Day by day the entry list for the Race Across America increases. I am currently stalking through the various "CV Sportifs" of the people I am going to meet when I am in the States next summer. I know they are doing the same to me, I get the website stats telling me so. I'm not looking at them as competition, I am just intrigued as to what they may have done that now leads them to taking on a challenge such as running across the USA.

I loved the feeling I got in the Spartathlon last year of being a complete novice in the presence of such great runners who have done many great things. I felt awe and inspiration from others with a dozen spartathlons, badwaters, UTMB's and other silly runs behind them that made my 2 Grand Union Canal Runs feel a bit pedestrian. Looking at this list there are a few achievements that stand out.

There are walks/runs across various continents. 5600km from Kenya to Cameroon, 2700k from Hokkaido to Kagoshima, Trans Australia, Germany, Japan, Switz, France to Turkey. Lots of week long treadmill challenges and 1000 mile pbs mentioned. This guy has rowed across oceans on his own and is probably my biggest rival in the beard growing race.

There are a few there with experience similar to mine. A few Spartathlons and Badwater mentions. There was no qualifying standard for this race which is probably just as well. What on earth can you do to demonstrate that you can run across America?

I feel that I am lacking somewhat in multi-day experience. I have only done 2 week long events whereas many of the runners here have completed runs of 1000+ miles. I am not sure how much of this I can change in the next 6 months.

Shit, is it really only 6 months?

RunningandStuff