As previously promised here is the story behind my fundraising for the firefighters Charity:

In 2015 Wendy and I toured Australia for 8 months, mostly in a camper van. To make sure I saw as much of the country that I could I would run 8 miles every morning. I ran through towns, cities, deserts, rain forests, the Outback and beaches and I saw some amazing sights.

When I got home to the UK I decided to keep running every day for a year which I did.

After I had completed a full year I set my sight on running for 1,000 days.

I knew that I might have to miss the odd day so I came up with one rule. I could only miss one day for the purpose of travel or for tapering for an event, but only one day.

So, if a journey prevented me from running, (or for tapering for a running event), then I had to do two runs on the previous day, one in the morning and one in the evening, both of eight miles. The last time I think I did this was to drive from Inverness to Edinburgh and back to visit our daughter and her husband, who were expecting their first baby. It was Christmas day 2020, when we were allowed to travel to another council area for that day only during the Coronavirus pandemic and we had not seen them for many months. I’ve tapered twice, in 2017 for the Highland Cross and in 2018 for the Loch Ness Marathon.

I cannot wake up one morning and decide to do a double run the next day because I don't fancy it, that to me wouldn't have been in the spirt of the challenge, it can only be used for travel and it must be done the day before.

After I managed 1,000 days I went for 2,000 days.

I have always loved to travel and I have always wanted to visit the equator so the thought came to me, around the 1,200 day point, that I ought to work out how long it would take me to run the distance of the equator which is 24,901 miles.

With that in mind I set myself the task of running the equator, and at 2,000 runs I knew I could do it.

In February this year I worked out that I would complete the mission in December, sometime around the 17th. This was far too close to Christmas so I upped my daily rate to bring it down. Then something else occurred to me, if I set my mind to it I could complete the mission on the 27th November 2023, exactly 8 years since I started, 8 miles per day, for exactly 8 years!

To give me an added incentive to bring the date forward I booked a trip to the Island of Borneo, where the equator passes through. I chose the city of Pontianak which is the only city on earth so close to the equator, and because it does seem to me to be one of the safest places to run.

Today, 20th November 2023, Wendy and I have set off, first for a stopover in Dubai and then onto Indonesia, where hopefully I'll be able to complete my mission by crossing the equator while running. I didn’t want to detail this earlier as I have had travel plans stopped in their tracks before by a volcano in Iceland. So, with the bugger starting again, I didn’t want to curse myself. I know it’s silly but daft superstitions sometimes get into your head, but now I am in Glasgow Airport on a lovely sunny autumn day I think I just might make it!

When I booked the trip I thought that I would use this opportunity to raise funds for the Fire Fighters Charity, which I am now doing.

I have kept training records for some years now so I am very accurate with my data.

Here are my records up to today:

All Consecutive Days: 2,920 days

Total Distance run: 24,880.69 miles

Average Daily Distance: 8.52 miles

Total Runs Completed: 3,025 runs

Distance left to go around the equator: 20.31 miles

Days left to Around the World: 3 days

Miles per Day to around the World: 6.77

I very much hope to complete a running challenge on the 27th November. I have been working towards this for a fair amount of time but I still have a lot to do before I finish. I didn’t start it for any particular purpose but seeing as I am nearing the end, I thought I might as well try and raise funds for the Fire Fighters Charity.

The Fire Fighters Charity has helped me on two occasions before for which I am very grateful. I am sometimes blighted with Sciatica and I was treated at one of their rehabilitation centres where I received excellent care and support.

I’ll post more when the times right but as I am a bit superstitious and I don’t want to scupper myself, having just gone through a bad bout of sciatica and a viral infection, and as my grandad used to say, “You don’t want to put the speck on it!” so I promise more will follow! xx

Please donate, it's a great charity for the firefighting community!