Last week we had 4 finishers from the same Run Club finish at the same time at the same parkrun. Sally, Jo-Anne and Emmie finished Run Down Under, while Tina finished Run Down Under 2.... the extended map. Following such an epic day, Tina sent me her story below.

Hi Travis, Thanks for your encouragement and support throughout my RDU Map 2 journey. It was quite a celebration finishing today. 

My Map 2 journey:

I finished 14080km of Map 1 RDU on 19 March 2020 - 1907 days after I started and started Map2 from Sydney the very next day. My goal was to try to do the 15490km of Map 2 (about 500k more than Map 1) in less time. 

This all came to a grinding bolt after I was injured trail running in June 2020. I needed a knee operation that had me hopping on crutches for 10 weeks then slowly starting to put a foot down, then walk. It was almost 6 months before I could run well again. But I did the rehab and got back into my running. I felt strong and progressed, finally running a marathon again 2yrs later. 

As we are retired (and once COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted), my husband and I were able to travel to most of the places on my virtual run with RDU2. I really enjoyed seeing these parts of Australia in person. It is such a beautiful country. I hiked and ran everywhere I could.

I finished Map2 today, 1300 days after I started - averaging almost 12km every day of that time (even with my time out).   I was so happy to share that finish at Bargara parkrun today with Jo, Emmie  and Sally as they finished their RDU Map1. We have a great community of supportive runners here - quite a few doing RDU. 

Run the World is a commitment to long-term running. It is about just keeping on going at your own pace and looking back at the distances you’ve traveled. The annual totals are always motivating. I’d recommend it to everyone who likes a long-term challenge. 

For me, running is a lifetime favourite activity. I remain grateful for the friendships I’ve made and the fitness and health benefits I’ve gained being able to run and hike. Lacing up my shoes is always a moment to reflect how grateful I am that I can still run. I’ll keep doing it ‘while I can’. 

My next goal is joining the 65+ age group and running the Melbourne Marathon - both in 3 weeks' time. 

I’ve also signed up for Run New Zealand. 

Hope to see you at an event somewhere sometime soon.

(Cristene) Tina Wallace 

PS In the photos I’m the shortest in the black cap.