Day 11

Changgung to Golden Beach.

Neil has now covered 420km of the east coast of Taiwan. He has completed each marathon before midnight and has not walked a single step of the way. His rules are strict and he sticks by them unfailingly. They also apply to other runners. I remember, back on Day One, he saw Tommy walk just a step or two. Neil made him walk back two feet and run those steps instead. Another thing you should be sure of is that all the money raised is going to the charities. Some people have asked us if we are funding any of the trip with monies raised. This is absolutely not the case. We are paying for everything ourselves, from hotel rooms to Super Supao (Taiwan’s answer to Lucozade, and far better, I’m assured). I should also extend an apology for the intermittent updates of the blog. The east coast is not lined with internet cafes and there are often days when we see minimal signs of technological civilization.

And to Day Eleven. Today was a tough day. Neil had little energy at the beginning due to late finishes preventing us from finding any form of nutritional intake bar 7eleven microwave food. A hunt for bananas proves unsuccessful, despite the banana trees that grow about us. The first 4km prove a challenging start for Neil. He drinks a little and leaves and soon after a despicable incident occurs. Not wishing to mar the account of the day, it’s enough to say that sometimes people’s actions can be shocking. Everyone must encounter this from time to time. Unfortunately, Neil had to today. Admirably, anger and shock at said incident quickly dissipated and as with his leg, his emotional recovery was speedy, even laughing about it before too long. It’s rare to see someone so quickly get back up upon the horse. Not that Neil has been riding a horse.

Kevin very helpfully went ahead to Taitung for supplies, where rumours spring abound of civilization and bananas. Meeting Neil at 12km, he is in high spirits despite the earlier episode. From one end of the human spectrum we jump nicely to the other. A man in the house beside us runs out to greet Neil and, quite shyly, offers him a bottle of water. He shuffles away and returns once more with wafer biscuits and a day-glow orange sports vest sporting the logo of the East Coast Scenic Valley Rift. He gives these to Neil and Neil, in wonder of the cowardice and kindness he has met with today, runs on. I later learn that he has particularly loved running the next leg, the “Scouting for Girls” album he has listened to on the iPod providing a soundtrack for the day.

Today was a day of highs and lows. For Neil, running gives him the same ride. In pain or through fatigue, running is a mentally and physically more challenging than I care to imagine. But, having witnessed many times the highs of running, when he feels as though he flies and the scenery whizzes by him, I can almost begin to comprehend why he would dream up an adventure such as this. Though he believes most things achievable, in some ways he is a disbeliever. He won’t believe you cannot run a marathon. He won’t believe you cannot run through tiredness or pain. Each marathon itself becomes a story of highs and lows, of tribulations followed by surges of energy. Yesterday, Kevin and he (as with the runners before) must have relived their marathon tale several times and the ups and downs of each day become stories in themselves.

The 11th consecutive marathon ends at Golden Beach, just outside Taitung City. The stars and moon brighten the sky and the shapes of the land stretch silently before us. In the water, the flashing lights of fishing boats twinkle out at sea. Neil finishes well, running strongly and we stop a while to admire the stars and reflect upon the day’s events, the bad and the good.