Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
up by an ex-triathlete named Molly Barker who saw running together
as a way to help young women build self-esteem and self-awareness
and to cope with life's challenges. At the end of that jog, Brooke and I
plunged into the river and had a swim, which worked wonders loosen-
ing up my legs.
Tonight, we're camping at a beautiful spot: a man-made lake
called Lake Wylie, on the Catawba River, in North Carolina. The Buster
Boyd Bridge spans the lake; cross the bridge and you enter South Caro-
lina, which we will do tomorrow. It's always exciting to leave one state
and find yourself in another.
On Lake Wylie there's a marina, and we've seen people wake-
boarding and waterskiing. I did an interview with the
Today
show for
Channel Nine. I tried to be upbeat, though I was buggered; it's been a
long, tough day. A local man saw me and raced home and asked his
wife to whip up a cherry pie for me. It was delicious and greatly appre-
ciated. Southern hospitality is not a myth.
I sat by the water with Brooke and Dillon, all of us aware that our
time together is growing short. Brooke observed how special it is to
be sitting here in the south of the United States, seeing places for real
that we've only seen in movies such as
Gone with the Wind
or on TV,
or that we've read about in topics. Dillon was more impressed that we
could see Michael Jordan's home, which is right by the lake. Dillon's a
basketball fan and Jordan is one of his heroes.
I'm looking forward to Atlanta and being the guest of the Atlanta
Braves baseball team at their big Fourth of July game against the Colo-
rado Rockies at the Turner Field. There'll be 70,000 fans, fireworks and
a military display. They're going to flash the details of my run on the
giant electronic scoreboard and invite donations. This is a coup: we're
all beside ourselves with excitement. It's a very big deal for us.
Judging by such invitations and the way we've been embraced
by the people and the media, word about what I'm doing is definitely
spreading. Sadly, I keep hearing from Greg Quail that there is little
interest in my run in my homeland. In Australia, so far only about
$35,000 has been raised, and $10,000 of that I contributed myself. The
Nine Network, 2GB and my other sponsors are doing what they can,
but the message is not translating into donations to the Red Cross.
This is bitterly disappointing. The fundraising in the United States
is very sophisticated: this is reflected in the large amounts of money
