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: 2011-10-10 2011-10-12 Equador

2011-10-11:

46
Distance today: 37.0 km (Accumulated: 29115.0 km)
Elapsed time: 03:31:53
Country: Equador

Start 11:00am., 33c, cloudy, humid & light wind, at monument "Correales Rigueza q. Tural" at South end of Tumbes city, Peru. Finish 15:56pm., 36c, very humid, grey overcast & no wind, at white km-marker "2" on road E25; in Equador.

Crossing the border to Equador; then back into Peru; then a police chase on motorbike
... and a happy ending !

- Probably one of the most eventfull days of both the first and the second world run alltogether. A day of very strong contrasts. And a day where it fealt like I within 2 hours grew 40year's older.

The day began with the delightfull calm of a remote beach-side hotel in Peru. Sounds of pelicans, fregate birds and seagulls gently waking me up in the ocean breeze. A warm goodbye to the friendly hotelstaff; followed by a jogg through the chaotic mayhem of the bordertown Tumbes, and 30km's of running later - the same warm goodbye to Peru, which I will remember for it nature and helpfull people. Then a run through the international no-mands-land filled with banana palms and dry, yet steamy humid, empty farmlands. Entering the customs in Equador. Formalities taking only minutes.

Then,..

My peruvian support-driver through the last month of running disappeared. Half an hour of running. No support-car. One hour of running and walking (after logging the official finish-point of the day). No support-car. Half an hour more, walking to the nearest city in Equador to find a police station.

Two hours passed. No supportcar. No food, water, money, supplies.
Desperation getting closer and closer to the surface: In a new contry, no water to drink the last 2hours in 36c humid tropical weather after 37km of running and later 10km of run-walking.. The scanario begins to dawn on me: All money gone, all spare clothes, all equiptment, everything nessecary for doing the world run; gone. All ID papers gone, except for my passport in-hand & my mobile phone which I always run with since it records the gps-documentation of the world runs step by step.

The heat and the dehydration begins to play tricks' with ones common sense as the sun sinks in a halo of increased evening-humidity. It becomes obvious: The support-driver waiting untill I'm across the border into the next contry, then turning back to Peru with all money and belongings, leaving me in a new contry with little chance of stopping the car on its way to Lima, which is 1000km South.

The panic which elseway isnt exactly my trademark when I embark on these adventures, and it cant be if one wants to succeed, - are suddenly there in crystal clear shape.

Its all too clear: The patient plan to get the large amount of finances which the run carries during remote streatches to fund the daily expenses. And to escape without me beeing able to alert the contries police since Im now in another contry. Still; I realize there is a few options: I have my passport to identify myself to the road-police in Equador. I have pictures of the support-car and the driver on my mobile phone. Only thing missing is enough spanish language to explain the complicated and urgent situation.... Very sorely missing.

No one speaks english. More explanations in my staggering spanish. Writing and hand signals. Interested questions in Equadorian-spanish dialect. More explanations.
Then the messages gets through !!

And from then on the Equadorian police picks up speed and actions as if it were a James Bond setting ;-)
- Within 1minute I find myself in a police pickup. Local police are alerted to look out for the white nissan support-car. Two more minutes and I'm taken back across the border to Peru to help me altert the Peruvian police to stop the car in case it has turned back into Peru. Five minutes later and I'm on the back of a polic-motorcycle in a race' along the twisty dusty tarmac roads of Equador chasing after the support-car and driver. Holding on for bare life at the back of the motorbike (and whishing for a drink of water as its now 4hours since I had my last, back when I was running at no-mands-land).

Finally the solution comes. In all its Month-Phyton'ish glory:

...... My peruvian support-driver Wilmer is riding around on the back of on another police-motorbike. Franticly searching for me.

As if one could imagine the chance of a more odd scenery with almost Jaque Tati' level of comic to it. The narrow and dusty sidestreets preventing us from seeign eachother during "the chase". Finally the driver of my motor-cycle is alerted on the radio. It turns out... That Wilmer missed the agreed supply-point as he was required by authorities to drive about 10km further to obtain an international insurence license for his car in order to proceed on Equadorian roads (A thing we throught were in order after both preparing the bordercrossing for weeks). When he returned; I was ofcourse not there anymore - and his' police chase began. To locate the presumably hijacked runner.

What a day. And what a world run this second one is !! ;-)))

But it all ended GOOD. And there is no more reason to dwell on the happenings. Just to get a days rest tomorrow as it will take a few whee ours to get the adrenaline down and begin to rebuild my determination for the run - after 2 hours where I thought both the world run and I was lost ...We will see if I appear on the next reports with white beard, a 90years old expression on my face and shaking hands and legs. I do feel the part after this particular day in my life.

I'll round off this report by saying a HUGE THANKS to the police in Equador for their swift help and likewise kind understanding even when the circumstances finally were sorted out. I've already learned that its an amazing contry and in the next reports I'll give you an impression of why its quite a bit different from what I have had infront of me in any of the other contries of the 1.5 laps around the world I've run so far :-)

NB: My excellent webmaster Kasper Vibe-Leonhardt will shortly upload two small video'es I took during the adventure. One of the peacefull crossing of the Peru - Equador border; and one during the police-chase !