After just 6 hours of sleep I set off from Elston, Missouri at 0648. With an 0530 alarm that’s pretty shoddy. I simply must get slicker and quicker at getting out on a morning. Particularly as the higher temperatures are on their way.
The conditions were pretty cool and foggy as I made my way from Old Stage Road to Lookout Trail (which was a tarmac road thankfully). I passed a few fields full of cattle and that was to be the theme for the day.
I met the RV at the 5.5 mile point (Centertown) and went inside for 5 minutes to drink some Powerade. When I went back out, a friendly dog was waiting to say hello.
I started to build some pace from miles 6 through to 10. It was a slow process and there were a few nice climbs to get stuck into.
My watch kept pinging with notifications from Justgiving. It was a great morning for donations to St. Benedict’s Hospice.
While I built up some pace I wrote the following on the Run Geordie Run Facebook page:
“Some amazingly kind donations have gone in to https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025 today.
One in particular from friends and lovely people who I’ve not seen for years has given me renewed energy this morning. It also helps that there are plenty of cattle nearby to wave and say hello to. Trust me, it helps to have any interaction with living things on these long lonely miles. “Hello Bow Wow” is my phrase as I pass cows, rabbits, squirrels, sheep, goats ando so on. I think I’ll get that on a T-shirt when I get home. Bow Wow is the nickname for Órlaith, our Goldie back home.”
It was a ramble of sorts, but definitely reflected the upturn in my mood.
The renewed energy that I referred to was put to good use on miles 11 to 15. A soundtrack on YouTube containing all the Rocky training montages also helped fuel my pace.
I made it to California (the town not the state unfortunately) in good time. The earlier fog had lifted and it was scorchingly hot.
I met the RV for some pasta (no crisps) and was back out after an hour. I didn’t have a tactical snooze. I probably didn’t need it due to the amount of sleep I had yesterday. Having felt that I’d done the hard work, I simply took the pace off and got through the miles on old Highway 50.
I received a video call from David Fairlamb. He’d been visiting his parents and it was great to talk to him as well as his Mam, Dad and wife Karen.
I made it onto Highway 50. There was a very nice wide hard shoulder. The temperature seemed to crank up a notch yet again.
At mile 20 I was reminded by the pain in my feet that I hadn’t taken any painkillers at the last break. At least, I’d remembered to put sun protection on (factor 50).
The next 3 and a quarter miles were once again excruciating. The increased temperature was the least of my worries all of a sudden.
I made it to mile 23.2 and met the RV for some painkillers and Powerade. After 15 minutes I tried to set off again. I say “tried” because as soon as I stepped outside the RV I felt light headed. It was the same feeling I had 2 nights ago before crashing down onto nearby grass.
I gave it a few minutes and decided to call it a day. Yet again, another day short of the required miles. I was only 2.9 miles from the planned finish line. I just didn’t want to risk it on Highway 50 with no places for the RV to sweep me up if necessary.
We drove to the overnight stop which is a park in Tipton. It’s very quiet at the time of writing this blog (20:14). It’s swelteringly hot and Alan has spent the last few hours swatting flies! It’s like the run across Australia all over again.
A cold shower was the first priority for me. I didn’t feel well at all. I noticed a now larger blister on my right foot under my sock. It was actually a blister on another blister. I’d have to deal with that later.
After almost passing out in the shower I made it out of there and lay on the bed until I felt a little better.
The next task was to “empty” the blister and its underlying blister on my right foot. Quite a lot of yellow fluid came out. I just hope it dries up before I start running in the morning.
I did notice a few other blisters but quite frankly they are not causing me as much bother as the “doubler” so I just left them.
TUNE OF THE DAY: Burn (Extended Mix) - Joris Voorn & Tom Walker.
The charity fund for St. Benedict’s Hospice stands at £20,653.68 with donations coming from all over the world today. The kindness being shown, day in and day out has exceeded my hopes and dreams at this stage of the run.
It’s worth reminding readers that their generosity this year as well as previous years has made a significant difference to charities in the North East of England including St. Benedict’s Hospice.
Against a backdrop of a cost of living crisis, it’s incredible to think that the donations keep coming in to St. Benedict’s Hospice. Businesses, organisations as well as charities have faced increased costs in recent years. Absolutely every pound raised matters a great deal to St. Benedict’s Hospice.
In St. Benedict’s Hospice own words:
“We raise over £1 million a year through the charity, which funds a range of essential activities including:
- The hospice supports on average 3600 patients each year across all our services.
- The Charity support the hospice by providing dedicated transport vehicles for patients attending appointments and day services.
- The charity supports the provision of the bereavement counselling service. The Counselling Service has been funded by the St Benedict’s Hospice charity since 2013. The service includes adult and child and family support. The service has supported 166 people per year on average over the last 5 years.
- We have invested in a new replacement Minibus for the transport services. This will enable us to continue to provide a transportation offer that suite’s the changing needs of our patients.
- We provide funds for our ward to purchase additional items to support patient comfort, such as toiletries, clothing, heat packs and specialist food items.
- Therapy treatments for our patients, such as art psychotherapy, occupational therapy, complementary therapy and medical consultant sessions.
- Non-clinical administration support.
- Training and specialist education support for our staff.
- Specialist and generalist equipment that creates a comforting environment for patients.
The money that you, the reader are donating is making a little but significant dent in that £1 million. For that, I am beyond grateful.
As ever, if you’d like to sponsor my coast to coast run across the USA then please visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/rungeordierun2025.
Any donation is greatly appreciated by me and, of course, by St. Benedict’s Hospice.
