Feb 21st 2011. West of Mayview to Farmer City 50km = 31.1 miles.

Tonight I am the guest of Matt. Thanks so much

Feb 22nd 2011. Farmer City to McLean.  47.6km  = 29.6 miles.

Tonight Bob and Vera are forcing steak and ice cream into my big and willing mouth   Thanks so much!

Feb 23rd 2011.  McLean to 136/county road 3200 east junction   50km = 31.1 miles.

The food and company was so good I commuted back and forth for Bob and Vera’s steak and ice cream again! Also came back for a long lunch and more ice cream

Feb 24th 2011. US136/county road 3200 to 3km/2miles east of Ipava.  50km =  31.1 miles.

Tonight I am guest of Steve and Carol. Thanks so much

Feb 25th East of Ipava to Macomb  40.3km  =  25 miles.

Tonight I am the guest of Richie and Mo, Thank you very much 

Total for 104 Road days: 4,655.4  km = 2,892.8  miles = 110.4  marathons

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Before leaving Carol’s Cabin Renne’s husband Alan showed me around their dairy farm across the road from the cabin. It’s a monster operation as they have a few hundred cows which have to be milked 3 times a day starting at 4.30am. Each cow has a daily yield of 10 gallons. A hard life I think but Alan tells me its the greatest job in the world! They are so busy they built a whole new barn in the summer themselves. They poured 5,000 yards of concrete in it’s construction.
They also seem to have a maternity ward for their cows as calves are always being born. A huge pit was also dug to store the 3 million gallons of water needed for the farm reservoir.

I ran on into Port Jefferson, a small homely village and stopped in the 47 bar for a break. As I drank my coffee I got talking to Mark a project manager for a large construction company working in Louisiana on the cities rebuild after the terrible Hurricane Catrina disaster of a few years ago.
Mark works down in Lousina  returning to visit his girlfriend whenever he can. This being Valentines weekend he has made a big effort. He says there is an unlimited amount of work down there in the 15 year rebuild project. If you cant find work there you don’t want to work. Part of the labor shortage is due to a population drain where terrified people quite literally abandoned good houses in a effort to start a new life elsewhere. Mark gave me $50 towards my journey expenses.
That day I made it to Newport and stayed on Alan’s brother, Ted’s farm.

Next morning Sunday was a nice day. I stopped  for breakfast at a nice diner in Versailles called The Sweet Shop. Many of the locals were there having breakfast or coffee after Sunday service. I seemed to have made quiet a stirring in this sleepy town as it took me an hour and a half to have breakfast and get back on the road. I had my breakfast paid for and many well wishes.
Half an hour up the road I was stopped by a newspaper reporter who had been tipped off by a local.
on and on I went down route 47. I was aiming for Union City on the Ohio/Indiana state line. I didn’t have a contact for tonight so hustle will be the order of the day and will have to be sharp.
A little later a car slows down.
” Hey what are you doing? ” Says the driver.
” Running around the world. ”
” No shit! ” Says he.
” Yes shit! ” I say and then add.
” Where are you from? ”
” Union City. My name is Dean. ”
” Well Dean do you know any backpacker types that would put me up for the night in exchange for some stories of the road? ”
Dean drives off and comes back a few minutes later.
” How many nights you planning to stay? ”
” Just the one. ”
” I just spoke to my wife and you are welcome to stay with us but we do have a very small house. ”
” Sounds good. If I can put my sleeping bag on a sofa I am in Heaven! Can you give me your cell phone number please?”
An hour later I am stopped by the road by a man called Ronnie. He asks me into his home for a coffee. I go in and talk to him and his wife Teresa for a few minutes. They tell me that if Deans offer falls through that I should phone them as they have a vacant rental property in Union City.

I arrive in the city to find my phone has no service there. Payphones are non-existant or out of order as people rarely use them these  days. I go to the police station and ask them to phone Dean.

” Can you come down to the station to pick up your friend? ”

I’m hoping Dean is not back home drinking beer!

It turns out Dean is a model citizen, a pastor.

Union City is a divided city. Divided by the state line. Dean lives on the Indiana side and I run as he drives slowly towards his house. We cross over into Indiana and I remember a childhood song that seemed to stick in my mind for years. No particular reason other than it’s a beautiful song by R Dean Taylor called Indiana Wants Me (Lord I can’t go back there)  PLAY

His wife Azariah is stunningly beautiful and hails from Thailand. They have 3 young boys from their eight year marriage. They met when Dean was an English teacher in Thailand. Previously Dean was with the USA military in Iraq. He saw so much death and destruction that he decided there must be more to life than war so quit the military and studied for his pastorship.

The whole family squeezed into one room during my 2 night stay to give me the boys room, an incredible kind gesture.

Next day was Valentines day and I was able to abandon my beloved Nirvana. To keep my hands to myself. To be able to run another day without pushing her was a joy! I ran 50km mostly into a strong headwind to Losantville and waited for Dean to commute me back.
So on towards Noblesville. The weather is starting to heat up. Today I had a tailwind. i ran strongly.

Craig a triathlete hosted me for 3 nights in Noblesville and did a lot of driving to commutte me back and forth.

It is amazing that almost everyone I meet seems to be on flexitime. This meant I could run two more days buggy free.

One of these days the Boone County sheriff called out to me and said he got a complaint that a runner was running on the shoulder of the road! Imagine someone complaining about someone running and not even on the road. After telling him what I was doing he told me to proceed with caution. So I gave even more room to the traffic by running on the grass verge beyond the hard shoulder till I got to the next county, Montgomery county.

We went out for a lovely steak dinner with Craigs two young sons, Jack who is 9 years old  and Joey who is 7. They are both very sporting and seem to spend their evenings either playing basketball or swimming.
Good luck to your preparations for the Louisville Triathlon Craig. I know it’s so important to you and thanks for being yet another great American hero.

On my last day in Indiana I put in a long day – over 61km/ 38 miles. On the way I was joined by Curt and Don who took turns pushing Nirvana. Later I was joined by Dave and Janet. This was my second longest day of the world run after my 68km/44 miles in Newfoundland. these runners helped keep me going through a fatigue barrier especially after yesterdays 53km/ 33 plus mile day it was a very tough day.

Janet and her husband Kevin will host me for a couple of nights in Danville, just over the state  line in Illinois. Last week I averaged around 50km / 31 miles per day so tomorrow I will take a rest day. But its not a total rest day as I am a guest at Kevin and Janet’s running clubs Fat Ass trail race. Runners can run from one to four 7.1 mile loops, a sort of non-competitive fun run and you choose your distance. I decided I will run and walk one lap as I obviously dont want to get injured on the very slippery muddy trails but want to join in in the spirit of the event.

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