers just move their mostly shacks further back so as they can widen the road. It seems a bit heavy handed to me, but what can you do when an overcrowded road needs to be widened. It probably just takes a day or so to move them back as many are so basic they probably don’t even have a foundation.
It must be a bit sad for them as many once had a long front garden. Now just a metre or two from their front doors there is a cliff and a steep drop down onto the highway. It must be very difficult for their children out playing.Next day was a big day, at km marker 92 near the village of Yambo I celebrated my 10,000th mile!
AT KM MARKER 92 JUST BEFORE YAMBO I RAN MY 10,000TH MILE!
And the hardest climb that day was right up to that marker. I was determined not to slacken off.
It had been a lovely day, many times I stopped to talk to people on the road and in some of the small villages and towns and especially in a place called Salcedo when I ran through. I enjoyed every single kilometre.
Many places in Ecuador have clown bins where people throw their rubbish into the clowns mouth, a great learning tool for young children.
OPEN YOUR MOUTH YOU CLOWN! SORRY ITS ONLY THE ICE CREAM STICK!
AND IRISH WOMEN HAVE IT SO EASY!
March 25th, 2012 at 3:02 am
Great photos tony. Glad I don’t have to take the chickens claws out of my bowl. Ah us Irish women have it so handy. Take care and continue to enjoy