Run Across America - 5th September - Day 84

It was a very tough mountainous day in Pennsylvania and again the mix of hills and heat is not advisable when you’ve already run three quarters the way across the USA. The first main stop for the day was Uniontown, which was 14 miles from today’s start point. The morning was running smooth as we parked up at the finish point, so there was no messing around trying to get things packed up, etc. Matt was up and ready to bike as well, but we have had some problems with the bike tires lately and the back tire was as flat as a pancake. This left me on my lonesome for the morning session.

The morning session started off very foggy which made running very unsafe and I didn’t want to continue after almost getting hit by a truck, but I kept very close to the side of the road as I need to keep to a schedule. I thought that the fog would only last an hour or so, but it continued through til 10.30am, which meant a slow first morning session. The bike wasn’t repaired so Matt couldn’t bike as I headed on towards Uniontown. Heading into the City there was a big downhill drop around 2 miles long and there were no side roads, which made a few cars beep their horns (I just waved back).

Once at the bottom of the hill I turned right into the City centre. There seemed some kind of panic ahead as there were fire engines and police cars rushing up and down the road, but it turned out there was only a power shortage in the City (boring story). I did notice there were still a few reporters around so I pulled one over to the side and firstly acted concerned before hitting him with an interesting story (my “Run Across America” of course) The reporter took some pictures of me running up and down the road and then took all my details saying the story would be in tomorrows “Uniontown Times”.

After all of the excitement was over I headed out of Uniontown and back into the beautiful countryside with plenty of hills ready to eat me up. The first one I hit was three miles long and I know this as there was a big sign saying “steep hill for three miles ahead”. It was hot and I didn’t need more hills especially with the cramp I’ve been getting in my calf muscles, so I decided the “walk some, run some” method. The team were waiting for me at the top, which made the morning session complete.

After having a cheese sandwich, a well deserved cuppa and two bottles of Gatorade I headed back out. The puncture had been fixed on the bike but it hadn’t been pumped up, so the team went to get that sorted whilst I started running. After one mile the team pulled up with Matt ready to bike next to me. Matt does get frustrated because he has a mission and that’s to cover 1000 miles on the bike and whilst it’s sitting on the back of the RV he is not getting his mileage up. The biking only lasted 2 miles as there was another puncture and he didn’t find it to amusing. I do like someone next to me and Matt is my best buddy so he knows everything about me, which makes us good company together.

What are friends for  – With Camp America offering to pay for two returns from London to NYC I had to speak to my girl Annie about the flights, but I knew she didn’t want to make the trek with our little one year old (Poppy) as it would be handful. The next person on my list was someone who has supported me in many ways. My friend Adam has always been there, I take Adam to the Cinema (most Fridays), I’ve also taken him to Las Vegas and he comes to support me at most of my professional boxing matches when I’m boxing in Norwich. Now Adam is in a wheelchair and wishes his life could be different at times, but without the love, affection and 100% dedication from his family (especially his mum) Adam and his brother Matt wouldn’t have life as comfortable. So I have offered the tickets to Adam and his Mum Sharon to come and see me finish at Central Park, New York.

Regards, Jackson and Team