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Road day 800 towards the equator – the dream is very much alive.

* You may have noticed there is some kind of a glitch on the Spot tracker at the moment as it says last day ran was 33 days ago when in fact it was 3 days ago. I hope it clears again when I start back on Thursday 12th.

My heart is always sad and heavy on this day, 9/11. My thoughts were with my many American friends today.

As mentioned before. Please read the comments regularly as I hope to continue texting to Ann to submit. Obviously I cant leave the backbone of the blog on the comments, so here I am moving them into the blog. I hope to have time to edit and picture before I start running from Singapore to Malaysia, my 23rd country on Thursday. Its 1,800km to Bangkok, Thailand where Nirvana is waiting for me! Singapore is the smallest country on the run, all 25km of it. I will have Lyndon my host here to run me out of town. Lyndon is originally from Maynooth, Co. Kildare, in Ireland. He has been working here for many years as an investments manager and is married to Li, a Malaysian he met in Trinity College many years ago.

After Singapore press HERE to see my immediate route through Malaysia and over the border into Hat Yai in Thailand. Mainland Asia begins on the Singapore Straight sea front with the next sea crossing in Calais France!

By the way almost forgot to mention that Thailand where I will be entering in about 3 weeks time only issues a 15 day visa on arrival = VOA for land border crossings. So it was looking like another costly and time consuming ‘ visa run ‘ So I applied for and picked up a 60 day Thai visa in their Singapore embassy today. Normally 3 days to process but they gave me a next day service when I told them what I was doing. So there is no problem visa wise for the next 3  countries as both Malaysia and Laos are VOA countries,. After that the fun begins with the big three China, Kazakhstan and Russia. These three are huge obstacles and are like three colossal jumps in a show jumping arena for me, one after the other. They have taken up a huge amount of my pillow time over the last three years. lets just say I hope to get help with the Chinese one, Kaz will be difficult as I need about 10 weeks. Until recently they were only issuing a double entry 30 visa, 30 days per entry that is. That was a bit tight for me and too little time as my route is about 3,000km. They have just started issuing triple 30 day visas which means I would have to leave twice only to return but fortunately the first 800km are very close to the Kyrgyzstan border. Kyrgyzstan since July 2012 have been a VOA country. There is a possibility I may include Kyrgyzstan in the run as this would minimise my disruption. This just makes the run 100km longer, so very much a plan there. I would then have to make an exit between my second and third Kazak entries. I have a decent plan for the Russian visa, so let’s see. After Russia it’s all plain sailing or even running because it’s visa Heaven in the Ukraine and the European Union all the way to Dublin :)

Many thanks to my hosts Lyndon and Li and their great maid Luz here in Singapore.

Many thanks to Luz, Katie, Li, Wes and Lyndon for a lovely time and hospitality in Singapore. I enjoyed the 3 day rest.

Yesterday I was thrilled to be asked to speak to about 10 staff at the Irish embassy, unfortunately Joe Hayes the ambassador was called away to the Philippines that very morning. Still his wife Deirdre and the staff made me so welcome.

Lyndon and I then went to the Tanglin Club to have dinner with some nice athlete friends of his.Friday and Saturday every time I got annoyed with Indonesian drivers, people gave me a boost with small offerings to restore my faith in the country. It’s not the peoples I feel like this,that is till the get behind a wheel or a scooter. They are the most dangerous drivers on the run,by a long shot. I honestly cannot even imagine how much more difficult it would be if I was pushing Nirvana my cart through all this. The gawkers,maulers and rubbernecks would have an eye opener,that’s for sure. Nirvana by the way was sent on ahead from Auckland to Bangkok. I can’t imagine doing this in rainy season either for I am told it rains all day every day. It’s now the dry or hot season,around 35C which is pretty hot with all this humidity. Nothing dries out fully overnight when hung out to dry. I forgot to mention this when I was talking about drying my socks which as you remember I slip over my water bottles while I run. My other clothes I just stick on my pack. As it hadn’t rained in two months I threw away my rain coat which I had cut down to size.I had cut off excess below the belt,sleeves and pockets. As soon as I threw it away the showers returned :-(

A couple of times they didn’t charge for tea or coffee and other snacks when I ran for cover to their shops and coffee shops. Just after a heavy half hour shower I saw a scooter skid off the road into a ditch,rider and passenger unhurt. I get to the top of a hill and two goats walk across the road,so there is a bit of bedlam for me to run around as the shoulder is muddy and full of puddles, I work hard to stay out of the worst of it.

On into the filthy town of Bayung Lencir and I see a man ride his scooter with a baby that’s surely only one year old standing on the base plate as he rides. He was constantly moving his legs to keep Infant in place. I check into a grubby hotel and the owner decides to burn all his plastic rubbish,not down the back of his large garden but at the steps of his hotel and the toxins are blowing into his hotel. I have done so much headshaking in Indonesia that I am afraid my head will fall off! 47km slugged out that day. No internet in town. Saturday pretty similar day but only 36km as I starred late,sheltered more and stopped early in Sungai Landai at a warung called Ojo Lali where the owner called Dwi Duys is letting me sleep. Tomorrow,Sunday will be road day 800 of the dream :-) total 34,470km

September 1st was Day 800 of my run around the world. I started at around latitude -1.85 degrees from the equator. I expect to be at the centre of the earth next weekend. Readers that don’t know you can check my location by clicking on my last Spot location. While I am at it I should mention you can see Googles pictures by dragging the yellow man on the + and – zoom over to the map to view.
The day ended with an uneventful 43km. For me the most eagerly awaited kilometre of the entire run will be km 42,195 I expect all marathon runners will quickly figure that is 1,000 marathons. My own personal challenge within the run is to run this in under 1,000 road days. This challenge has helped to keep me focused and motivated. At the moment I have 818 run, so am about 18 ahead. Ah yes I remember Terry Cleary back in Darwin say we ultra runners treat kilometres we run like they are ice lollies! I guess that means marathons too :-) I expect to run that kilometre, my 1,000th marathon in west China, near Urumqi in mid March. Now what other big Irish day is in Mid March.. Got me thinking :-) I am up for this challenge. For me the only worry will be progress during the short days of a cold Chinese winter. Obviously getting a bigger lead before then would be an enormous help. Let’s see how it goes. Being 18 marathons ahead of the average required is now 39.5km per road day. If I continue running as I am now this average required distance will keep dropping every month, then very dramatically in the last 2 or 3 months. A pleasant experience I remember only too well from the final hours of my world treadmill record attempts as with fantastic crewmen I was always so lucky to have I somehow always managed to stay ahead of record pace it was always an enjoyable canter near the end with the world record secured. When I get to the equator I will tick off two more requirements for a true circum navigation of the world. Briefly, besides the obvious stuff and documentation there are 5 criteria to be fulfilled. So far I have one, that is the minimum distance of 26,000km which has long since been passed. The next 2 I will achieve at the equator as I will be to recrossing it after having first crosses in Ecuador about 18 months and about 18,000km ago. At the same time I will be declaring my ‘ antipodes. ‘

A typical place I stop for a break at. it doesn't take long for the gawkers to gather! That's my 2 kilo satchel. I have a water proof bag inside.

Antipodes are directly opposite points in the world,in other words if you drill from one directly through the earth you will come out at the other. Not as easy as you may think to find 2 opposites as so much of the world is ocean and wilderness,inaccessible like in parts of Siberia. There is a tolerance here and my 2 antipodes are my 2 equators, the village where the marker was in Ecuador and the one here in Indonesia. Requirement 4 is to run a minimum of 4 continents. I am running number 4 now. Requirement 5 will be achieved with my final footstep outside number 6 Merrion Sq North which means I have to finish in the same place I started. Total for 800 road days 34,513km . I am currently at latitude -1.65184.Time here to mention my good friend Tom Denniss who in a few days time will be finishing his 26,000km+ almost 21 month run around the world in his native Sydney, Australia.  Good on ya matey, I knew you would do it. Follow Toms last few days on his website HERE

My celebration meal for road day 800 was a modest pot noodle meal followed by biscuits and a couple of cappuccinos! I had made it to a hotel which was between villages, so was even lucky to get that in the petrol station next door. Next day for some reason I didn’t feel like breakfast and my lunch was only an ice cream,a bar of chocolate and a cola so it was no surprise I ran out of fuel running on the hills that Monday afternoon. Sumatra is pretty hilly. Still I managed a respectable 44km. I made it to a beat up warung which as I mentioned before is a restaurant. It had no electricity but was quiet, just the owner and his wife there. There was a sheltered area outside for day napping so I asked if I could stay there and he agreed. I paid him a few dollars as is my custom and had a decent meal and a 12 hour rest for I put head to pillow around 7pm. As always mosquitoes are a pest. I use repellent which comes in sachets or small tubes as my experience is that aerosol cans leak out,they are also very bulky. I use sachet shampoo and buya couple at a time and disposable razors as I need them.

Bulk is also important to me. He offered me a wash down in the mandi bucket method. I refused as sometimes its healthiest to go unwashed for an extra day. For it was across a muddy field where I would have to strip off in a filthy mosquito filled shack under the light of my flash light. Then pour cold water over my body. No tonight I am camping just like in the Australian outback. There was one period when we didn’t have a camp site or road house for a week. One night I filled a squirt water bottle with warm soapy water and had a grand shower when I stood on a concrete slab in my jocks!

Tuesday morning this man set me up for a bad mood day when he seriously overcharged me for breakfast. The most expensive in all of Indonesia and a dump. Funny how the only problems I have had in this country,police. refusals,suspicion,overcharging has only been in Islamic Indonesia. Not a problem anywhere else in the country and I still remember the Iman in that mosque in Lombok who never even looked at me or offer a handshake or acknowledge my presence in anyway when a man was asking him if I could sleep on an adjoining sheltered area. I am not saying the Muslims are any less hospitable, far from it as what I am asking is a big ask, to stay in their home, even if they are poor and I am paying them. I just think they are more suspicious and harder to break the ice with in many cases.

Of the 5 or 6 live snakes on the run, not to mention the countless still or dead ones, three have been in Indonesia.

What with all lunatics on the road and the filth and dirt I will be glad to be gone in a few days time. Every where I cast my eye I see litter. No exaggeration for I have done my own unscientific test as I ran along. On 50 movements of my head I randomly focus my eyes and yes there is always litter, on all 50 occasions. Indonesia has significantly more dirt and filth than even Peru had. What is the government doing re collections and education I wonder.
The hills continued today along with some heavy rain, some of which I ran through for I finished strongly at another warung with 46km for my days work. Total 34,603km for 802 road days and about a degree and a quarter from the equator.

Had a couple hours internet today,Fri for first time in almost 2 weeks,so with rain showers and my usual slow start I did well to chalk up 39 ice lollies! Total 34,745 for 805 days. I made it to a cafe in Pangkalan Kasai as another downpour beat out of the sky so a rain shelter ended up being a nite shelter after a couple teas.

I settled down to sleep on the mat and pillow Succillo kindly provided for me. There has been some conflicting information the locals have given me about how far to the equator but to cut a long story short it seems my calculation of 100km from here to the equator line via Japura is correct,at least I hope it is. Another person told me they moved the monument!! I mean how do you move the equator,only in Indonesia!

So I plan to end Indonesia hopefully on Sunday,8th September at the equator. I will continue South East Asia from Singapore. I regret to say I did not make it there before my MSB clubmate Stafford Bagot went on holidays.Stafford lives there and has kindly sent my packages to Lyndon an Irish man who has offered to help,thanks lads and I am afraid there will not be a next time running through!

The traffic has been much lighter since leaving Palembang almost 2 weeks ago. Though the nutters are still there I can run more on the road.

I saw one man playing his guitar, he was the pillion passenger, a good laugh.

I stayed in their warung too, more great people.

Another day a man selling logs in a village I run through puts a log standing on the road, a good metre out onto the road to entice customers. This means Approaching traffic has to slow down or take a risk moving out when they are faced with an oncoming vehicle. The police just drive by and do nothing. Indonesia is a dysfunctional country, partly due to it’s corrupt government, Indonesia being one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

I am very tired of Indonesia to put it mildly. I am here to run across their country and they have ruined the experience with their stupidity. I love the people but so often the drivers are a different breed,when I am on the road I hate the country when I’m off it I love it, don’t want to come back.

Two days ago I ran 53k and sheltered from rain in poor peoples house,they had almost nothing. I wondered what do the people look forward to There will never be a rock concert or even a football game to go to. I stayed in the police station. Next day 50k and I stayed in a warung.

The day before I got to the equator I ran 59km which would leave a marathon the next day. The warung I stayed in there was nice, they gave me a mattress in my own room, someone was shifted out to make room for me, that often happens. The bathroom was fairly clean, so I had a decent wash as described before, but in this place they had fish in the large mandie tank! I washed my clothes, need to be clean for my flight to Singapore. Hopefully I can get a good early start.

I did get away early, but could have gotten away earlier as I was still tired from yesterdays big effort, I was also tired on the road and stopped a couple of times.

As mentioned before; in Javanese ' mangan ' means to eat! he loves himself, if he was food he would eat himself :)

Then I got to the equator, it was a bit of an anticlimax, still a great thrill.

The equator has been reached and Indonesia run :)  My run through the southern hemisphere all the way from the equator In Ecuador which I through in Feb 2012 is dedicated to my late step father John Foley whose birthday it is today, September 8th when I reached the centre of the world.

The equator at last!

Thanks to Abdul for taking photos I will post shortly. Hoping to catch flight to Singapore tonight.Staying with Irish people for couple days.

3,649km run in 88 road days in Indonesia. A distance almost identical to Melbourne to Darwin across Australia. Much of the world probably thinks of Indonesia as being a chain of small islands. Sumatra, part of the Indonesian Archipelago is the 5th largest island in the world after Australia, Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo, with a land mass of 473,481km2. With a population of over 40 million people.

It is made up of many different ethnic tribes speaking 52 different
languages including Indonesian, Achenese, Toba Batak, Karo Batak,
Melayu and Minangkabau amongst the many. The terrain on Sumatra is
mostly mountainous

 


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3 Responses to “Road day 800 towards the equator – the dream is very much alive.”

  1. Fergus Says:

    Good Man Tony, Glad to hear that you got a worthwhile break in Singapore and delighted that the Irish Embassy were attentive to your needs especially after your testing time in Indonesia. We all hope the conditions will improve for you in Malaysia.

  2. Ann Says:

    Great read Tony, I’m sure you are glad to start another country and leave Indonisia and its drivers and litter behind. Take care Ann :)

  3. kevin scanlon Says:

    well done tony another chapter begins.

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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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