World Run II / Reports

The map shows the position of which the pictures for the day are taken (if any). The start and finish markers are placed at the first and last valid registered position. This is not nessesary the actual start and finish position, if GSM or GPS signals was not available.

Goto: 2011-10-08 2011-10-10 Peru

2011-10-09:

64
Distance today: 60.0 km (Accumulated: 29051.0 km)
Elapsed time: 05:26:30
Country: Peru

Start 08:38am., 23c, humid, half overcast & light wind, at km-stone "157" on hwy. 1NN. Finish 15:39pm., 34c, very humid/steamy, overcast & no wind, at km-stone "217" on hwy 1NN.

Tropical beach paradise, Anyone ?
- 60km's run in 'a sauna', anyone ? ;-)

The second option was todays achievement. The first, was the reward afterwards :-))
You can hopefully get a glimse of both via todays pictures...

And while I'll happily admit that 60km's is no impressive effort in ultra-running terms -since "ultrarunning" normally has 50kmk as its shortest sprint-distance - Then I'd say that with now 29 000km in the legs, then each step hits' like an uppercut in a heavy-weigh boxing fight ;-)

This may sound like a grave exaggeration.
Oddly enough; this phenomenon that runs of this scale has a distinct rise in difficulty when running beyond the 18-20 000 km mark has turned out to be the by far most difficult aspect of the world runs. And especially the world run 2. Not in the way which you'd expect: that its physically severely taxing on the body. But instead that its so much beyond what normally is done, even in the extreme sports; that it becomes difficult to explain. And this leaves you in a lonely place - where it possible to share many aspects of the experience, to communicate via electronic media, to have people take part in the run for longer or shorter; or when doing interviews. But to explain what its like 'on the other side' - the other side of the 20 000km mark in each of the two world runs... This doesnt let itself be captured in words which is used to describe more normal things.
.. The closest I can get of transferring the feeling, would be that of how I imagine it must feel like to be 120years old, wake up in the morning and go for a brisk 10km run. I'd imagine you'll also there have the experiense of trying to 'raise yourself from the dead' each morning in order to continue ;-))

This is hardly what you'd expect to be the biggest challenge of all when planning global runs like these. Logistics, setteling in and adapting to local culture and habits, dealing w. tropical diseases, overcoming injuries - or even better: avoiding them :-), and ofcourse meeting the physical and mental/motivational
daily challenge which it takes to keep running through weeks, months and years into new horizons.

Not long ago I had a visit by my now ex-girlfriend who happens to be among the worlds top multiday-runners. But even when sharing so much of our mutual sport, and having run the first 7000km of world run 2 together; then I still fell short of getting through' with even a fraction of how the every-day feeling is this far into the run. Certainly not by her fault, but apparently due to the painfull truth, that you reach a point where no one has a scale to relate.

- And this is by the way not to say that there isnt higher achievements in extreme-running. Any given 100km or 24-hour race can be much more intense. And in my oppinion, running
probably never gets harder than the first time you complete a 5km or 10km training run and breaks the highest barrier that you'll meet in running: to become a Long Distance Runner :-)
Anything from then on is just to add up the distance a bit. (Though things tend to change when running past the 20 000km point, as mentioned).

The outstanding, quiet and very enjoyable beach-hotel where I am lucky to be staying tonight to reward myself for todays run (and my peruvian supportdriver for his good effort too !), is owned by a charming english speaking lady - who has picked up her strong american accent during 24years in New York ! (english speaking peruvians are about 1000km of running between, I have learned ;-).
Along with maneaging the excellent hotel, she also has an authistic son - who by the way lend an intersting ear' to my stories from the other parts of the world run ! Afterwards, thinking about the above, I cant help imagining to have a slight idea of his world - a world where its hard for others to understand what is going on. And where you watch the outside world in surprise or disbelieve sometimes. Though I know this is to take a much harder situation and comparing it with my luxury-life of beeing a fulltime runner, world-bound'!
And should the growing distance mean that I cant share all aspects of the experience as it becomes more and more extreme; then I should take it with happiness in my stride :-)

The Hotel, in case you should one day find yourself in these parts of the world, is called "Villa Del Mar" and is located 12km's from the city Zorritos in Northern Peru.
Across 6 continents, I struggle to remember a better location for a hotel, or a more friendly staff. Its on my top list along w. my stay at Lake Titicaca at 4000m. alt., The Addis Abeba Hilton (oppulence and luxury after having been throwed stones at for 2months while running in Ethiopia in 2009)
and "Nutbush Retreat" with its cold swimming pool & 18-century rooms on the outskirts of a scorcing hot Nullabor Desert in Australia while running across that continent in 2005, in world run 1.

A remote and clean beachline streatches for nearly 100 tropical km's here, and somewhere along it was by the way one of the favorite fishing spots of Ernest Hemingway - so please excuse if the report today
is a bit drawn out; it may be the inspiration of the location... Though Im sure Hemingway would have looked at the situation with much more cynical clarity than to complain about a few km's of running ;-))

Now I'll go for a night walk along the moonlit' ocean - and watch one of my favorite movies afterwards: The Big Blue by Luc Besson. Which explains the "going beyond" much better than any words can !