MarathonMad.com

For people wanting to run with Neil along any part of the route please call the official mad motocycle support crew on 0987439274 (ask for Alice)

Armed with a suspiciously vague map of Taiwan, a plastic ruler and several lengths of a particularly difficult-to-see cotton thread, Neil chaired a meeting with his motorcyclist (me) and succeeded in mapping out a (very) provisional day by day guide to his route around Taiwan. The first marathon will commence from the most northerly point of the island and continue at a distance of 42 kilometres per day in an clockwise direction until, 30 days later, he will arrive, somewhat tired, back at the beginning. The coastal routes will be punctuated by city marathons in Keelung, Kaoshiung, Tainan, Taichung, Hsinchu and Taipei.

It should be noted that the route you see below is of an estimatory nature. Neither Neil nor myself is exceptionally well-versed in the finer points of geography, or the laws of physics, and so far we have stumbled upon such questions as, “Is an uphill distance further than a flat distance?” and “How accurate is a fold-out pocket map?” So, with this in mind, the timing of the route is vastly subject to changes and alterations along the way. The proposed method of measuring the 42 kilometre daily distance via the motorcycle’s milometer is, so far, about as scientific as deemed necessary.

So, the proposed route follows. Neil will start from Fugueijiau on April 1st 2008 and is due to finish there 30 days later.

NEIL’S MARATHON MAD JOURNEY AROUND TAIWAN - PROVISIONAL ROUTE

• Fugueijiau - Jiofen TAIPEI COUNTY

MARATHON IN KEELUNG CITY

• Jiofen - Dashi TAIPEI County-ILAN County
• Dashi - Suao ILAN County
• Suao - Auhua ILAN County-HUALIEN County
• Auhua - Shincheng HUALIEN County
• Shincheng - Shinse HUALIEN County
• Shinse - Huandungshan HUALIEN County-TAITUNG County
• Huandungshan - Shinyi TAITUNG County
• Shinyi - Taitung Airport TAITUNG County
• Taitung Airport - Shiadashi/Dawu TAITUNG County-PINGDONG County
• Shiadashi/Dawu - Jioupeng PINGDONG County
• Jioupeng - Kending PINGDONG County
• Kending - Fangshan PINGDONG County
• Fangshan - Linyuan PINGDONG County
• Linyuan - Gungshan PINGDONG County

MARATHON IN KAOSHIUNG CITY

• Gungshan - Chigu PINGDONG County-TAINAN County

MARATHON IN TAINAN CITY

• Chigu - Dungshr TAINAN County-YUNLIN County
• Dungshr - Juoshei River YUNLIN County-CHANGUA County
• Juoshei River - Hemei CHANGUA County-TAICHUNG County

MARATHON IN TAICHUNG CITY

• Hemei - Yuanli TAICHUNG County-MIAOLI County
• Yuanli - Touten MIAOLI County-HSINCHU County

MARATHON IN HSINSHU

• Touten - Guanyin HSINCHU County-TAOYUAN County
• Guanyin - Guandu TAOYUAN County-TAIPEI County

MARATHON IN TAIPEI CITY

• Guandu - FINISH!