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was training in New York and in the short time I've been running on
my official journey, have shown me such goodwill. Being a motor
mechanic by trade, I tried to help him start his bike. Bernie, who also
knows his way around a motor, lent a hand. Unfortunately, the prob-
lem defeated us. Not even giving the bike's tyres a kick or a couple of
push starts helped. We had no choice but to leave the bloke to seek
assistance from a bike specialist. I hope it all worked out well for him.
We said goodbye, and he thanked us for doing our best.
My friend Greg Quail, media manager of the expedition, ran with
me for a few kilometres today. He levelled with me, breaking the news
that while we were getting good media coverage for the run, donations
to the Red Cross were not as high as we'd hoped they would be by now.
He said the challenge was converting the media attention into actual
donations. I didn't mince words: I told Greg that the sole reason for this
run is to raise money. Ways and means have to be found to increase the
donations. That's his job. In the meantime, mine is to keep running.
June 9
Greg woke up this morning and could hardly move. He gave it his all
running beside me yesterday. He asked me how I did it, 85 kilometres
a day, every day. I explained how I break down the distance mentally.
Towards the end of each day, when I'm hurting, I divide the remaining
kilometres into lots of 10 kilometres, then lots of 5 kilometres, until
there are only a couple to go. On very tough days, I ask Bernie to stop
the van just 2 kilometres up the road ahead, so I can see it in the dis-
tance, and I make reaching the vehicle my goal. I know that if I catch
up to the van five times, I will have run 10 kilometres. It's easier to
chase something you can see than something that is out of sight.
This is why, in long-distance running and bike races, a competitor
will try to stay in view of the lead pack; if they are in sight, you can hang
in there, but once you lose sight of the pack it's mentally harder, and
often a competitor will drop out of contention. At the end of each 5- or
10-kilometre stage, I have my team give me a drink or a snack, and this
little treat also gives me something to look forward to.
I have a similar philosophy pertaining to the whole run. If I
thought of the total distance I have to run, 21,000 kilometres, I'd crawl
under the covers on my bunk and maybe never emerge. So what I do is
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