I was sitting in my hotel room after a nine-hour overnight flight clearing my emails before a busy week in Tokyo. An email from a friend popped up ‘Would you like to run a marathon in October?’ he wrote. I replied ‘Of course’. Questions then raced through my head like, ‘What is a marathon? and ‘How do I train for one?’. This simple invitation led my wife and I into the wonderful world of running, of bloody shins, broken bones, blistered feet, puddles of sweat, pools of vomit, hyperthermia, and altitude sickness but in some of the world’s most legendary places like the penguin shores of Antarctica, the Great Wall, the Valley of the Queens along the Nile in Egypt, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at the Southern Cape of South Africa, up in the Rocky Mountains, and to the summit of Kilimanjaro that make the world of hurt disappear and the wonders of the world even more breathtaking and awe-inspiring.
Along the way are live bands, free beer, salted potatoes, Mars bars, kisses from girls, a bagpipe serenade, television interviews, a magazine cover, and free rides and high-fives from strangers. All this against the backdrop of everyday life of raising four kids, earning degrees, changing jobs, moving countries, a house robbery at knife-point, a near death experience in Hawaii, a dead body in Cape Town and a horrific cancer scare. Somehow, along the way, my wife and I get faster with age, go on to earn entry into the Seven Continents Club, run 30 and 24 marathons respectively along with ultras and triathlons. If someone wants to change their life, all they have to do is put on a pair of running shoes, step outside and go for a run.
Inhoudsopgave
Preface ix
Barefoot in the frost 1
‘On on’ in the rainforest 13
A message from Steve 23
Running Rotto 35
On holidays, I plan to run a marathon 59
The ‘Classic’ from Marathon 80
Running the Wall 97
Running with the Gods 106
A PB and a BQ 121
Two Oceans 139
The coldest, most remote place in the world 165
Jewel 183
You are always on my mind 213
Pikes Peak – America’s ultimate challenge 225
Standing in a ski shop – being positive 237
The race that never was 252
Probably the most famous one of all 268
‘A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle’ 276
Shoes, clothes, nutrition, and injuries 286
Marathons and other notable races 304
Epilogue 315
Photographs 317
Over de auteur
Michael Le Page is a Perth-based first time author who, with his wife Maria, has travelled the world running marathons and ultra-marathons in a range of challenging locations including The Great Wall of China, Antarctica, the desert of Egypt and up America’s ultimate challenge Pikes Peak. He is a company advisor, former senior executive with Rio Tinto Limited and Adjunct Professor at Murdoch University.
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