- Oct 20, 2018
- 5 min read

Week 41 – Days 283–289 – Jet lag, gossip during Marathon 80 in Dublin with the ladies (and Mark), be

Day 283 – Las Vegas, USA to Dublin, Ireland

So today ended mid-air. Always very confusing for me when I land on a different day to when I began.

I eventually managed to pack my bags, shower and head out of the hotel at about 9 this morning. Without the bellboy to help, I would have got lost for sure. The hotel is massive. Caesars Palace is certainly the best to stay when in Vegas.

No major biggies at the airport, just the classic one-hour delay, which meant my connection was very tight in Atlanta – I hope my bag came with me.

As I write this it’s now just gone midnight in my origination time zone, and I’m tucked up under four blankets on the Delta KLM flight from Atlanta to Dublin. Luckily the plane is quiet and I have four seats to myself. I’ve just been woken up to receive breakfast. Yum.

I have a few hours of flight time remaining and then on to the next country. When I land, which will be tomorrow morning British time, I’ll head into Dublin for a rest before Marathon 80.

Day 284 – Las Vegas, USA to Dublin, Ireland…

Due to the time difference, today feels like it started yesterday, eight hours back to the UK time zone.

I landed in Dublin earlier this morning, and I’ve been sleeping ever since. Nothing like an amazing time, a long 400-mile drive and then 14 hours on a plane before running a marathon tomorrow…

Here’s a shout-out to Mark, Orna and my team. Thanks to Mark for reaching out and offering his support, who then managed to put me in touch with Orna, who put me up in her spare room here, in Portmarnock, just outside Dublin.

I’m currently in a bubble of anti-social tiredness – I’ve slept virtually constantly today.

I did manage to have about 40 minutes on a public piano while waiting for a train. Haven’t played in ages. It was a nice, sleepy treat, ha ha. Thanks for the random round of applause – I had no idea all of you had been listening.

I managed to get through a few emails and catch up with some UK time zone friends and have a really long hot shower. Bliss.

Between now and the end of the year I have 21 marathons remaining. That will be 100 marathons in 100 countries in 12 months. Only another 96 to do next year plus the 21 this year and I’m done. Wow, it’s going so fast.

Everyone who knows me well will know I like to have many projects running at once and lots planned. Sometimes, though, it’s time to sleep. Today is one of those days. Post trip, in the years to come, I have a great deal coming up. I’ll let you all know soon.

Going back to sleep now.

Day 285 – Dublin, Ireland, Marathon 80

A lacy thong, chafing, a very expensive bottle of gin, three Irish women, and Mark.

No, no, it’s not what you think – Lisa, Meg and Helen are three lovely ladies who joined me today for a jog in the Irish sun around Dublin, for Marathon 80.

As we trotted up to the park (apparently the biggest public park in the world – and I find that hard to believe) I was told some weird and wonderful stories from their years of friendship. I was sworn to secrecy on many of these tales, so naturally I’ll tell you all everything… Of course not – I’ll let your imagination run wild. It was incredibly amusing to say the least.

Mark joined us at about 7 miles in after a late bus delayed his arrival into the city centre. The girls went to pick their large collection of kids up from school while Mark and I completed the remaining miles putting the world to rights – we chatted about anything and everything. Our world views are very much the same.

Mark has recently raised some money for a children’s hospice by running 12 marathons in 12 days with his friend; the running for both of us was easy-going, so it was all about the conversation. Thanks, Mark.

Although Chicago last week was my 80th marathon of the trip, today’s marathon was the official 80th country. Chicago was just a bonus run, really, so we don’t count that, despite it being sub-3. Woohoo.

Can’t believe I’ve already got through over 2,000 miles. It’s all thanks to you guys and girls for supporting. A big thank you to everyone who has donated, helped with accommodation, spread the word and followed along. Some days have been brutal, others have been a joy… and most days have been new, weird and wonderful.

It’s been a blast… However, although I am now substantially into the expedition, 99% of the hard, dangerous and simply bizarre countries are still ahead of me. By the time I finish this year, I will have completed most of Europe and I’ll be looking at places like Sudan, Afghanistan, Oman, and obviously the even more terrifying places like Yemen, Syria and the remaining 25 African countries like the Congo and Central African Republic, to name but a few.

Day 286 – Ireland to UK, family emergency, 72-hour pit stop

… all is well, but I’m heading home for 72 hours.

I was due to travel to Bucharest in Romania today, but instead I’ve re-jigged things and will now complete Romania in December. This is the bonus of building in some buffer time to the plan – doesn’t always work, but fortunately it has this time.

In 48 hours I’ll rejoin the trip in Malta, having only missed Romania. So far I’ve missed five countries we had originally planned in the initial itinerary. I’m pleased to say that it’s thanks to the team for sensibly building in contingency time that by the time 2018 concludes, I will have not only caught up on these five countries, but I will also have completed an extra three countries to take my total first year count to 100. Woohoo.

As a quick reminder, I missed Niger, Mali and Chad due to my dog bite and a mix-up with a visa; I then missed Angola due to passport issues, and now Romania… not only have we already rescheduled these, but I am now adding a few more. Win, win – good planning, team.

I’m now still sleepy but back in the UK about to nod off in my own bed. There’s benefits to everything, right?