My search for a suitable start point on the European segment of the run Around The World came to a successful conclusion this week. Like the previous runs across the USA and Australia, I looked for somewhere that would allow the start to be in an ocean. This, of course, means that my runs can be truly classified, beyond any doubt, as “coast to coast”.
I intend to find a corresponding end point in Shanghai, some 10,000 plus miles later, in due course.
Meanwhile, back to the start point in Portugal, which I’m very pleased to announce is Guincho Beach (pictured below).
Guincho Beach, situated 20 miles west of Lisbon is popular with tourists and is regarded as one of the best windsurfing locations in Europe. It was used as a location in the James Bond movie “On her Majesty’s Secret Service” where Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo (played by Diana Rigg) is rescued by James Bond (played by George Lazenby).
From Guincho Beach, I'll be running due north before crossing into Spain and hitting the first Antipodal point in La Coruna some 430 miles later. I'll talk more about the subsequent route east in the coming weeks. It is important to remember that La Coruna, Spain is the exact opposite (antipodal) point on the planet to Christchurch, New Zealand. Regular readers of this blog will remember that running through those 2 opposite points of the planet and running over 18,000 miles are part of the Guinness World Record criteria that I'm following. I don't think I'll be setting any records, of course!
