Day 468 – US – Washington [Rest Day in Spokane]

16/07/21

 Rest day in Spokane (Washington, North America)

A much appreciated rest in a pleasant city, the last big one in a long while!

Spokane River, Pavillion Expo in the background

I realise that it will be a while until I meet another city the size of Spokane. At lunch yesterday Jo told me the next city of this size I will run through will be Minneapolis. I looked at my schedule: I will be there September 20th, in 2 months time! There will be a few big towns on the way though.

Spokane Rotary Fountain

I reflected on the first two weeks of running across the continent. Such a stark contrast to Europe. The vast land, the emptiness, nature… a truly different scale from what I have experienced so far. This also reflects in my running distances. In these two weeks I have run 4 times above 50kms, including my daily record at 58.2kms yesterday. I am doing really fine with it, it doesn’t bother me. It takes some adjustment in terms of tackling the amount of time I spend on the road, but no problem other than that.

Spokane Monroe Street Bridge

I enjoyed Spokane and I made sure I chose a nice place for lunch. When I run into very small towns, like was the case last week, the only options for food are burgers or burgers. I was glad Spokane is a town where there are a variety of food styles to choose from. I walked through town, across the Monroe street bridge, over the Spokane river and falls, the Riverfront Park. I found it a very pleasant city with beautiful natural surroundings. I can’t wait for tomorrow to finally hit the locally famous “Centennial Trail” I have heard so much about!

The reporters of the Spokesman Review (Sydney and Tyler) have published the story about the world-run today, here’s the link: https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jul/15/on-a-round-the-world-journey-international-runner-/

(note: the WRA doesn’t “organise” the world-runs as stated in the article, it is the body that set rules and validates attempts)

Thank you Sydney and Tyler for relaying the story – and I like the pictures too!