Day 60 of the run across the USA 2025

I woke up at 0455 thinking I was at sea. It was just Thomas and Deb starting the day in the RV. I was scheduled for an 0530 start from Hutchinson to help get some miles in during the cooler part of the day. I managed to get 5.5 hours of sleep. This generally means that I’ll be in for a tough slow day. For me, sleep is the most important contributor to my recovery. 

It was one of the warmer starts to a day despite the early start. I made my way up the off ramp and was soon back on Highway 50. 

I met the RV at mile 8 for breakfast. Thomas was making some kind of burrito. It had all kinds in it. It was delicious. 

I got back out onto Highway 50 and the temperature had cranked up a notch. It wasn’t long before it was in the mid 30s Celsius. 

At mile 9 I messaged the team to watch out for some weather developing to the west of my position. Within a few minutes a dark black cloud hovered overhead and it started to rain. 

Heavy rain is something my feet need to avoid. As it turned out, there were a few large cold spots of rain and that was it. The dark clouds drifted north and the was the end of that. 

There were a number of tractors and heavy loads on the road today. Thankfully, I had plenty of room in the hard shoulder.  

Ranch signs were few and far between today. This one caught my eye. You can see that storm as it drifted north. 

By mile 11 I felt extremely tired. As was the case in 2011 across the USA, I had a good look up the road. If it was clear I would shut my eyes for a few seconds while still moving forward. 

Thomas joined me for a few miles. It was good to have some company for a change. He had a video call with his Dad. Thomas is from Belgium so it was very interesting to hear them talk in Flemish. The one word I picked up was “M and Mks”. I found that means small M and Ms. That won’t be the correct spelling by the way. It all helped to pass a few miles. 

Lunch was at the 18.5 mile point. This time Thomas had made a chicken wrap with some salad and coleslaw in. Once again, it was delicious. 

The next section on Highway 50 was surrounded with some prairie land and trees and bushes. This kept any breeze at bay and I felt the full ferocity of the 39 Celsius heat. 

I felt terrible in the heat and had to take a break at the 22 mile point. 

Deb had brought some towels that can be put in the freezer. I used the cooling vest that Donna had bought too. Those things combined really helped to bring my temperature down. As I lay on the bed, I fell asleep. It was an impromptu tactical snooze. I didn’t check the time but I woke up 15 minutes later. I felt so much better. I got back out onto Highway 50. 

I noticed a lot of sunflowers at the side of the road. That’s the flower associated with St. Benedict’s Hospice. 

I had further food at mile 27. That was to be my tea and the final meal of the day. 

When I got back out the sun had lowered in the sky. This was been the point of the day where I’ve struggled on this tour. Not today though. Donna had also sent some sun block. I applied that on my cheeks and nose. It made a massive difference. For once, my face didn’t feel like it was on fire. 

About a mile and a half east of Sylvia, Kansas a car pulled over to check if I was ok. I explained what I was doing and why. The lady in the passenger seat promptly handed over 20 dollars. More amazing kindness!! I gave her a leaflet. I thanked them for checking on me. Their names were Marceline and Joe and they had their granddaughter Marcy with them.  

I made it to Sylvia which is where I’d hoped to reach today. I continued past it.

The sun lowered even further by mile 30. I noticed a lot more bugs around. 

I was joined by Thomas at mile 30. After a further 1.2 miles, with the presence of mosquitoes, I messaged Deb to pick us up. I’d managed 31.2 miles which we were all very pleased with given the scorching hot weather. 

It was quite late and there was a lot to do. Drink Cherry Active, ice feet and shower. Deb had a look at my feet and we talked about the parts that were causing the most problems. 

Thomas then massaged my legs and parts of my feet that he was able to access. He did a great job. 

The overnight stop is an abandoned bar near Sylvia. At least I think it is abandoned. 

I can see a massive electrical storm many miles to the south of our position. There isn’t much of a breeze so it may not reach us overnight. 

TUNE OF THE DAY: The Story of my life - Neil Diamond. It’s full of the sentiments that describe the love my Mam and Dad had for each other. 

A good week of donations for St Benedict's Hospice - thank you to everyone that has contributed to date. If you think my efforts are worth a donation, please visit my JustGiving page: 

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Day 59 of the run across the USA 2025

There was no wake up alarm today as it was a support team change over day in Dodge City. 

The overnight stop was the car park outside Deb’s hotel. It was pretty quiet over night but I only managed 5.5 hours of sleep. I didn’t feel too tired when I woke up. When Deb was finished with her room, I was able to use the shower. A shower at the start of the day is a rare thing indeed on this tour. 

Deb, Alan and I had breakfast at IHOP. It was absolutely tremendous and made a change from porridge.  

We then dropped Alan off at Dodge City Airport and waited for Thomas’s flight to arrive. 

Alan has done a long old stint on this tour. His contribution has been immense. It quite simply would not have been possible without his help. 

Thomas arrived on time and we all drove in the RV from Dodge City back to the day 58 end point. 

We reached the start point for the day at 1230. It was 12 miles west of Newton, Kansas. I was out for the first session by 1238. The temperature was hotting up nicely with 32 Celsius showing on my watch. 

The aim for the day was to make it to Hutchinson, Kansas. It was 17 miles away. 

Having had 26 hours of recovery, I felt pretty good at the start. It was good to see those long straight Kansas roads again. 

The first water refill point was at 3 miles. I took a bottle and was joined by Thomas for a few miles. 

A police car slowed down to check on us. I gave him the thumbs up and he drove off. 

At mile 5 I noticed the largest flock of birds so far in this tour. I think they were swallows. They seem to hang out near decent sized sources of water. 

I was back again solo by mile 8. By mile 9, the southerly breeze was blocked by some trees. It was then that the full heat of the day hit me. As per usual, I started to feel a little groggy. 

I messaged the team to ask about taking a break at mile 11 with a view to coming back out much later on. Quite rightly, I was instructed to carry on. That’s all that was needed to keep me putting one foot in front of the other in the ferocious Kansas heat. 

I checked the temperature on my watch at mile 12. It read 38.5 Celsius. 

I could feel the heat rising from the tarmac. It was suffocating. Just then, a car pulled over on the other side of the road. A man got out and ran over to bring 2 bottles of water from the trunk of his car. They were nice and cool. I gave him a leaflet in return. His name was Jay. 

That very kind gesture, along with a brief bit of cloud cover was enough to start a “pace revolution”.  

Deb was just down the road and I handed my backpack to her. It was time to try and pick up the pace. 

The miles started to tick by pretty quickly. It wasn’t getting any cooler either. I made it to mile 16, knowing the hard work had been done, and took my foot off the gas. 

I reached the finish point on Highway 50, south of Hutchinson at 18:26. It was a good 30 minutes earlier than I’d expected. 

While I’d been running those last 5 miles, Deb had dropped Thomas off at a nearby laundromat. Unfortunately we hadn't had any washing done for about 8 days. Apparently my running kit was very smelly. 

Deb picked me up at the end point as soon as I’d finished running. We then drove to the laundromat to meet back up with Thomas. 

I downed my usual Cherry Active recovery drink in the laundromat. Deb had me ice my feet while we waited for Thomas to finish the laundry. 

We got talking to some really friendly locals in the laundromat. I commented to Deb that almost every day here in the USA, there’s some kindness or friendliness shown. I don’t remember it ever being like this in 2011. This particular tour has done a lot to restore my faith in humankind. 

Given that we face a few days of no facilities and that fact that there’s not a lot of good fresh food in the RV, we decided to go to a local steak restaurant. 

I’ve got to say that my 16oz Ribeye with all the fixings was superb! 

Much to our amazement, we found that a lady sitting nearby called Janice had settled our bill. She’d overheard our accents earlier and I told her about my journey and gave her a leaflet. 

The kindess that I referred to earlier in this blog had continued. I looked at Deb and Thomas when the waitress said that the bill had been settled in total disbelief. 

I made sure to thank Janice for her kindness before we left. There was just enough time for a photo (and also one of her dog Carlos). 

We drove to a nearby Walmart. There were supplies to be bought. Before that, Deb inspected my feet for damage. It was then time for a massage on my legs and feet. That did a lot to provide relief. Poor Deb was doing this in the sweltering hot RV. 

I wrote the blog while Thomas and Deb shopped for supplies in Walmart. 

It had been a hugely productive day on many fronts. Getting the laundry done, without impacting my miles was the big win. Oh and Thomas and Deb have made themselves right at home and completely rearranged the contents of the RV. I think that was done by mile 3 actually. 

TUNE OF THE DAY: Back with the boys again - Auf Weidersehen Pet 

As ever, continued thanks to those that have visited my JustGiving page and made a donation. 

If you haven't donated and would like to do so, please visit: 

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

The bonus photo of the day is when Thomas shook some bedding in the laundromat. It got caught in the ceiling fan. I half expected him to get caught up with it like some fairground ride. Oh how I laughed!  

Day 58 of the run across the USA 2025

The Walmart car park in Newton has got to be one of the quietest overnight stops of this tour so far. As a bonus, the southerly wind blew into the RV making for a tremendous sleep. Almost 7.5 hours in fact. It doesn’t get much better than that! 

I set off from Newton, Kansas at 06:17 just as the sun was rising. The temperature was a very nice 22 Celsius with a slight breeze from the south. 

There was nothing much of note on Highway 50. I’ve been in this road for some time now. There was the usual generously sized hard shoulder alongside the many vast miles of agricultural land.

I scoured the skies for clues of the up and coming weather. It looked like I was in for an incident free morning. 

At the 3 mile point I spotted 2 golden retrievers to my right. Their tales were wagging and they looked like they wanted to play. Sadly, I had to press on. Shortly afterwards, I received a notification of a donation on JustGiving on my watch. I brought up the site on my phone and was amazed to see a very generous donation to St. Benedict’s Hospice from the owners of my Órlaith’s brother Bruno. There were a number of other donations too. Further amazing generosity which did a lot for reminding me why I’m undertaking this epic journey. 

On my side of the road I spotted what looked like a collection of vintage gas station paraphernalia. 

The road ahead was straight, flat and long. I could see for miles. It’s going to be like this for a long time to come as it had been for a long time prior. 

At mile 8, I felt an explosion on the bottom of my right foot. Absolutely true to form, a day where problems centred on my left foot, was now followed with a day with a right foot issue. I limped for a few yards before using my right heel only. I then bunched the toes in my right foot up and this had a positive effect (perhaps that squeezed the fluid out of the blister). I was able to continue. 

I had a quick call with Donna at mile 11 and told her about my plans for the day. I’ve mentioned many times before that Donna always has a way of making sense of things but in a critical way when it’s needed. She’s the Adrian to my Rocky. 

The impact of this tour (and all the others for that matter) on Donna can’t be underestimated. She’s stepped in and stepped up time after time when things aren’t going to plan. Five weeks in an insect infested RV in Australia during its hottest summer on record. Resolving support team conflicts from the UK while I was running up a mountain in Europe not knowing what was happening. The many hours she’s had to listen to me at my lowest on the phone from Australia, Europe and even in the mountains of Ukraine to name but a few. It goes above and beyond what a wife should have to deal with. I’m grateful and proud in equal measure. 

As Adrian once said to Rocky “All those beatings you took in the ring, I took them with you!”. I’m sure that’s how Donna feels. 

Back to the days running and I got to mile 12.3 and messaged Alan to say that was enough for today. The early finish wasn’t because of injury or fatigue for once. We had an almost 3 hour drive to Dodge City (for the support team changeover) to do as well as RV chores such as refilling propane, fuel, water and emptying the waste tanks. 

Propane was filled at nearby Hutchinson, Kansas. A really nice lady called Connie helped with that at Tractor Supply Co. I told her about my journey and left her with a leaflet. 

The RV was then refuelled and Alan drove us to Dodge City. For the next few hours, I’d be getting a preview of the next 4 days of running. After a while, we started to climb. It was hardly noticeable to the naked eye. The landscape became even flatter and there was far less greenery. We were heading into the High Plains. 

We had a bit of time to kill before Deb’s flight was due to land in Dodge City from Denver. I treated myself to a shower and a shave. 

Knowing that we’d be eating out with Deb later we decided to have a “small snack”. We found a place called The Cowboy Capital Saloon and Grill. 

I just ordered a “prime rib” sandwich. Surely it wouldn’t be too big and just enough to “put me off” (as my Mam would say) until supper time. Oh how wrong I was. 

Today could end up like that Christmas episode of the Vicar of Dibley where she has numerous Christmas dinners! I’m currently writing this in a McDonalds while Alan is dumping the waste and refilling the water. 

Deb landed in Dodge City and we picked her up in the RV. She checked into her hotel and we all went for some food at a really nice Mexican restaurant. 

She’s in the luxury of a hotel for the night and we are in its car park. 

It’s hard to describe just how relieved I am to have her back on the team. She will be the difference between success and failure on this journey. As well as making Donna proud, Deb is the other person who I’ll be going all out to do the same. 

There’ll be no 0515 alarm in the morning. It’ll be a little later and Deb has kindly offered the use of her shower in the hotel. It’s on the basis that I “don’t leave anything in there”. I’ve no idea what she means. We’ll then grab some breakfast. I think pancakes might be on the menu. After that we’ll drop Alan off at the airport and wait for Thomas to arrive soon after. 

Thomas will hardly have time to get settled in because we’ll drive back east 135 miles to today’s end point and get some miles done. Any number of miles in double figures will be a bonus tomorrow. I anticipate arriving at the start point at the hottest part of the day. 

The charity fund now sits at £22,485 for St Benedict's Hospice. Huge appreciation to those who have contributed. The email notifications from JustGiving really do put a spring in my step and help push me forward when times are tough. 

If you would like to donate, please visit my page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025 

TUNE OF THE DAY: God Went Crazy - Teddy Swims

Day 57 of the run across the USA 2025

The overnight stop was safe but a little noisy. That was to be expected given the nearby main road and railway line. I was kept awake by thoughts of the mileage left and possible plans to get to the finish line.  

After a short drive to the start line, I was on Highway 50 in cooler temperatures just after 6am. 

The first thing I noticed was potential storm clouds on the distance. They were spectacular at that time of the morning.

The first water refill was 3 miles in. I just took a bottle of water as I’d hardly touched my hydration backpack. At 4.5 miles there was a spectacular ranch sign. 

There was a rare bend in the road at mile 6. It was here that I could see further cloud build up ahead. 

As I approached the town of Peabody, there looked to be a downpour happening up ahead. I thought it may be 5 or so miles away. 

A rainbow appeared dead ahead of me. That was a cue to ask Siri to play a particular song. How appropriate that I’m in Kansas! Siri offered up a number of different versions from numerous artists. I think Eva Cassidy’s was my favourite. 

TUNE OF THE DAY: Over the Rainbow - Eva Cassidy 

A mile after Peabody, there was a little standing water left. I’d been lucky to miss out on getting a soaking.   

At mile 12, it became obvious why there had been such large gaps in the oncoming traffic for the last few days on Highway 50. There were roadworks which were a few miles long. The flow of traffic was controlled by a “pilot car”. 

There wasn’t a lot of room for me at times but the traffic was slow and safe enough. 

The good thing about Highway 50 is that you’re never far away for a railway line. I took a few pictures and video for a pal back home.

I think Alan was expecting me to stop for food at Walton at mile 17.5. I felt good and the favourable conditions (29 Celsius with a headwind) had to be taken advantage of. 

I made it to the 22 mile point just to the east of Newton shortly after 1pm. It was time for some food and a short sleep. The bagel and scrambled eggs were delicious. The tactical snooze was interrupted by flies as per usual. 

When I got back out on the road, it seemed the temperature had increased considerably. I was pleased to have gone as far as I did while it was relatively cooler. 

I passed underneath interstate 135 and made my way into Newton on the Old Trail Road. Thankfully it was tarmac and not a trail!

The mill in Newton was one of the biggest I’d ever seen. Its silhouette from a few miles away made me think it was a cathedral at first. 

A quick search told me that “The Ardent Mills Newton facility is the largest small-pack operation in the Ardent Mills organization. Newton packs over 40% of United States privately-labeled small bags sold on retail shelves. 

Newton makes many different blends of flour that get used for various baking needs including desserts, coatings, snacks and many other tasty items. The Newton mill has a daily capacity of 850,000 lbs. of flour.” 

The main street of Newton was pretty quiet. I did notice a barber and a massage place. I almost called in!  

The train station was modelled after William Shakespeare’s house according to my pal back in the UK. It’s on a line that runs from LA to Chicago. 

There was more trains to look at in Newton which always makes me happy. Ever since I saw them winding their way through the Mojave Desert in 2011, I’ve been fascinated by them. It possibly goes back to our journeys to the caravan at Seahouses as a child. We would often get stopped at the railway crossing at Chathill. My Dad would build the excitement up. “Can you hear it yet?” and “Which direction do you think it’s coming from?”. It was a thrill to pass the time on what seemed like a very long journey. It was long because we’d probably call in to the Mill House in Washington, the Little Chef at Stannington (which is where Donna and I go for a curry from time to time) and the Oak Inn would also get a visit. Many hours later, we’d arrive at the caravan. Anyway, I digress. 

I made it out of the other side of Newton and almost back on to Highway 50. At mile 27.5 I felt the “explosion” in my left foot. It was in a spot that I’d noticed blood on my sock at the 22 mile rest point. It had filled with fluid. I decided to call for the RV and call it a day. I had at least another 2.5 miles planned but it was on the busy dual carriageway. We hadn’t determined a stop point. Stopping was the correct decision. 

I had a look at the problematic area of my left foot when we reached the overnight stop at the Walmart car park in Newton. 

I was correct in that it was connected to the area of my sock where I’d spotted blood. There seems to be three pockets of fluid around that area. After yesterday’s major mistake, I’m going to leave it. If there’s anything I’ve noticed on this tour, it’s that my feet recover quick enough and well enough overnight. Yes, it may not be enough to get me through the full day but getting close to 30 miles is decent. 

On the plus side, one of only three people who have ever nursed my feet back to decent shape (and off painkillers) arrived in Denver this afternoon. It’s the return of Deb who, along with Thomas, takes over from Alan on Saturday. 

I bought her a bag of her favourite Cheetos a few weeks ago to soften the blow of having to look at my feet again. It was the only time I’ve been in a supermarket here. I’m either out there on the road or in the RV 99.9% of the time. It’s a strange existence.  

The charity fund is currently £22,155. Every penny raised is helping St Benedict’s Hospice provide free palliative care in addition to advice, and support to patients and their families that are dealing with a life limiting illness. 

Thank you to everyone that has donated so far, every donation no matter how big or small, counts. 

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