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Thanks Michael for these kind words!

New post on Runner.com

Literally Running the World

Tony Mangan in Kittery, Maine USA
January 2, 2011

In 2010, Tony Mangan set out to run around the world for Aware, a charity helping to defeat depression. Tony’s world run, known as the ‘World Jog‘, began with his run in the Dublin Marathon on October 25, 2010 and has continued from east to west, from Ireland to North America, then to Central and South America and on to Australia, Asia and Europe with his expected completion, back in Dublin on October 27, 2014, at 2:05 pm.

Mangan’s goal is to complete a distance of approximately 50,000 km over a four-year period of near-continuous travel. This involves running roughly the distance of a marathon per day.

Thanks To Michael Gillan my support driver for the Australian leg of the run for posting this! Good luck Michael..You are a true pro, lovely working and traveling with you Tony

Our first guest feature is written by Michael Gillan, Tony’s trainer for the Australian leg of his run.

A TRAINER’S THOUGHTS ON TONY MANGAN’S WORLD RUN

by Michael Gillan

World jog was special not only for the number of flies I was on intimate terms with but also because of the spectacular sunrises and sunsets out there which made it worthwhile getting up early in the morning and getting running motivation for the day

Michael Gillan
(Tony Mangan’s Trainer through Australia)

For many runners getting up and getting motivated becomes a chore, something that has to be done and this makes it hard on the body and to be honest if your heart is not in it you are not going to get any benefit so may just as well stay in bed for all the good it will do for you.

I have worked at many ultra marathon events with many top runners all over the world and learned from them, they do have down days and difficulties being motivated sometimes, but the one thing they have in common is focus, they concentrate on the big picture of why they are doing it.

When you are trying to get the motivation, sometimes the small things of the moment, the rain, the cold, the feelings of self doubt can creep in and spoil the enjoyment of it all, but the greats never let self doubt creep into them-they keep the big picture in their mind and everything else becomes mainly a minor irritant.

Every day you go out training or running and the challenges you meet while doing it should be treated as a new day and not a continuation of the previous one-the two of us got through 2 and half months together because in spite of the problems we met that day, we learned by our mistakes and just kept the good memories of it-and moved on.

Anyway when you look at the day to come life takes on new meaning and if you get up to go out training and it is becoming a chore, try to look at with fresh eyes and you may just see something that you had previously missed that would make you anticipate the run not dread it.

by Michael Gillan of http://www.theworldjog.com

Tony Mangan’s route through Australia

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 at 3:32 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.

2 Responses to “Thanks Michael for these kind words!”

kevin scanlon Says:
July 10th, 2013 at 3:14 pm
tony, Michael’s words are inspirational. so simple but so true, even for us runners with small goals. well done to you and Michael. kevin
Ann Says:
July 11th, 2013 at 12:29 am
What a wise blog entry with so few, but reall meaningful words. Well done Michael, your words could be interpreted into many walks of life. You were such a great support to Tony. Thankyou

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...