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ARRIVAL IN MAZATLAN, SINALOA STATE

Bienvenido a mis amigos mexicanos querido! Gracias por cuidar de mí tan grande aquí en México.
Mi sitio web tiene una traducción al español la posibilidad!
Por favor, sólo tiene que desplazarse hacia abajo y seleccione el idioma español en la herramienta de TRANSLATE en el lado derecho de mi página de blog. Espero verte en el camino!  Tony

After almost 17 hours the  ferry crossing from La Paz to Mazatlan docked. Mazatlan a city of about 400,000 in  Sinaloa, my 3rd Mexican state.

YOUNG PEOPLE OF MEXICO I LOVE YOU

Waiting there for me were a television cameraman, a newspaper reporter and Carlos of Sinaloa Tourism.

I cracked a joke which seemed to go down well… ” Young people of Mexico… I love you! ”

 The two journalists had their two young sons along for the ‘ experience . ’

I have noticed this a lot that relatives and friends of journalist tend to come along for the encounter which they probably wouldn’t have had I been say a politician or writer!

A lot of journalists also seem to be interested in my run insofar as taking photos using their own cameras after taking their ‘ official ‘ photos and then having more taken beside me.

Carlos tells me they have a press conference arranged for 11am in the Tourism Secretary’s office. It’s already 10.20. I told them I wanted to run the 3km to the hotel they had for me. Better to do it this way as tomorrow I can run straight from the hotel. I would not want to be finding my way back here tomorrow morning and have the hassle of going through the port security and what if it was closed. No run from here to the hotel is a no brainer, I didn’t  even bother logging the distance in my log, today is a rest day, my 4th straight one, getting lazy!

The boys and the reporters rode in the back of Carlos’s pickup truck taking pictures as I ran behind. Carlos set a cracking pace and several times I had to wave to get him to slow down, I was glad of the many speed bumps that made him break.

I was expecting a big sprawling ugly city and instead I got a beautiful small cultured city with a long, magnificent beach.

Inside the Tourism Secretary’s building I was introduced to Ivan who introduced me to about 25 journalists for the press conference. This went on for about an hour.

 Many of their questions were interesting and difficult to answer like; whats the difference between Canada, the USA and Mexico. There was almost an obsessional interest in my charity and some even had the AWARE.ie website open on their laptops. A Canadian journalist told me that in future I must speak more about charities as it is so important here in Mexico.

I also told them that I am disappointed and humiliated that it is not financially supported better than it is with donations to the charity. I told them that I was almost going to drop it entirely but decided to leave it on my website  because the other half of my charity goal is to have people talk about such important issues, like we are now.

After the press conference a couple of journalist asked for personal interviews in Spanish.

Then it was across the road to the promenade for a photo shoot run.

Back inside Ivan who is also a runner suggested a short run tonight. So it was set for 6.30 after I sorted out the dinner arrangements :) That would be 8pm.

Before I left the office I plotted out a route for my 3 days in the State.

I will be running south on route 15D. My first day will be about 25km short of the strangely named  ’ Gastronomical Festival ‘ in El Rosario. Well that sounds like food, I hope, so an arrangement was made for me to commute the 20 odd kilometers at the end of my day, be brought back next morning to my finishing spot and MAGICALLY arrive at the Gastronomical Festival next day for more gastros!

Then  it was discovered that Sinaloa States sports mad governor Mario Lopez Valdez, or Malova as he prefers to be called,will be in El Rosario. Ivan got working on trying to hook the governor up for a run with me during his visit.

Malova if you are reading this…. Time to dust off your best running shoes, I’m comming to get you!

So next it was off to the very plush Hotel Posada Freeman which Sinaloa Tourism have provided for me along with meals.

I had a lovely T-bone steak and ice cream lunch, I guess my appetite is back.

Ivan phoned my room at 6pm to suggest we should delay our run for another hour as its still 35 degrees C! Im lying on my bed sweltering and wondering what it’s going to be like when I am out on the road…

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One Response to “ARRIVAL IN MAZATLAN, SINALOA STATE”

  1. Mam Says:

    Hi Tony, we are really enjoying reading your blog. All the Journalists and photographers are taking a great interest in the run. Great speaking to you on Monday night. Glad all going well and you are now on mainland Mexico. Continue to enjoy and mind yourself. You are doing great. Mam :)

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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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