Day 41 of the run across the USA 2025

The overnight stop in Marthasville was almost an 8/10. I’m marking it down due to the bin wagon coming round at 0530. This was followed by the grass cutter at 0600. 

The 0515 alarm became the 0615 alarm. It was that seemingly once a week occasion where I just needed a little bit more rest. 

I set off from Marthasville along the Katy Trail at 07:17. I had a heavy backpack with enough provisions to last 20 or so miles. The reason for that, of course, was that Alan would be waiting around for the tyre to be replaced on the RV. News about it had reached NUFC.com. 

The trail was punishing for my feet as well as my mind. The stony surface played havoc with my left foot in particular. The fact that I was almost always surrounded by the same looking trees gave the impression that I wasn’t making progress. 

There was the occasional bridge or clearing which offered a bit of variety thankfully. 

At mile 4 I stopped to talk to a hiker going in the other direction. His name was Ty and he was in training to hike the Appalachian Trail later this year. 

I left the wooded area of the trail and entered an open space at mile 5.5. Away from the shade, at last, I could really feel the day hotting up. 

I made it to Treloar after 7 miles. This is where I should have got to yesterday but for the RV tyre. 

News reached me that the new tyre had been fitted to the RV back in Marthasville. That was done by 0915. It took a further hour to get rental company Cruise America to pay for it. 

Meanwhile, back on the trail and I was being pestered by a load of flies. I made my own face covering and powered through them.  

I met Alan briefly at the 8.5 mile point just to check everything was ok with the RV / tyre. 

The next meeting point after that was to be the 21 mile point near Bridgeport. It was a long old unsupported stint. I think it was possibly the longest of this tour so far. 

As I ran alongside the Missouri River the first point of interest was a lorry loading a barge with rocks from a nearby quarry. 

The Missouri River looked formidable to my left as I continued along the trail. 

During the first 15 miles I think I saw around 10 people cycling on the trail. There were one or two things to look at. 

For the most part the image below is what I saw for the first 18 miles 

The trail eventually opened up into a clearing and Alan joined me for the 21st mile. 

I was very relieved to see the RV at mile 21. My left foot had taken a right pounding and I was in a lot of pain. 

When I got back out, the next 2.5 miles were very painful. I started running on the road in an attempt to save my feet. With some busy traffic and no hard shoulder I was soon back on the trail. 

I made it to McKittrick and the pain in my left foot was so bad I considered giving up for the day. Instead, I took some painkillers and set about finishing the days miles. 

I managed another 1.5 miles before my left foot “exploded”. It’s been around 10 days since this has happened. I was limping so badly that it would have taken hours to get to the finish line in Rhineland. I messaged Alan to pick me up in the RV. Fortunately, the trail was now right next to the main road. I took a photo of the puddle where I finished limping. 

We drove forward to the overnight spot in Rhineland. After a shower and a foot soak, some visitors arrived. 

Geordie exile Stephen (originally from Gateshead) and his girlfriend Felicia had travelled 70 minutes across state just to say hello. We chatted in the nearby park for half a hour before they surprised me with a donation of water and Powerade. There was loads of it. Enough to last a few weeks. That was an incredibly kind thing to do. 

We took the obligatory photos and off they went. It was a really nice way to end the day. 

^DA - what Mark doesn't realise yet (due to the time difference of writing/publishing the blog) is that Stephen's generosity continued with a donation this morning pushing the fund over the £20,000 barrier! Incredible!

TUNE OF THE DAY: 40 Miles - Congress. One of many old school tracks that I listened to today. 

Tomorrow’s plan is to strap up and pad my damaged left foot. I did the same 10 or so days ago and that worked well. 

If you are enjoying following the journey and would like to donate to St Benedict's Hospice, please visit

https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025

Day 40 of the run across the USA 2025

It took me a while to get to sleep last night. That was a problem of my own making. Quite late on, a topless man emerged from the nearby Lost Valley trail on his chopper-style bicycle. He returned to the only other vehicle in the car park. He was wearing just shorts and wellies. Oh…and he had what looked like a rifle (might have been a banjo or a shovel) and a massive knife too. I’m sure he was a very nice man but he reminded me of one of the “hill people” from the movie The Hills Have Eyes. I opened the window’s insect net which is next to my bed to take a photo. I felt I had to do it or the readers of this blog would never believe me. I took the photo and was very relieved that the flash wasn’t on! I should have checked that first. 

The man drove away soon after but that didn’t stop me from scanning the dark and empty car park for the next hour or so! Thankfully, the only thing to be seen was the occasional firefly. 

A standard broken nights sleep followed and I was gutted to be woken up at 0445 by a car entering the car park. That was 45 minutes before the alarm was due to go off. 

After a hearty bowl of porridge and blueberries I set off on Highway 94 at 06:27. There was a little bit of traffic but as soon as I got on Highway F, I pretty much had the road to myself. 

I would go on to spot all manner of animals today. The first of which was a deer near Defiance. 

I met the RV at 6.5 miles for peanut butter bagels at the Historic Daniel Boone Home. I was pretty hungry which doesn’t happen too often on these big runs. 

I felt full of energy for the next few miles and morale was good. That soon stopped when I saw a sign saying “Road Closed. 2.5 miles ahead”. I attempted to message Alan about it but there was no reception. I pressed on regardless onto Femme Ossage Creek Road. 

The good thing about the road closure was that I had the road to myself in the most beautiful valley I’ve seen since I ran across the Pyrenees in 2016. The photo below doesn’t do it justice. 

I took my earphones out and let the soundtrack of the valley provide the entertainment. There were no cars, lorries, litter, graffiti or people. It was as quiet and unspoiled as I’ve seen in over 1000 miles so far. I spotted a turtle in the nearby creek. 

Femme Ossage Valley was full of farms. Any early morning cloud disappeared and I could feel the temperature start to rise. 

I came to a road close sign just before the 11 mile point. My heart sank with the thought of what could be waiting around the corner. 

The first thing I saw was a missing road. It looked like the one that forced me to detour in Indianapolis nearly 2 weeks ago. 

I was then delighted to see a temporary path that crossed the creek. 

I spotted a horse, some calves, 2 cats and a golden retriever over the next few miles. I was also pursued by some dogs at one point. I didn’t take photos of them. I chose to increase the pace a little to avoid any nonsense. 

I made it to 15.5 miles for sandwiches and a 30 minute tactical snooze. 

Alan made some iced coffee before I set off again in the hope that it would have the same positive impact as the one at Starbucks yesterday. Alan’s was better than that one, I’m pleased to report (I feel inclined to say that as I know he reads the blog). 

There were some nice little inclines to contend with over the next few miles. It really helps to have lost 15kg in the last 40 days when it comes to climbing. That’s 33 pounds or 2 stone and 5 pounds in old money. 

At 14:53, I was just making my way into Marthasville at 19 miles when I received the following message. 

I got to the RV as quick as I could. There’d been a blow out in one of the tyres. Fortunately, it happened at low speed in the town. 

Luckily there was a nearby garage. Alan made his way over there and they would be able to fit a replacement tomorrow morning (Tuesday 10th June). That put paid to any plans of continuing running for the day unfortunately. It was an unavoidable great shame as I was setup nicely for the final session of the day. I had to settle for 20.15 miles in the end. 

There is one advantage to finishing at the trailhead of the Katy Trail here in Marthasville. I’ll now be able to do a more direct route on the trail itself tomorrow which will save a few miles. The plan today was to take a longer route on the road to make support and an overnight stop possible. 

I’ll be setting off shortly after 0600 tomorrow morning. I’ll be running with a bigger back pack than normal full of water. There aren’t any obvious places to get a drink in the places near the trail tomorrow. By the time the new tyre arrives, gets fitted and Alan sets off I expect to be unsupported for anything up to 8 hours (worse case). It’s a scenario that’s not too dissimilar to day 58 of the last run across the USA. You can read about that here - https://markallisonjogtole.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-58-breakdown.html 

Tomorrow’s support is further complicated by the fact that I’ll be on the trail, sometimes miles away from RV access. Miles 10 to 19 (Case, Missouri) are inaccessible for the RV. It’s very good after that in that respect and hopefully the RV is fixed by then. 

If the RV isn’t fixed tomorrow (unlikely) then I’ll go no further than McKittrick at 23 miles where there are some B&Bs (albeit expensive). So that’s most eventualities covered. If I get injured at any point then it’ll be Hobble Geordie Hobble. 

TUNE OF THE DAY: You're Gonna Get Yours - Public Enemy 

Finally today, I’d like to repeat the thanks I say every day on this blog. There have been some really kind donations. As a result the charity fund for St. Benedict’s Hospice is not too far away from £20,000 (£19,865.32 at the time of writing). 

If you’d like to make a very tough and tricky day 41 so much better then please make a donation to St. Benedict’s Hospice at https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025.

Day 39 of the run across the USA 2025

A surprisingly decent sleep was had at the Walmart car park near the airport in St Louis.

The dreaded 0515 alarm sounded and it was time for porridge and then the 20 minute drive to the start line in the city centre. Due to the mileage deficit the route is now out of sync with my plan. That means Alan has to find some suitable overnight stops each day. My pre planned suggestions are just not in the place where I’m finishing each day. 

I set off from Forest Park at 06:31 which is half an hour later than most days. There wasn’t a soul about as I made my way through the Washington University in St Louis campus. 

The place was absolutely immaculate with a nice path as far as the eye could see. There were all manner of creatures and birds along the way. Squirrels and rabbits were enjoying the lack of human activity. Until I went past that is!  

There were a few clues and nods to the 1904 Olympic Games that were held at the Washington University in St Louis. One of which was a sign saying that I was on the marathon route. 

I made it to the Clayton area of St Louis. Again it was immaculate. There was the nearby Shaw park which looked very nice indeed. It was yet another place that I would like to come back and visit one day.  

As I left Clayton, I joined Ladue Road. It was the most magnificent place that I’ve seen so far on this tour. The road was lined with huge properties and gated estates. “There’s some money here” I thought to myself. The road ahead was up and down and up and down. It didn’t really impact my pace which I was very pleased with. 

I met the RV at the 6 mile point. Much to my surprise Alan had cooked 2 bacon and hash brown sandwiches. They went down a treat. Delicious! 

The next meeting point was 8.5 miles away so I took my backpack and off I went up Ladue Road again. The properties seemed to get bigger and better the further I went. 

Just after Hunter Farms, I got talking to a man called Lee. He was out for a run. I thought it was Lance Armstrong at first. 

I told him about my mission and he asked how he could donate. I mentioned my website and spelled out G-E-O-R-D-I-E. “Like the band” he said! That led us on to a conversation about Brian Johnson and subsequently our love of AC/DC. It was brilliant to chat to him for a brief time. What a great guy. 

As I neared the end of Ladue Road the properties became no less impressive. It was the quality of the paths that was the real highlight for me. In 13.5 miles I hadn’t needed to run on a single road. Bliss. 

As I reached mile 14, I got a notification on my watch to say a donation had been made to my Justgiving page. I checked it out and to my amazement Lee had made a very generous donation. He was a man of his word when he said he would “throw something in the bucket” (or words to that effect). His kindness will stay with me for a very long time. 

The paths continued as I made my way through Chesterfield. 

I eventually made to the RV at the 18 mile point. I was exhausted and had been battered by the sun. 

I had some pasta (no crisps) followed by a 30 minute tactical snooze in the roasting hot RV. I didn’t feel well at all afterwards. The remedy was to order an iced coffee in a nearby Starbucks and sit in the air conditioned premises for 15 minutes. 

I set off again knowing that the next meeting point would be the finish line at 29.25 miles. There were limited opportunities for the RV to park as I would be on trails for the rest of the day. Again, this is a consequence of the route being out of sync with my original plan. 

I joined the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee Trail. The surface was perfect. There were a good amount of cyclists enjoying the Sunday afternoon sun. 

The nearby Chesterfield Valley Athletic complex was busy with numerous junior baseball games. 

I crossed the Missouri River at the 23 mile point and wound my way down to the Katy trail. 

The trail was made up of stones which played havoc with my feet. The iced coffee had well and truly kicked in and I powered across the trail. 

I left the trail after 5 miles and made my way up to the main road (the 94). Alan joined me for the final half a mile. 

The finish line was the conveniently placed Lost Valley Trailhead after 29.5 miles. 

I’d finished in good time today despite starting slightly later than usual and having a long mid afternoon break. I think it was the second quickest day of the tour so far (after day 1). 

It was certainly the most enjoyable day so far. There was a nice path for most of the day, the air appeared really clean and the surroundings from start to finish were a real joy. 

It’s been a solid first week from Alan on the support team. He’s continued the excellent work from his predecessors. He has another 19 days on the tour. 

The aim over the next 7 days is to make it to Drexel which is very close to the Kansas/Missouri state line. It’s 233 miles away. We’ve managed just shy of 200 miles in this weather interrupted week. 

Continued thanks for the donations and messages of support. The fund is well on the way to reaching the next milestone of £20,000.

If you’re enjoying following the journey, please donate via: https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025

TUNE OF THE DAY: Going The Distance - Bill Conti (from the Rocky soundtrack)