We stayed at Te Kao Lodge with Irene for the last 2 days, great little place to chill out right at the top of NZ. Thank you so much for helping us out.
We had another beautiful day and I was feeling great so off we set heading south towards Awanui.
First chat was with Tony who had seen us coming up the road and he came out and gave us a donation. Cheers bro.
Then as I was having a rest Rachel came along, she was heading towards the Cape to start a ride that would take her the length of the country. She was in high spirits and it was great to see someone heading out on a adventure of a lifetime. Best of luck Rachel!!!
Not heaps of houses up this way but there is so much support and flags around for all the teams that came for the World cup. I have loved seeing all the different setups all over the country.
Then I met this motorbike guy, I think his name was Robert, sorry if I’m wrong bro. It was funny as we talked he said he had been riding all over the place with the rugby and he had seen us heaps along the way and then we met here. Crazy how things work out.
Yeah me talking to the horses again… We had a few different views today, up here its not far to either side of NZ. So beautiful!!
We hadn’t planned on running down 90 Mile Beach as I thought it was a bit far away but the closer I got the more I wanted to go. Checking with these 2 beautiful locals which way and how far it was I got a hug and best wishes and I was heading to the beach.
It was a 9km road down to the beach and when we got there it was so awesome, I knew right then that I had made the right choice in coming. As I stopped for a rest we met Jonas and Matthias who are travelling here from Germany. The boys had passed us down the road and came to say hi. Then I said come on boys we are going for a run and they jumped in. Was great to have them come for a couple of km.
It was so nice down here, not too sunny but still hot – wind was off shore,waves looking great and a smooth under foot meant for a cruisey run. I had 17kms til the end of the beach. A few cars and buses fly along the beach on tours.
I have a few bro’s in my world of friends who like to get naked and being out here in this place made me think of them and what they would do if they were here, so I dedicated a naked run to Nick Chisholm, Rusty Gilbert and Hewy who I know would have joined me. So I stopped Rick and said I was getting my kit off and off I ran. He was a bit shocked but soon after had the camera out and videoed me running with only my NB shoes on.
Great feeling so free and living a dream that has been amazing right from day one, and it is all these moments and thoughts of my friends and new friends I have met along the way that I am loving. I love you all so much and thank you for getting me this far. Now we are at 2570kms, yahooooooooo!!!! I did 55kms today, 9 longer than planned but I’ve been working on my fitness lately. No sweat.
Today was a special day for me – I have been trying to organize a fun run for today’s World Stroke Day. I was supposed to run 46kms today but with a little detour we did 55km, but I enjoyed it all as it was World Stroke Day. I just got an email from Nick Chisholm who you all know is in a wheelchair. Well Nick was down at the track today with his frame walker and he took on Chris in a 100m sprint race – amazing as he was told 11yrs ago that he would never walk again and to pull out a 100m run was so amazing I can’t tell you. That is why he is the inspiration behind this whole run. You are a legend Nick !!!!!!!! Huge thanks to Nick’s crew Nicola, who Nick blames for his close loss, as Nicola forgot his running shoes. But he said he ran 100m in 7.09 mins. Huge effort bro, Love ya. Chris you were lucky bro and thank you for getting out there today. Cheers.
I have been getting so many emails from all over the world for the fun run which is just great, I am going to feed off this all week and will get them up on the blog as soon as I can. Please look under your country to see your shots. Thank you all so so much for being a part of this special day.
Today’s Route – Zoom out to see where I ran…
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Day 59 – Te Kao to Awanui with a naked beach run
