Run Across America - 31st July - Day 48

It was the day of crossing into our new State of Kansas and also “Central Time Zone” meaning we will lose an hour in bed tonight. The day started in Idalia from just outside the Route 36 restaurant and only 16 miles of running before crossing into Kansas. It’s been pretty tough over the last few days as there is not much scenery so even though Kansas is going to be boring compared to previous States I’ve passed through I have to get in the mindset that it has to be completed in order to arrive in New York. Once arriving at the RV after 16 miles Alex came with me to the boring Kansas sign and took some photos as well as doing an interview on the video camera about the crossing.

Once we entered into Kansas and changed our watches (1 hour forward) Alex then got on the bike to join me for 10 miles. The team don’t realise the importance of having someone with me at times as it breaks up the day for all of us. Natasha then joined me for 10 miles after Alex and we headed into a City called St Francis, which has a population of 1000 people. Once we entered St Francis I saw this ‘Dairy Queen’ ice-cream parlour and couldn’t resist having a strawberry milkshake and also a Coke. To be honest it was the worst thing I could have drunk especially with 12 miles still to be completed. I enjoyed it so much, but after 1 mile of running I began to feel sick and didn’t keep any of the milkshake down.

I ran my quickest 40 miles today (7hrs 40 mins) and even though I have ran much quicker in ultra races back home, considering I’ve now ran 40 miles each day over the past 48 days I think it’s not bad going. The running today finished 12 miles outside of St Francis and once I’d finished we then headed back into St Francis to stay at an RV campsite for the night. The owner of the site (Roger) kindly donated us the spot for the night. The RV site is called Angle Rd RV Park in St Francis, Kansas (Thank you so much).

The dinner tonight was exquisite with Alex cooking Penne Parmigano with Ben and Natasha trying to make Vanilla Ice Shake. They have now cottoned on the fact that if I see a Starbucks (Once a week if lucky) I will normally pop in and use my ‘gift of the gab’ to get a free Mocha. Alex and Ben have came up with the plan that if they pass a Starbucks knowing I’m going to run past it shortly they are going to tell the staff that a crazy person may pop in and tell you that he is “Running across America” and will try to get a free Mocha, do not serve him (what kind of team have I put together).

Artist of the day – Dr DRE

Regards, Jackson and Team