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hi there welcome back to another episode
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of Runners only with dom Harvey coming
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up Nick Ashley I got slammed on my right
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side at 100K now tossed in In The Air I
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remember that bit and landing on my back
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in a ditch that wasn't visible from the
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road which was a bit problematic you may
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not be familiar with the name but Nick
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Ash Hill is a Wellington dude who's
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pretty much like the forest camp in New
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Zealand in August 2017 Nick was 81
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punishing days into his run from one
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side of America to the other Los Angeles
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to New York doing around 50 kilometers a
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day he didn't get to finish the run
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though because he was the victim of what
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he reckons was a deliberate hit-and-run
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accident from some meth head in a pickup
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truck by the way that my words not his
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um this accident left him in a hospital
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fighting for his life 16 surgeries and
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five years later Nick went back to the
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spot of his accident to finish what he
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started it really is the epitome of a
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full circle moment he's done some other
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pretty epic organized events too like
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the comrades ultra marathon in South
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Africa which is something I really want
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to do one day and the marathon disabler
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stage race in the Moroccan desert which
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is something I can probably do without
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in my lifetime this is definitely one
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for the running nudes but I reckon it's
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also just a pretty interesting story
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about an ordinary kiwi dude who's done
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some pretty extraordinary stuff despite
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some serious big hurdles to overcome all
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right let's get into it really hope you
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enjoy it Nick ashel on Runners only
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[Music]
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[Music]
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Runners only with dom Harvey and Nick
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Ashley hello mate hello dog nice to meet
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you and nice to meet you as well um
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you've just we're in your your office at
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Wellington University and you've just
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recently returned uh from an epic
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adventure in the United States of
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America yeah for I've been back now for
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four days body is just coming right in
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terms of jet lag so that's that's really
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good um yeah it's lovely to be back in
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the in the beautiful beautiful
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Wellington weather awesome and you're
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not joking it is um on this particular
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day uh July the 2nd 2022 it's a nice day
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in Wellington yeah it is every day's
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like this in Wellington
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apparently so um yeah so this this
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adventure that you've just um returned
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from that we just mentioned before it's
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the craziest story running the length of
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America uh Route 66 from Santa Monica
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and uh in California to
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um where about where abouts in New York
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do you finish yeah finished um Coney
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Island I wanted to put my feet in the
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Atlantic Ocean which I did so you're
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right started at the end of Santa Monica
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Pier on the 14th of May 2017 uh and
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finished
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um 21st of June
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2022 so I think I might hold the world
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record for the longest time yeah so
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um yeah a lot of people are thinking
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five years what was he doing like three
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kilometers today it's a it's a
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hell of a yarn and not a yarn that you'd
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wish upon anyone so we'll go back to the
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beginning of this challenge so so your
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mum passed away in 2015. yeah that's
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right so she was diagnosed in 2013 with
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a horrible disease of the of the lungs
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called pulmonary fibrosis um it's a
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progressive lung disease no cure and
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very very few people knew about it then
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and still don't know about it now so one
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of the objectives through running across
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America was to to play a role in
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generating more awareness of this
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horrible disease of the lung how do you
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go from uh from I'm just I'm just trying
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to trying to see The Logical conclusion
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here and I I don't see one well there's
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another side the the in 2014 I'd run
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marathon to sabler Sahara Desert Morocco
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and and the truth is I was looking for
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that next big
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challenge both physically and and
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mentally and I'd always had this since I
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was a child this fashion fascination
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with Route 66 and and rather than like
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most people do mid-life crisis they
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gotta you know buy a Harley or rent a
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Harley yeah a Mustang
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um I thought damn it I'm gonna I'm gonna
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run it um so the passing of mum was gave
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me an opportunity to honor her passing
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and raise awareness of the illness but
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also a chance to do something pretty
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cool at the same time absolutely and
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what a cool thing to do so I suppose a
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lot of these questions I'm asking from a
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selfish perspective because um I know
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that I would like to do this and I know
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a lot of people listening would like to
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do this at some point so how much
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planning goes into it most people have a
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support crew there are a few um
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crazier uh you know Runners that um that
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do go unsupported uh but for me that
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support crew was was really really
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important yeah so so we had like a
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camper van or yeah so we would uh we
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rented an RV um out for uh three months
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back in 2017.
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um
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support crew were were phenomenal
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um daughter
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uh father-in-law and two other close
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friends that came in so so that the
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support crew actually rotated
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um the logistics involved and the
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planning boy a good a good 18 months is
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that so yeah I had to raise a lot of a
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lot of money because it does take a lot
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of money to actually make it happen get
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some sponsorship in place and the
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training required was uh was pretty
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rigorous as well yeah how do you train
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for something like that and um part two
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of this question I guess is like what
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was your what was your target per day
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did you have a per day Target or yeah
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well most Runners um when running across
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the states uh
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tackle the route further north because
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of lower temperatures Route 66 is
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actually quite quite South so I knew I
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was going to be confronting 30 plus
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degrees Celsius pretty much most days
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particularly early on and that was the
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case in California Arizona and New
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Mexico so what sort of training is
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required is it just like um is it doing
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like big consecutive days it is it for
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me it involved anywhere between 30 and
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60 to 70 kilometers
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um six days a week so I was putting in
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massive case but to come back to your
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original question the target each day
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back in 2017 was around 50 to 55k Unreal
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and if I look at the average I averaged
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about 53 K's a day over over the
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duration back in 2017 over the 81 days
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that I ran unbelievable
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so what was your goal originally back
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then like to do it in sub 100 days yeah
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yeah that's a great question the answer
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is yes I wanted to dip Lo the
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uh but the day I got hit that was that
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was day 81
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um and I've just finished it in the last
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part of the run in 21 days with two days
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rest and 19 days so it took me just over
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102 days oh it's not bad so I'm deeply
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disappointed so so you're running you're
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running like um over 50 km by the way
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for anyone that's not big on their
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running 42 kilometers as your standard
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Marathon so 50k's is like doing an ultra
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marathon each day so is it just hard in
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the morning when you get started until
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your muscles warm up or does your body
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progress you progressively get more
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tired or does the body adapt well again
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great question if I go back to 2017 the
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first you know kilometer kilometer and a
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half was was always a little bit uh
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always a little bit challenging in terms
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of warm up but when I got into it after
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time it became became a huge drug
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um and to the extent that during the
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rest days
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um I got very very frustrated and and
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very agitated because because I wasn't
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running
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um so the body certainly does does adapt
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going back this time to finish it off
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was was a little bit different because
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my my body structurally is is a little
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bit different now God you must have seen
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some some crazy sites on the way
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I mean we'll get to day 80 later but um
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yeah lots of lots of interesting uh what
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Wildlife I think uh one of the one of
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the special moments I remember uh
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interacting with two coyotes in uh you
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know in Arizona that were actually
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circling me
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um part of Route 66 sorry a big chunk of
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route 66. no longer exists
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um Interstate 70 has actually been built
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over it now it's illegal
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to run on an interstate in in the US for
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obvious reasons but there were times
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when I had to do it
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um and I was regularly stopped by uh by
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local state troopers to actually get off
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it it's the U.S are on a trail on the
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side of the road or well it was a trail
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on the other side of a fence line but um
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you needed trail shoes because it was
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essentially dried dried mud but that was
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pretty cool but it generated a lot of um
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blisters at the time how like how far
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away was your support crew were they
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sort of like like slowly cruising along
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with you or would they drive to the next
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town they would typically so over a sort
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of 50 55k stage route each day we'd work
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out
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um a point after about 18 to 20
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kilometers where I typically refuel with
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uh you know with breakfast and then we'd
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work out another 18 to 20 kilometers
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that stop to and then that final stop
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for for the day so it was broken down
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into three three stages which is really
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good what sort of pace were you doing we
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just don't know where like seven minute
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case
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seven to seven and a half minute cases
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was uh was pretty much the pretty much
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the standard wow so he's sort of running
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for like how many like I I like 10 hour
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days sort of thing yeah with the breaks
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the the the
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um shortest day was around six and a
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half hours
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um if I go back to my journal the
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longest day boy uh nine and a half hours
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it's a really really long days
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um fuel because you're burning anywhere
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between five seven seven and a half
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thousand calories uh which which is huge
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um so you're constantly in deficit but
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you need to give the body as much time
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as you can to recover but you're
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constantly in deficit so what what like
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an average day look like give us like a
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snapshot
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a couple of bananas uh blueberries was
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very much part of my daily morning
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routine plus avocado
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um because you'd always be in calorie
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deficit wouldn't you oh
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and I was on um back in 2017 unlike this
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time the return I was on a um keto diet
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and I been on that keto diet for about
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about 12 to 15 months prior so I had to
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be really really careful what I was
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fueling my fueling my body with but that
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will be the start of the day and then
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stop one after 1820k
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massive amounts of eggs and um sweet
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potato cheese again avocado you know
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blueberries coffee black coffee coconut
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milk coconut oil olive oil on anything
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that I could eat
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but it really did work for my body at
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that time yeah okay so yeah so you
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eating like a bastard all day
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um so then then what time were you sort
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of finishing most days it's just
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it did vary depending on the elevation I
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I did get some big elevation in parts of
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parts of Arizona but um so waking up at
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5 30 on the road by no later than
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quarter past six
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um I think the earliest would have been
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about 2 30. the latest I do remember a
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seven or eight pm right maybe a little
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bit longer
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um that was a tough day probably because
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of 12 30 in other reader climbs yeah and
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then what what do the evenings look like
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were you just like crashing out straight
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away or were you doing fun stuff with
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your crew yeah
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2017 one of the things that we um got my
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father a father-in-law into was um
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Breaking Bad so that was uh that wasn't
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awesome that was like um
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yeah he never watched it before and it
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was really really cool to sit down with
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him from season one I mean I watched it
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many times so it was awesome to go back
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to it were you still married at the time
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yes well it wasn't understanding what
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how did you get this this over the line
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well um
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Sarah
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um got it got enrolled enrolled in you
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know the idea pretty pretty quickly and
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uh
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she really really helped with on the
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social greatly helped on the social
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media side uh did uh designed and
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implemented a you know a website for The
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Run
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um helped with sponsorship it was just
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went on and on and on so she really
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really got behind me that is so good
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um you must have a good relationship
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with her father as well if he's um
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coming and joining you on this yeah he
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did have some back back issues which I
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wasn't aware of you know at the time but
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it was phenomenal he took the
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responsibility for for driving the RV
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did an awesome job so did you have a
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favorite place in 2017 yeah
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uh did I have a favorite place there
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were so many yeah yeah
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not just not just one I think part of
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the California desert because of its
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Tranquility yeah really special and
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Route 66 the the road is just it's dead
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straight and there's nothing else on it
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you know occasionally you might see an
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occasional car every half an hour or a
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motorcycle or a group of motorcyclists
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that was that was that was pretty
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magical being out there on your own
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and there's nobody else there that was
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that was special yes when you hear Route
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66 I don't know you just imagine it
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being kind of busy
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yeah I mean parts of it yeah
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um
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but you know particularly early part of
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the morning and later on in the
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afternoon there was so much tranquility
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and and the color just just changed and
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they you know the rattlesnakes on the
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road as well we're the rattlesnakes are
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like on the road or in the like sand on
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the side of the road or what um over
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somewhere some were roadkill in the in
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the middle of the road so they they
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certainly weren't moving um others were
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just on the side of the road others were
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just simply simply Crossing
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um and yeah that I could certainly
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recall on some occasions because
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Route 66 part of it you're just looking
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straight ahead and you're running
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straight ahead
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you're not looking down and I had a few
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a few close calls in terms of where I
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was stepping and a few colorful words at
00:15:05
the time well what's the story with
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rattlesnakes like are they um do
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rattlesnakes do they sort of seek out
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humans or what do their own standings
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you know typically
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um where there's noise around they're
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just they'll just move on right but uh
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if they get agitated certainly um you
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don't want to be interacting with them
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you must have got to kick the first
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couple of times you saw them just the
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novelty Factory yeah absolutely and and
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uh you know quite frightening
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frightening in the sense that my running
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pace increased yeah to begin with yeah
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what are these 400 kilometers though
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it's uh must be the rattlesnake okay
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let's fast forward to day eighty one day
00:15:43
81. so so where are you
00:15:47
um about five six uh miles
00:15:50
um
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west of a small rural town in Ohio
00:15:54
called West Jefferson which is about 30
00:15:56
or so miles from the capital Columbus
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right so so at this point it's like um
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80 of the runs done
00:16:03
is done and uh I was actually one week
00:16:05
ahead of schedule and I was thinking
00:16:07
about starting to think that I can
00:16:10
actually finish this in under 100 days
00:16:13
in under 100 days yeah yeah but uh six
00:16:16
yeah 80 of the way and like it I I don't
00:16:18
know like I suppose you can't from from
00:16:20
halfway you're counting down rather than
00:16:22
counting up but 80 it's almost job done
00:16:24
yeah yeah that's right at that point
00:16:27
you'd run uh just over two and a half
00:16:28
thousand miles yeah yeah so you're
00:16:30
running the stats like any other day
00:16:32
yeah you're up you're having olive oil
00:16:34
you're having your eggs yeah yeah had
00:16:37
all of that uh remember leaving the RV
00:16:39
um according to my journal just a little
00:16:41
bit later that morning uh around around
00:16:44
6 30 uh on us 40 because it come off uh
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Route 66 several hundred kilometers
00:16:50
before
00:16:51
[Music]
00:16:52
um
00:16:52
heading towards um Columbus dual
00:16:55
carriageway always run into the traffic
00:16:57
for obvious reasons nothing on the road
00:17:00
at that time of the morning 10 past
00:17:03
quarter past eight
00:17:05
uh I was on a hands-free Skype call with
00:17:09
Sarah and the girls who were on holiday
00:17:10
and
00:17:12
dark colored pickup truck on the outer
00:17:15
Lane of the Dual carriageway just one
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one vehicle on the road nothing else
00:17:20
didn't think anything of it at all and
00:17:22
then the truck moved from the outer Lane
00:17:25
to the uh to the inner Lane didn't think
00:17:28
anything of that either and then with 50
00:17:31
60 meters out
00:17:33
um Chris speed came onto the hard
00:17:37
shoulder where I was and I for a split
00:17:40
second I thought I'm gonna I'm gonna be
00:17:42
hit and I attempted to drop jump a
00:17:45
small small metal railing on the side of
00:17:49
the of the road and got my remember
00:17:52
getting my left foot up
00:17:54
but I wasn't quick enough and I got
00:17:57
slammed on my right side at 100K now
00:18:00
tossed in In The Air I remember that bit
00:18:03
and landing on my back in a
00:18:06
ditch that wasn't visible from the road
00:18:09
which was a bit problematic because any
00:18:11
cars going high
00:18:13
didn't actually see me so you said
00:18:15
you're on a on a Skype phone call at the
00:18:17
time so where was your phone did you
00:18:19
mean it was um the phone was in my
00:18:21
running pack right and um the good thing
00:18:24
well positive thing about this even
00:18:26
though the the phone was thrown from my
00:18:27
pack it was still working so
00:18:30
um the the real horrible thing is that
00:18:33
Sarah and
00:18:35
and Bella and Abby uh heard my screams
00:18:38
um but the positive is that I was still
00:18:41
able to have a you know a conversation
00:18:43
with um you know with Sarah uh she oh so
00:18:47
the call did not disconnect no no no no
00:18:50
so she was able to alert
00:18:53
official state troopers
00:18:55
um and my support crew and then there
00:18:58
was a process of trying to find me so so
00:19:01
you were you were communicative through
00:19:02
through the whole thing
00:19:04
you must have been in an excruciating
00:19:06
pain well well what do you think
00:19:07
adrenaline kicked in on you well that's
00:19:12
that's anything I
00:19:18
obviously the my leg it snapped I could
00:19:22
see
00:19:23
you know open open bones with with the
00:19:26
open zipper fracture
00:19:28
um but I don't feel anything
00:19:30
um but I had no idea of the what was
00:19:32
going on with with my pelvis that had uh
00:19:34
had been crushed and it rotated so it
00:19:37
had done essentially I know you can't
00:19:39
see this way we've done this but I had
00:19:41
no idea about that you must have just
00:19:42
been in shock right yeah yeah absolutely
00:19:45
um and I you know I remember looking
00:19:47
down and sinking and
00:19:50
I mean joking because that's probably
00:19:52
just part of who I am joking thinking
00:19:54
[ __ ] my run's over
00:19:56
and it was it really was yeah you've got
00:20:00
absolutely no doubt in your mind not one
00:20:04
ounce of doubt that this was deliberate
00:20:05
like the driver swerved no no no
00:20:07
question what a piece of [ __ ] from me um
00:20:11
I mean the driver didn't stop but
00:20:13
something that you learn about in
00:20:15
hospital and subsequent investigation by
00:20:18
by authorities there that part of rural
00:20:21
Ohio has has one of the highest um
00:20:23
opiate rates in the US there may have
00:20:26
been alcohol involved
00:20:28
um and the combination of drugs I mean
00:20:30
I'm assuming that the the individual
00:20:32
knew
00:20:34
what they were doing I don't know that
00:20:36
they might have no recollection of it
00:20:38
whatsoever but what I do know is that
00:20:43
100 certain with regard to the pickup
00:20:46
truck on the outer Lane at the very
00:20:48
beginning there wasn't any deviation or
00:20:50
erratic driving so I'm
00:20:53
making the assumption that yeah she knew
00:20:55
unbelievable so okay so so Sarah
00:20:59
um gets on the phone lets your support
00:21:01
crew know and let's stay state troopers
00:21:03
know then um did you know exactly where
00:21:05
you were or were you able to give her no
00:21:08
um it was just through questioning so uh
00:21:10
it was just through uh through a series
00:21:12
of questions and the critical question
00:21:13
was had I passed the local Airfield and
00:21:17
the answer is no so they were able to
00:21:19
determine roughly the area that I was
00:21:22
that I was in how you did how you
00:21:24
remained conscious and uh able to
00:21:26
communicate as uh something of America I
00:21:28
guess luckily there was no head injury
00:21:31
involved I guess yeah I did have a
00:21:32
concussion but fortunately that was that
00:21:34
was that was really minor that I mean
00:21:36
that's a good point if I'd been hit head
00:21:38
on and okay so um so they're there for
00:21:41
50 minutes are you are you on the phone
00:21:43
to Sarah the entire time yeah until
00:21:44
until the um
00:21:46
phone died
00:21:48
that was after that that was that was
00:21:52
that was [ __ ]
00:21:53
um because I I it was a really dark a
00:21:56
really dark time and I remember what I
00:21:58
wanted to do was was sleep
00:22:00
um was that the concussion
00:22:03
I think it was the it was the whole
00:22:05
trauma yeah shock really kicking in with
00:22:07
with the with the body
00:22:08
um and I made that decision I remember I
00:22:12
made that decision I'm going to sleep uh
00:22:14
but then I heard voices
00:22:16
and it was medic first aid responders
00:22:19
state troopers and apparently a
00:22:21
helicopter you never felt like it was a
00:22:23
matter of life and death
00:22:25
were you dead at the time like we were
00:22:27
you were you sitting there thinking [ __ ]
00:22:29
I may not make it out of this alive
00:22:32
um
00:22:33
there was a moment when the phone died
00:22:35
that
00:22:37
I made the decision I have to do
00:22:40
something myself because nobody's coming
00:22:43
I mean I didn't know that people were
00:22:45
looking forward why could you do that
00:22:46
well I tried to crawl out I was on my um
00:22:49
I was on my back uh on a slope in a
00:22:52
ditch and I and I tried to crawl out but
00:22:55
I uh I couldn't and I couldn't work out
00:22:57
why but obviously I know now because the
00:22:59
state of my pelvis
00:23:01
yeah so you're just unable to move I was
00:23:04
unable to move
00:23:05
when you heard those um Sirens or those
00:23:07
voices that must have been oh one of the
00:23:10
happiest moments of your life yeah it
00:23:11
was
00:23:14
it was pretty special
00:23:15
um and then airlifted by helicopter the
00:23:19
road had been closed at that point to a
00:23:21
um to a higher State University Hospital
00:23:23
which we came home and then straight
00:23:25
straight on the Opitz like everyone else
00:23:26
in that town
00:23:27
pretty much
00:23:30
pretty much I'm glad I got off them
00:23:32
quickly though oh my goodness yeah so do
00:23:35
you remember much about those first
00:23:37
couple of days in the hospital
00:23:38
no I I if I go back to the helicopter
00:23:41
ride I just remember just flashing
00:23:43
lights
00:23:45
um and the doctors and nurses when I
00:23:47
arrived at the hospital told me that my
00:23:49
language was really really colorful and
00:23:53
it wasn't directed at them it was
00:23:54
directed at the you know the person who
00:23:56
hit me yeah
00:23:58
yeah I I I slept
00:24:02
and really for the next six weeks I
00:24:04
slept 18 20 hour days was it just the
00:24:07
drugs or just your body trying to heal
00:24:09
itself I think combination of operation
00:24:11
of both yeah and then so how long are
00:24:13
you in hospital there for
00:24:15
in uh in Wexner
00:24:17
um The Brain and Spine
00:24:21
year months in a rehabilitation hospital
00:24:23
which was attached to OSU and then after
00:24:26
that about another month outpatient and
00:24:30
then had final permission
00:24:32
medical permission to fly but I had to
00:24:36
be accompanied by a by a nurse and flew
00:24:38
back to the UAE where more surgery to
00:24:41
address internal injuries right so it
00:24:44
wasn't just pelvis and broken bones
00:24:46
there were a whole heap of other stuff
00:24:48
did anyone remain with you in the states
00:24:49
or did you did your daughter and your
00:24:51
father-in-law in your support group that
00:24:52
they had to well um Pete my
00:24:54
father-in-law at the time at uh he'd
00:24:57
already already left because we had a
00:24:58
sort of a change around in support crew
00:25:00
so it was Emily um
00:25:02
daughter that stayed and
00:25:05
Kieran who was another member of the
00:25:08
support crew he stayed and Sarah flew in
00:25:10
from Cyprus
00:25:11
with Abigail our youngest who would have
00:25:15
been just under 10 at the time Bella was
00:25:18
still in the United Kingdom at school so
00:25:21
complete complete change around and life
00:25:23
change massively massively life changing
00:25:27
yeah we rented a um a house just outside
00:25:30
Columbus so I could carry on with
00:25:32
Rehabilitation right now how many how
00:25:35
many operations how many surgeries
00:25:38
steam yeah why so many
00:25:42
um yeah
00:25:45
um bit by bit uh
00:25:49
fragments of
00:25:51
bone from my pelvis pierced my bowel
00:25:55
um and as that wasn't picked up
00:25:57
immediately in hospital so I developed a
00:25:59
huge infection
00:26:01
um
00:26:02
Sarah told me several months later that
00:26:05
she needed to give permission to one of
00:26:07
the surgeons to take off my right leg
00:26:09
because of the infection but the surgeon
00:26:14
God bless him won that battle um I still
00:26:16
have it which is good so um as a result
00:26:19
of the infection I lost a lot of tissue
00:26:21
so muscles
00:26:22
um muscle their Christmas muscle does
00:26:25
bugger all in the left leg had to be
00:26:27
moved to protect my pelvis because of
00:26:29
the tissue that was removed there yeah
00:26:31
geez it makes wonder how many how many
00:26:33
50 50 calls there are in medical
00:26:34
situations like that in regards to
00:26:36
removing the leg because here you are
00:26:38
you're running again
00:26:45
bye a wonderful guy the orthopedic
00:26:49
surgeon but he emphasized the word
00:26:53
probably he didn't say absolutely not
00:26:57
absolutely not and that was the word I
00:26:58
needed to hear because it really gave me
00:27:00
the self-belief that one day it might be
00:27:04
possible well yeah so so you're in
00:27:07
you're in hospital for months you have
00:27:09
operation after operation after
00:27:11
operation when do you get to return home
00:27:13
when does that happen
00:27:14
um in January 2018 and I got hit on the
00:27:20
2nd of August 2017. right when do you
00:27:23
decide I'm going to go back and finish
00:27:25
this
00:27:27
I I think I made that decision as soon
00:27:30
as I woke up after being hit
00:27:33
um
00:27:34
when you're 80 of the way done like if
00:27:37
you were maybe closer to California and
00:27:39
just starting out you'd be like ah
00:27:40
forget about it but it was job almost
00:27:42
done I I yeah I know and I
00:27:45
jokingly this
00:27:49
lead
00:27:50
um
00:27:51
you know there's there's a there's a
00:27:54
huge difference between self-belief and
00:27:56
actually making it happen and the work
00:27:58
involved to actually get back just
00:28:02
basic walking let alone running
00:28:05
the work involved in terms of like your
00:28:08
rehab and things yeah yeah it's yeah I
00:28:11
attempted
00:28:14
to to run about 15 months after the uh
00:28:17
the accident and I took
00:28:20
two three paces and and I I fell over
00:28:23
and I was so angry and frustrated
00:28:26
frustrated with myself but clearly I
00:28:29
knew that my my body my legs were
00:28:31
weren't strong enough to do it so I had
00:28:33
to go right back to basics
00:28:35
um and that was going right back to
00:28:38
working on my on my core and
00:28:39
strengthening my legs again in the in
00:28:41
the gym before I could even think about
00:28:43
running and that's what I did wow so and
00:28:47
then um and then um the covid-19
00:28:49
pandemic comes along so when when were
00:28:52
you planning on going back
00:28:54
was the lockdown in the pandemic of
00:28:56
blessing in disguise because it gave you
00:28:57
more time the answer is yes the answer
00:29:00
is yes but the original plan was I was
00:29:02
thinking about going back in in May 2020
00:29:05
that was the plan right to actually
00:29:07
finish it um but pulled the plug on it
00:29:10
in March spoke with the surgeons and
00:29:12
Hospital OSU and they said forget it
00:29:14
rate of covert cases here is is
00:29:17
increasing at a rapid array and we all
00:29:19
know what happened thereafter so it was
00:29:21
it was a good decision so it gave me
00:29:22
gave me more time
00:29:24
um and I was still living at the UAE at
00:29:25
the time
00:29:27
um so coming back to Wellington in late
00:29:29
2020 gave me the opportunity to put a
00:29:31
lot more Hill work in which I
00:29:34
which was fantastic because Pennsylvania
00:29:37
was bloody early
00:29:42
okay so so you go you go back this is
00:29:45
just kind of recently um when did you go
00:29:47
back to the States yeah I left on the
00:29:50
27th of May
00:29:52
um arrived on the 28th had one day in
00:29:55
between to sort out food and Logistics I
00:29:58
started running again
00:30:00
so day 81 continued on the 30th of May
00:30:04
what was that like getting back there
00:30:05
because you um you picked it up exactly
00:30:07
where where it was you know cut short
00:30:10
with that accident last time was it a
00:30:11
how did it feel was it a I don't know it
00:30:14
was like a cathartic sort of experience
00:30:17
or yeah it was I mean a lot of people
00:30:19
have asked you why go back to the exact
00:30:21
spot that you that you were hit um some
00:30:23
people have said why don't you go back
00:30:25
to the very beginning Santa Monica Pier
00:30:28
um
00:30:32
it was more symbolic
00:30:34
um
00:30:35
it's quite pointless in a way yeah
00:30:39
yeah the emotion on on day one running
00:30:42
past the ditch and there's a reason for
00:30:44
that is that I went back to it the day
00:30:46
before the night before
00:30:47
with um Jim wheeler and Jim McCord and
00:30:50
Paul Wheeler right who have run across
00:30:53
America themselves
00:30:55
um awesome
00:30:56
individuals
00:30:58
um and
00:31:00
had my peace with the rail and the ditch
00:31:06
um
00:31:07
and really to
00:31:10
forgive the person who who hit me um no
00:31:14
[ __ ] that guy yeah well there's still a
00:31:16
little bit you're a bigger than me
00:31:19
yeah I I needed to I needed to find a
00:31:22
fine place for that
00:31:23
um and I and I have now which is good
00:31:26
well I mean you just it's no good being
00:31:29
angry forever you know no was I angry
00:31:32
hell yeah yeah um yeah for years
00:31:36
um but it was also very destructive to
00:31:38
to my mental health
00:31:39
um
00:31:40
so post-traumatic stress disorder
00:31:44
which I was in complete denial about for
00:31:46
a year that was wrong um that led to
00:31:48
depression yeah what is what does um
00:31:50
PTSD look like
00:31:52
for me uh and it's quite quite common
00:31:55
with this type of trauma it was it was
00:31:57
complete withdrawal
00:31:59
um and sadly was withdrawing from people
00:32:04
who love me the most namely you know my
00:32:07
daughters and my wife
00:32:10
um my body was I mean I've learned about
00:32:12
this subsequently but my body was
00:32:15
constantly
00:32:17
um you know fighting uh
00:32:20
foreign
00:32:22
healing process so I found that at the
00:32:25
end of each day I didn't have any
00:32:26
bandwidth to
00:32:28
you know to connect with people and I I
00:32:31
really really struggle with that
00:32:34
so seeking out professional help uh but
00:32:36
that for me that was 12 months on yeah
00:32:38
and that was
00:32:41
how how are they I mean
00:32:45
you know the family's still together now
00:32:47
I mean um sadly Sarah and I have I no
00:32:50
longer are no longer together and um you
00:32:53
know I deeply deeply regret that but
00:32:56
respect the decision that she's made
00:32:58
still love it a bit having the support
00:33:01
of Balor and and uh and Abby
00:33:05
uh has been instrumental in me wanting
00:33:08
to go back and and finish it
00:33:12
and that's been that's been fantastic
00:33:15
yeah do you think the um the marriage
00:33:17
breakdown uh if the accident had not
00:33:20
have happened do you think you'd still
00:33:21
be married do you think that accident
00:33:23
and the subsequent Fallout I mean I'd
00:33:26
like I would love to think that would
00:33:30
that will be the case of the reality is
00:33:32
I as I don't know yeah yeah
00:33:35
wow what a thing to go through and then
00:33:37
um so the PTSD that um that led to
00:33:39
depression you'd never had any previous
00:33:42
Mental Health
00:33:43
troubles before this
00:33:45
no
00:33:46
um
00:33:47
certainly not of the same scale or you
00:33:51
know depth of you know as this one
00:33:54
so how would we at this point what's
00:33:56
your age
00:33:57
I've 57 now at the time I started the
00:34:02
run I was 53. right so you're in you're
00:34:05
in so you're in your mid 50s and you're
00:34:06
dealing with um mental health issues for
00:34:08
the first time in your life at that age
00:34:10
I suppose you feel like you're one of
00:34:12
the lucky ones that you you've got
00:34:13
through unscathed
00:34:14
it's the same with visiting a visiting
00:34:17
hospital I just visited hospital as a as
00:34:19
a guest I've never been in hospital
00:34:20
until oh you made up the last time
00:34:25
yeah how true that is yeah but you're
00:34:28
right now you're good mentally you're in
00:34:29
a good space I I I am yeah yeah I I feel
00:34:33
I feel really
00:34:37
[Music]
00:34:38
with it as well is is uh is actually
00:34:42
going back to church that's been a huge
00:34:44
part of you know part of my life um that
00:34:46
I that I dropped for a very very long
00:34:49
time
00:34:50
um that's that's been extremely
00:34:52
extremely helpful yeah putting me
00:34:54
putting me back on track and being
00:34:57
surrounded by
00:35:00
people who
00:35:02
show empathy and and and and love me for
00:35:05
who I am and and not and not judging
00:35:08
that's been uh
00:35:10
yeah it's been amazing yeah amazing
00:35:12
that's cool well you I mean you bring
00:35:14
into your life the the people that you
00:35:16
deserve I think don't you
00:35:19
do and you certainly know the value
00:35:22
boy
00:35:23
you certainly know the value of a
00:35:25
friendship and kindness uh one of the
00:35:29
biggest learnings for me is is is is
00:35:32
actually being able to accept the
00:35:34
kindness of you know strangers whereas
00:35:38
in the past I would have
00:35:40
blocked that kindness out would you why
00:35:42
I think I think in a lot of cases for me
00:35:46
and maybe people can relate to this you
00:35:49
have this expectation that something has
00:35:51
to be given back in return
00:35:53
but that's not the case that is not the
00:35:56
case
00:35:57
and if I go back to the the doctors and
00:36:00
nurses and physiotherapists that have
00:36:02
that ran with me they ran with me on
00:36:05
that first day you know three three to
00:36:07
three four miles
00:36:09
that that that was magical and yeah
00:36:12
being able to say thank you to everybody
00:36:15
at the same time
00:36:18
the same location
00:36:20
you know that was that was very very
00:36:22
emotional yeah there's something really
00:36:24
special about that age just that whole
00:36:25
sort of um full circle thing yeah that's
00:36:28
really cool yeah so some of the medical
00:36:29
stuff I'm guessing um you were on a
00:36:31
first name basis well yeah for a time
00:36:34
there you probably saw more of them than
00:36:35
what their family saw of them
00:36:38
um they must have been really special it
00:36:40
was yeah it was and uh you know when I
00:36:43
go back again
00:36:44
um not not to go to the hospital I you
00:36:46
know obviously catch up with them over a
00:36:48
beer and a and a meal which will be
00:36:50
which will be lovely
00:36:51
so so you you pick up where you left off
00:36:54
um and how many K's are you running a
00:36:56
day is it the same sort of thing as what
00:36:57
you're doing 50k well
00:37:03
well I realized very very early on that
00:37:06
my body uh
00:37:08
largely because of the hardware and the
00:37:11
lack of obviously reflection movement in
00:37:13
my in my right side
00:37:15
um I wasn't able to sustain that so come
00:37:18
back to your question I was averaging
00:37:19
between 31 and 35 miles a day lazy yeah
00:37:24
no that's still tremendous miles so 55
00:37:27
anywhere between 53 and 58k a day crazy
00:37:31
and when what's that moment like where
00:37:33
you um
00:37:35
so you end in Coney Island which is part
00:37:38
of New York so I'm guessing when you get
00:37:39
to New York it gets exciting but I'm
00:37:40
guessing there's still a lot of real
00:37:42
estate to cover
00:37:43
from when you arrive in New York to get
00:37:45
to the Finish Line at the coast yeah
00:37:47
it's it's damn big
00:37:50
so uh you know I could I could see the
00:37:52
New York skyline uh from where we were
00:37:54
that that very very last day we left the
00:37:56
RV I could see it
00:37:58
and then we had about five miles to get
00:38:00
to before we crossed the George
00:38:01
Washington Bridge and that's a mile long
00:38:04
um so you cross the over the Hudson and
00:38:07
then we joined a bike and running track
00:38:09
all the way down to lower Manhattan
00:38:12
um eventually across the Brooklyn Bridge
00:38:14
into Brooklyn and then another uh what
00:38:17
six or seven miles down to um Coney
00:38:20
Island
00:38:21
oh my God what was that last day like
00:38:24
the last day must have been well Paul uh
00:38:28
Paul Wheeler one of my support crew was
00:38:30
running with me it was the second
00:38:31
fastest day in terms of pace I don't
00:38:34
know where it came from I mean it came
00:38:36
from me I was just running on adrenaline
00:38:38
I couldn't believe what what you know
00:38:41
what we were what we were doing
00:38:43
um but to see the magic of that New York
00:38:46
skyline I mean my first first time in
00:38:49
New York I've never been I was that so
00:38:51
yes it was really special for me yeah
00:38:54
yeah
00:38:55
um the plan had been 2017.
00:39:01
um okay so you get to Coney Island
00:39:03
um
00:39:03
they're more is that like a is is it
00:39:07
what you imagined it would be that
00:39:08
moment when you're finished yeah the
00:39:10
yeah Coney Island is famous for its uh
00:39:12
hot dogs shitty little hot dogs and we
00:39:14
were we were greeted by uh Anna Burns
00:39:17
Francis from TV one and uh she she
00:39:19
bought uh 10 10 hot dogs for not just
00:39:22
for me as well although I inhale too
00:39:26
um so that was really nice and uh took
00:39:28
my shoes and socks off and uh dip my
00:39:31
feet my white feet because I haven't
00:39:34
seen son in a while
00:39:35
um in the Atlantic Ocean and that that
00:39:38
was that was pretty special yeah how
00:39:40
good but I was um you know if the sea
00:39:43
hadn't been there
00:39:44
I would have carried on running you know
00:39:46
my body had just adapted I just adapted
00:39:49
and they just wanted to keep going so it
00:39:51
was really sad that it was it was
00:39:52
finished was it yeah it was a sad and it
00:39:55
was like um like almost like a a post
00:39:57
when you have a big goal and then you
00:39:59
achieve it and you have like almost like
00:40:00
a drop-off like a almost like a like a
00:40:02
mini sort of depressional Blues after
00:40:03
that yeah it's um something that that uh
00:40:06
yeah
00:40:06
and uh Paul of I've talked about in
00:40:09
their own personal lives when they've
00:40:10
finished their respective runs some of
00:40:12
the
00:40:13
um
00:40:15
depression um you know issues that both
00:40:18
of them have confronted and and if you
00:40:20
read all all of the chapters in a
00:40:23
wonderful book called Across America on
00:40:25
foot that was published in 2019 there's
00:40:27
27 chapters of written by Runners and
00:40:31
Walkers who have have acrossed the
00:40:33
United States of America they talk about
00:40:34
the same thing as well so you're
00:40:36
absolutely right just like an emptiness
00:40:37
yeah
00:40:39
um this must be an awful awful awful
00:40:42
question but you know you sort of you
00:40:45
know you've done this yourself
00:40:47
um what's next because I suppose you do
00:40:50
something like this and then people
00:40:51
think oh what crazy thing you can do
00:40:52
next is it as if you you know what
00:40:54
you've done is phenomenal it's amazing
00:40:56
um but there's this expectation now that
00:40:58
you're going to do something else to
00:40:59
sort of top it all is there anything
00:41:01
else you want to do yeah I don't see I
00:41:03
don't really think I'll really really
00:41:04
top this I don't think you want to be
00:41:06
hit again
00:41:07
um that's sure
00:41:09
but
00:41:12
time to you know reflect and and process
00:41:15
and doing some writing I want to write a
00:41:16
book you know about it which I think
00:41:18
would be pretty cool
00:41:20
um but to come back to your question
00:41:22
Perth to Sydney is
00:41:25
is fascinating you know that's a good
00:41:27
thing that sounds so boring it would
00:41:31
just be dizzy yeah absolutely
00:41:34
yeah I was gonna um my old boss was an
00:41:36
Australian guy and I I said to him um
00:41:38
one day I said oh my next holiday I'm
00:41:40
thinking about doing that that train
00:41:41
trip I think it's called the Guyana or
00:41:42
something that goes from Perth to Sydney
00:41:44
he was like oh mate you know what's in
00:41:46
the middle of Australia [ __ ] nothing
00:41:47
just fly
00:41:50
he's probably right yeah yeah uh that's
00:41:54
that's one possibility
00:41:56
um Paul and I of uh Paul Witter and I
00:41:59
we've talked about you know maybe which
00:42:02
is just nuts because this is twice the
00:42:04
distance of running across America but
00:42:06
running from Alaska down to Florida that
00:42:08
would uh that would be pretty special
00:42:09
wow Canada
00:42:12
through through the states ah insane but
00:42:16
um yeah we'll we'll see
00:42:20
Life's good though isn't it it's good to
00:42:22
have these adventures and things that
00:42:23
you can plan and look forward to yeah
00:42:26
yeah absolutely and
00:42:30
with like-minded uh individuals yeah
00:42:33
it's pretty special oh it's a great
00:42:34
Community isn't it
00:42:36
oh fantastic yeah
00:42:38
I say to people like one of the reasons
00:42:40
I go I got into running is um I like the
00:42:42
um the individual individuality of it
00:42:44
and the the fact that you could put on
00:42:46
your shows run from home anytime day or
00:42:48
night and get it done but um so it's
00:42:51
never a sport I got into for the
00:42:53
community aspect of it but if you if
00:42:55
that's what you're into and you let them
00:42:57
in and you embrace it it's there and
00:42:58
it's massive yeah absolutely it's very
00:43:01
very powerful it's a cool tribe it is
00:43:03
yeah it is
00:43:04
um before we wrap up we'll just talk
00:43:06
about some of the other a couple of the
00:43:07
other events you've done um you've done
00:43:08
the comrades run uh which is the the
00:43:11
world's biggest and I want to say oldest
00:43:14
Ultra event it may well be it yeah I
00:43:16
think you're right yeah this is probably
00:43:18
number one on my bucket list of events I
00:43:20
want to do so I I I part of me is I'm
00:43:24
jealous that you've you that you've done
00:43:25
it means they get to pick your brains
00:43:27
about it so um describe the comrades for
00:43:29
anyone that doesn't know what it is yeah
00:43:31
I did it with two two awesome guys that
00:43:33
I used to work with in the in the Middle
00:43:35
East
00:43:35
um uh match and and another Paul uh we
00:43:39
did it in in 2013 uh it was the downward
00:43:42
leg
00:43:43
S one year it goes down and the next
00:43:45
year
00:43:46
which we thought would be easier um and
00:43:48
it's about 90. wrong it's not yet okay
00:43:51
and you've got a 12 uh 12 hour
00:43:56
time limit although there are some time
00:43:57
points that you have to meet up along
00:43:59
the way but uh I I could recall we came
00:44:02
in at a 11 hours
00:44:05
11 hours 50 minutes so we were in by by
00:44:09
about 10 minutes but what was amazing
00:44:11
what did he get hit by a car or
00:44:13
something on the way
00:44:15
no I got a few stories
00:44:17
but but I could recall at the Finishing
00:44:20
Line people were so close with seconds
00:44:22
to go that um uh people in the in the
00:44:26
crowd family loved ones were in the
00:44:28
crowd it got got out and were literally
00:44:30
throwing uh people were running across
00:44:33
the line so so they could actually
00:44:35
finish within the within the 12 hours is
00:44:38
it true about the cut-off thing yeah so
00:44:40
the race match was stands here with a
00:44:42
gun with his back to the runners and
00:44:44
absolutely I mean he's not there you're
00:44:45
there absolutely right
00:44:47
that's what we saw that's brutal yeah
00:44:50
the Brilliance of the event it is and
00:44:52
how many it's massive right massive
00:44:54
event Mass participation event how many
00:44:56
thousands I think uh boy um if I go
00:44:59
about 30 40 000 yeah but even that was
00:45:02
back in 2013. WoW
00:45:04
oh man I want to do that so bad and uh
00:45:07
the other one is um the the Morocco one
00:45:09
what is that a marathon
00:45:11
yeah so this is a stage event yes
00:45:15
um spread over uh six days from from
00:45:18
memory uh you're running five of those
00:45:21
days there's a there's a a wicked
00:45:23
overnight stage
00:45:25
so bathroom disciples in the Sahara
00:45:27
desert in part of part of Morocco as far
00:45:30
as sand is concerned you're running up
00:45:32
up and down the highest sand dunes in in
00:45:35
Morocco that's day one
00:45:37
um how many K's on day one
00:45:40
uh that was the lightest day uh day one
00:45:44
I think it was around 40 41 maybe maybe
00:45:46
42 and the rest is um Hard Rock
00:45:51
okay so 40K is on sand
00:45:54
does that feel like a standard Marathon
00:45:57
or does it feel like like double the
00:45:59
distance it definitely feels uh like
00:46:02
double the distance from memory largely
00:46:04
because you can't run it you you have to
00:46:07
you know take really
00:46:09
um long deep deep strides
00:46:11
um
00:46:12
because typically you know one
00:46:13
straightforward you're taking two two
00:46:15
strides back just because of the because
00:46:17
of the sand dunes that you're
00:46:19
confronting but the scenery is
00:46:21
oh I'm absolutely amazing it's a
00:46:24
changing color throughout the day is
00:46:26
amazing yeah what do you mean scenery
00:46:27
because all I can imagine is um sand as
00:46:29
far as the eye can see you know you're
00:46:31
absolutely right but just the just the
00:46:32
just the shadows of
00:46:35
um and how that how that color changes
00:46:38
over time
00:46:39
yeah actually I'm just I'm glancing over
00:46:41
at the moment to some um the photo
00:46:42
boards you've got in your office and um
00:46:44
yeah it does look spectacular
00:46:46
it's amazing absolutely amazing right so
00:46:49
so day one 40K is on Sand and up sand
00:46:51
dunes and stuff then um day two yeah the
00:46:54
details I know that typically we're
00:46:56
around 45 to 50 but then the overnight
00:47:00
stage which is
00:47:03
brutal it was certainly brutal for me
00:47:06
um is around uh that was around 70 to
00:47:09
80k
00:47:11
um like many Runners and this applied to
00:47:13
me I did experience hallucinations I can
00:47:17
remember turning turning a corner and
00:47:21
seeing these lights at the end it was
00:47:24
the finish and I thought oh fantastic
00:47:26
it's about two kilometers away no it's
00:47:29
20 kilometers away
00:47:31
I could recall running
00:47:33
at night down a dry riverbed and I swear
00:47:39
to you I saw
00:47:40
kids on their bicycles and elephants in
00:47:44
the in the river
00:47:46
um wow you were convinced that it was
00:47:50
legit absolutely yeah absolutely and uh
00:47:53
yeah I yeah um pissing blood as well
00:47:56
that wasn't good so that but fortunately
00:47:58
that was the that was the last
00:48:01
hallucinations and um and urinating
00:48:03
blood I mean a lot of people will be
00:48:04
listening to this going it's not for me
00:48:07
but the good thing is the next day was a
00:48:10
rest day but that was just a 145k stage
00:48:13
that the final day yeah and then it was
00:48:15
all over but um so so everyone on this
00:48:18
event
00:48:19
um stays together and intense at night
00:48:21
time is it a good vibe good yeah good
00:48:24
Community it's a magical Vibe except if
00:48:27
you know on sad occasions you might lose
00:48:30
one or two people from each tent because
00:48:31
if they haven't met the the cut off
00:48:33
times for the day so if you don't meet
00:48:35
them sadly they um they actually take
00:48:37
you out you're asked to leave the tent
00:48:38
and
00:48:41
don't even get to hang out with your
00:48:43
mates no
00:48:45
um we lost uh we lost one in our attempt
00:48:48
out of eight so we we maintained that
00:48:50
seven throughout right but the attrition
00:48:52
rate is uh overall is brutal like on
00:48:55
those sand stages how do you how do you
00:48:57
avoid getting um sand in between your
00:48:59
toes sand underneath the socks yeah I
00:49:01
mean
00:49:03
I mean in in toe socks and of course in
00:49:05
that part of that those extreme um
00:49:07
conditions you're wearing um Gators
00:49:09
right so that just they work they do the
00:49:11
job they they do if they're if they're
00:49:14
sized correctly and they're fitted
00:49:16
correctly if they're not you've got
00:49:20
problems from the start but they do work
00:49:23
because on the some photo board that I
00:49:26
referenced just a couple of minutes ago
00:49:27
there's um there's a photo of your tote
00:49:29
with a blister what caused that by the
00:49:31
way that it's it's a lovely photo board
00:49:33
you've got but that photo was completely
00:49:35
unnecessary yeah it's pretty bad right
00:49:37
yeah yeah it's a gnarly looking blister
00:49:39
it is and I can certainly remember
00:49:42
popping it uh that must have been
00:49:45
satisfying yeah
00:49:48
so I can remember going into the medical
00:49:49
tent and seeing all these other Runners
00:49:51
just popping and blister after blister
00:49:52
after blister and then treating it with
00:49:54
iodine and just wrapping it up and toe
00:49:57
socks back on and Away you go
00:49:59
it just it just became the norm and
00:50:01
losing a couple of toenails as well that
00:50:03
was normal that's a badge really isn't
00:50:05
it yeah
00:50:06
yeah it is so where did the running
00:50:08
start for you
00:50:11
uh it would have started probably in
00:50:14
during my Varsity days yeah right oh so
00:50:17
you're a lifer you've been doing this
00:50:18
yeah right yeah but but shorter
00:50:20
distances I mean you know 10 20K is the
00:50:22
occasional half marathon and it wasn't
00:50:24
it was not until my early 30s that
00:50:27
started uh
00:50:28
nurses
00:50:30
um particularly the London one which
00:50:31
I've done many many times and then it
00:50:34
just got longer and longer and longer
00:50:39
I I want to use the phrase midlife
00:50:42
crisis
00:50:43
yeah
00:50:46
yeah
00:50:49
no no no it does seem like a natural
00:50:52
progression for a lot of us Runners it's
00:50:54
like you you achieve what you wanted
00:50:56
with a marathon or whatever and then you
00:50:57
get you get a bit slower as you get
00:50:58
older so you just want to go longer it
00:51:00
seems like I would agree with that I
00:51:02
mean I I
00:51:04
you know my Pace was was was was very
00:51:06
very good um but as a result of the
00:51:08
accident I can't do that anymore yeah
00:51:11
but I can continue to run longer for
00:51:13
some strange reason well I suppose it's
00:51:15
one of those one of those things that's
00:51:17
um it gives you goals to sit as you get
00:51:18
older like your times are naturally
00:51:20
going to get progressively slower as
00:51:22
your age but that doesn't mean that
00:51:23
doesn't mean the distances have to get
00:51:25
shorter that's right and those times
00:51:26
become less important they don't matter
00:51:31
set a goal to run a sub three hour
00:51:33
marathon and I tried Time After Time
00:51:36
After Time and it got to the point I
00:51:37
didn't think I was going to do it and I
00:51:38
ended up um doing one in Tokyo a few
00:51:40
years ago two hours 57 fantastic one one
00:51:43
and done and then after that I thought
00:51:47
could I go quicker and the answer I came
00:51:50
to in my head was like probably yes like
00:51:52
it but I knew how much work went into
00:51:54
running a 257 and I thought for the
00:51:55
extra work required to run I don't know
00:51:58
255 254. would it bring me that much
00:52:01
satisfaction in the answer I came to was
00:52:02
no yeah but that's the time phenomenal
00:52:05
time yeah thanks I think I'm one undone
00:52:08
but it's um yeah that's not like running
00:52:12
running fast or doing good times which
00:52:13
means something to me but nobody else at
00:52:16
all that's not where my love of running
00:52:18
comes from I I connect with what you
00:52:20
said I get it yeah yeah it's been
00:52:23
wonderful to sit down with you today
00:52:24
thank you and thank you thank you so
00:52:26
much Nick for sharing your experiences
00:52:28
what a trap and what a ride you've been
00:52:30
through um I'm sitting in your office
00:52:31
you're you're a marketing guy like a
00:52:33
marketing marketing professor
00:52:36
and in some dark way when you were
00:52:38
sitting in a hospital were you like oh
00:52:40
this puts a good Twist on the story from
00:52:42
a marketing perspective
00:52:48
this is going to make the book that much
00:52:50
better
00:52:51
yeah some sick twisted Macabre yeah well
00:52:54
the The Narrative has differently
00:52:56
changed
00:52:57
um and I you know I I mean joking aside
00:53:00
I can remember back in 17 with gaining
00:53:03
sponsorship it was tough yeah yeah when
00:53:06
you say you've been hit by a truck
00:53:07
um and you're going back to finish it
00:53:09
people say how can I help yeah you know
00:53:11
it it does
00:53:13
it does make a difference yeah that's
00:53:15
great that's great oh would do you would
00:53:17
you wish to acknowledge any of those
00:53:18
sponsors um
00:53:21
you know they're they're real core set
00:53:24
um
00:53:25
a shoe Clinic um here in here in
00:53:28
Wellington the owner Hamish um and
00:53:31
that's through um
00:53:33
particularly the Clifton eights that
00:53:35
I've been wearing for a long time are
00:53:37
you a hokey guy are you I am yeah I
00:53:39
likewise big fans big fans never going
00:53:42
to win any beauty pageants as far as
00:53:44
shoes go but um very very good great
00:53:47
support absolutely and uh you know
00:53:49
Tailwind nutrition
00:53:50
um New Zealand uh with uh with with Mark
00:53:53
Drew and tell with nutrition in the US
00:53:55
were phenomenal and a local kiwi uh
00:53:59
brand in terms of nutritional snacks
00:54:01
called Tom and Luke which are based here
00:54:03
just on the outskirts of Wellington oh
00:54:05
I've seen them around I've never had
00:54:06
them though they're in the shops what
00:54:08
are they like bars I I munched on
00:54:12
hundreds and hundreds of their
00:54:14
snackables there's strawberry and
00:54:16
chocolate and their peanut peanut butter
00:54:18
ones just just awesome hundreds of them
00:54:21
munching throughout throughout the day
00:54:22
so they they'll be the three the three
00:54:24
big sponsors yeah thanks for
00:54:26
acknowledging them because it's um it's
00:54:27
really good when you hear about
00:54:28
businesses um you know supporting
00:54:29
someone that's going to go out there and
00:54:31
uh you give something courageous or
00:54:33
correct
00:54:34
all right Nick hashel thank you so much
00:54:35
for your time thank you thank you
00:54:36
appreciate it man and um maybe you'll do
00:54:39
nothing nothing of Interest Beyond this
00:54:41
and if not that's that's fine because
00:54:44
what you've done is bloody and credible
00:54:46
yeah really appreciate your time thank
00:54:48
you
00:54:49
thank you very much for making it all
00:54:50
the way through another episode of
00:54:51
Runners only with dom Harvey this week
00:54:53
Nick ashel as I do every week um just a
00:54:56
reminder if you haven't already please
00:54:57
drop us a rating wherever you listen to
00:54:59
your podcast from five stars would be
00:55:01
ideal if it's less than that and you're
00:55:03
being honest then that's cool as well
00:55:05
whatever thank you very much to everyone
00:55:07
who's left a review if your platform
00:55:09
allows that I know Spotify doesn't but
00:55:11
Apple does I read these and I really
00:55:12
appreciate them like um here's a couple
00:55:15
that came through during the week every
00:55:16
guest has been authentic and really
00:55:18
interesting to listen to honestly
00:55:20
resisted listening to podcasts since
00:55:21
forever but I can't get enough of this
00:55:22
one it's kiwis and tackles Hot Topics
00:55:25
thanks so much and here's another one
00:55:27
that we got during the week I've just
00:55:28
started listening to this podcast as I
00:55:30
have a two hour return commute to work
00:55:32
twice a week this is the only podcast
00:55:33
I've listened to when I'm loving it I
00:55:36
have quite a few to catch up but always
00:55:37
like to see who's coming up next keep up
00:55:39
the great work Dom look listen I um I
00:55:41
can't tell you how much these reviews
00:55:43
I'm being sincere here mean to me a lot
00:55:45
of work goes into this we're only eight
00:55:48
months then but the the feedback's good
00:55:49
the stats are good and I know it's only
00:55:51
a matter of time before we get some
00:55:52
really good sponsors on board which will
00:55:54
allow us to grow this thing get some
00:55:55
staff get some real good video content
00:55:57
happening and um just take this thing to
00:55:59
the next level
00:56:00
um it's wonderful to have you guys along
00:56:01
for the journey I appreciate the support
00:56:03
get hold of me anytime you want Don
00:56:05
Harvey NZ gmail.com or Dom Harvey NZ on
00:56:08
Instagram all right stay safe hope to
00:56:10
see you next week on Runners only