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In Auckland

Hi Everyone,

I arrived in Auckland this afternoon and was picked up by my host Alan Knox at the airport. I will be going for a short run with his club at 5.30 after that we have something to eat and then I have been asked to give a talk!

It may take me a couple days to get going out of Auckland.

I had to book a flight out of New Zealand this morning as part of their entry requirement. So I have a confirmed booking for Christchurch to Hobart Tasmania, Australia departing Feb 27 at 9pm and arriving in Hobort on Feb 28 at 8am. I change and overnight in Melbourne airport.

So that means my NZ route will be timed to that date which is 6 weeks instead of the planned 5 weeks. I now expect to hit the mainland in Australia around 10 March

Also while in Nadi airport I was very lucky to escape a 100 euro excess baggage charge. I asked for a manager for the airline Air Pacific, after explaining about the run he kindly waived the charges Thank you Air Pacific

Thank you Air Pacific!

Also thanks again to Alan Knox and family for their kind help.

Also special best wishes to my great friend Phil Essam today, I have been thinking of you!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 at 3:15 am and is filed under jogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “In Auckland”

Greg Havely Says:
January 15th, 2013 at 4:22 am
HeyTony–wish I was there to knock out a few miles with you—-NZ has to be one of my favorite countries in the entire world—-lovely scenery, nice people, good food, clean air, no bugs, and everyone seems to love the outdoors!!!—-Your route looks interesting, especially on the south island along the coast—going through some really quaint towns–I think you are going to love it–hope the weather cooperates. So no more Bula bula–no it will be g’day mate—-what a great story you are making!!!—-OK man, keep up the good work–don’t let those Kiwis run you into the ground—you are the man!!!!!
Good running–Greg
Ann Says:
January 15th, 2013 at 11:31 pm
Great to see you have arrived in another country Tony and you have your route and flight all sorted. Your planning is always excellent. Hope you enjoy this experience in New Zealand
Ed Says:
January 16th, 2013 at 5:07 pm
Hi Tony, just checked your site for the first time in ages and its great to see you’ve landed in NZ! Sounds like you will have some good support there to start off anyway, keep on trucking!
Bob L Says:
January 17th, 2013 at 12:47 am
New Zealand should be so much easier than Central and South America.
A homeland of sorts (as with OZ)…mental rest before Asia!

since Tony began his World Run on 25th October 2010

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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...