Running News Daily

The Run The World Global 52-week Challenge has finished. The team logged 122,123 miles or 335.5 daily. Michael Wardian was first American and Kenyan's Eliud Esinyen ran the most miles averaging 15.7 miles daily logging 5,738

Run The World Global Challenge is a world-wide celebration of running.  The program was started by Bob Anderson one year ago, July 4, 2018.  Since that time 281 runners around the world ran or walked and then logged 122,123 miles.  This equals 335.5 miles daily or 2,348 miles weekly for 52 weeks which equals 4.9 times around the world. 

"One of the key reasons we started this program," says creator Bob Anderson, My Best Runs and Runner's World magazine founder, "was to motivate people, bring together runners from all over and to run miles all over the world." 

That all happen. Runners from 20 countries participated, miles were run in 75 countries and it certainly motivated many runners to run more miles than they were running before. 

53-year-old James Kalani had not run much over the last few years and then he entered the RTW Challenge.  After getting in good shape over several months, he started pushing it for Challenge #5 which started March 31. Over the last 94 days he ran and logged 1536 miles.  That's 114 miles weekly.  It was not just covering miles, many were quality. On June 16 he ran 30.6 miles at an average pace of 6:41 per mile.

Before the RTW Challenge creator Bob Anderson was running on average 20 miles weekly.  "I got so motivated by this challenge," says Bob.  "I looked forward to running not just one time daily but often I would run two or three times.  I took a photo everyday and posted it in our Runner's Feed.  I also read every post and commented on each for the whole year.  I have been running since 1962 and have run nearly 1,000 races.  I am an addicted runner but I needed something new and this was it."

In the end Bob averaged 5 miles daily or 35 miles weekly for a total of 1830 miles for the year.  With the added miles he also improved his racing performance.  He ran 7:54 pace for 10k and placed third 70 plus at the London 10,000 in May.  A race with nearly 20,000 runners.

The RTW Challenge team did some amazing things during the year.  69-year-old Brent Weigner lives in Cheyenne Wyoming but many of his 2036 miles were run outside of the United States.  In fact Brent ran miles in 30 different countries. 

The most miles were run and logged in the United States.  The top five countries were: United States (64,899 miles), Kenya (24,066 miles), Palau (8,242 miles), India (7,423 miles) and South Africa (6,765).  The amazing story here is that the little country of Palau has less that 22,000 inhabitants and placed third.  Their team leader Aaron Salvador logged 1,584 miles himself and encouraged his team to run and log. 

The team leader for South Africa, Liz Dumon, is the key reason why her country placed fourth.  She herself ran and logged 1000 miles.  Liz encouraged people to sign up.  In fact our youngest members were twins she recruited along with mom and grandma. The 7-year-old twins Jonathan (logged 118 miles) and his sister Michelle (logged 100 miles) had loads of fun and posted regularly in the Runners Feed.  Their dogs joined in on the fun too. (Third photo of twins with Grandma)

Their 56-year-old grandma (Johanna Fourie) logged 672 miles and placed 10th for females.  Right behind her was mom (Erika Fourie) with 625 miles. 

Who said age is just a number? The top three overall females were 65 plus.  Placing first was 68-year-old Kat Powell (USA).  She logged 1271 miles.  Not far back was 69-year-old Linda Robinson (USA) with 1145 miles followed by 65-year-old Carmella DiPippa (PW) with 1040 miles.  Sixth female was 71-year-old Karen Galati (USA) who logged 835 miles.

On the men's side there were so many stars.  35-year-old Kenyan Eliud Esinyen averaged 15.7 miles daily or 110 miles weekly (second photo).  Many times he ran three times daily.  On April 21 he ran a marathon on a tough course at high altitude clocking 2:22:46 which is 5:27/mile pace.  On January 27 he ran a 10k clocking 31:05.  Eliud ran and logged the most with 5,738 miles. 

Kenya's team leader Willie Korir (27) placed second overall with 5195 miles.  He also posted images regularly in the Runners Feed along with comments.  He also wrote several stories for My Best Runs Running News Daily column including finding inside information about the king of the marathon, Eluid Kipchoge.

The first American and third overall was 45-year-old Michael Wardian with 3618 miles (frist photo). This ultra star pulled off many amazing feats during the year.  Most recently on June 29 he ran 89.9 miles around Washington DC.  On May 4th he ran 62.14 miles at 7:14/mile average pace in Sacramento.  He ran the Big Sur Marathon in 2:35:18 making the podium.  He had run the Boston Marathon earlier a little faster clocking 2:33:23.

In March he travelled to Israel and posted the fastest known time on the 631-mile Natoinal Israel Trail.  He covered this distance in 10 days, 16 hours and 36 minutes.  Earlier he not only ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days (winning them all) he tacked on three more marathons when he got home.  That's ten marathons in ten days.  He is the complete runner with a wide range.  On Feb 10th he ran a 5k in 17:01. 

"Michael is one amazing versatile runner and we were happy when he decided to join our team," says Bob Anderson.

Second American and fifth overall was 75-year-old Frank Bozanich who logged 3523 miles. Frank has run many ultra races over the years and have won many.  Lots of these miles were not real fast compared to what he has done before.  But on July 30th last year he ran 20 miles in Reno in two hours and 43 minutes.  That is an 8:09/mile pace. 

Finishing in seventh place was 72-year-old Paul Shimon who logged 2835.  Like so many of our team, Paul had to deal with a lot of bad weather in Kansas during the winter.  But he layered up and got in the miles.

Michael T Anderson (61)  placed eighth overall logging 2,798 with lots of fast times along the way.   He has run over 130,000 miles in his lifetime so far.  On June 8th he ran 19:13 for 5k in Atlanta where he lives.  On April 28 he clocked 39:25 for 10k.

"The fastest runner on our team was Joel Maina Mwangi," says Bob Anderson.  This 34-year-old Kenyan placed 13th overall with 1,953 miles logged.  On March 10 he ran a 30:14 10k in Torino Italy.   He ran six half marathons under 1:05.  His fastest was run in Aosta, Italy where he clocked 1:02:50 on September 30. 

"There are as many amazing stories," says Bob Anderson. "I am glad our event is helping motivate runners all over the world.  I am looking forward for year two." 

What's next?  Run The World Global Challenge #6 will be a 10-week program.  There is no entry fee.  You just need to have a free My Best Runs (the sponsor of this program) account and sign up for Run The World. 

The Run The World Challenge will motivate you to run more miles...RTW4 starts March 1 with an exciting new format

The Run The World Global Challenge (RTW) is a world-wide celebration of running.  Lifetime runner, Runner's World magazine and My Best Runs founder, Bob Anderson (71) created the event to help further spread the word about the benefits of running. The first RTW Challenge started July 4.  

On March 1 the RTW4 Challenge will start with some changes to make the event even more fun and challenging. 

"Since I started running in 1962 I have been telling people about the sport I love," says Bob Anderson  "I am proud to say I have reached a lot of people but the task is never done.  Run The World is my current project and the feedback from around the world has been very positive."  

Lize Dumon from South Africa posted this on the Run The World Feed January 5. "Possibly my last run for RTW3.  Might do a small one to bring me close enough to 200 miles. Been a priviledge to be a part of all three Run The World Challenges.  I have made loads of friends and learned a lot."  Lize is putting together two South African 14 people teams for RTW4.

Already 260 Run The World runners have run and logged 85,876 miles (as of Feb 5, 2019) since July 4th in 56 different countries. In the little country of Palau alone, teams there have already run and logged 5,648 miles (photo 2 of some of the Palau RTW1 team headed up by Aaron Salvador).  Aaron is putting together two teams of 14 for RTW4.

"Run The World Challenge is a great motivator," says Bob.  "I was running 20 miles a week before Run The World. I now have been averaging 32 miles weekly and I am much better shape because of it.  There are many such stories among the 260 runners who have already participated."  

The first team that started July 4 finished in 36 days 23 hours and 13 minutes (the current world record). Two other teams starting August 29 and October 29 also completed the goal of circling the world.

How does it work? Participants run or walk and then log in those miles (k’s) on their free My Best Runs (MBR) account. The goal is for the team (now group of teams) to log enough miles (k's) to circle the world within 30 days.

The process of running/walking and then logging in miles (k's), making a comment (optional) and posting a photo (optional) is the basic program.  A team member logs into their My Best Runs account to log in the miles they run or walk.

One major change is RTW4 will end 30 days after starting.  "It is hoped one of our three groups of teams will reach our goal within this time frame but if not the group of teams that have logged the most miles win.  All teams within the three groups will also be competing against each other," says Bob.  

All runners will be part of a 14 person team.  The teams have many interesting themes like: Team one will be for runners 70 plus. Team 9 is for those men and women who have or are in the Military. Team 10 and 11 are for Elite Runners.  Team 21 is for India's citizens.  Team 23 are for runners living in Canada. Team 34 are for those runners who have completed at least one 100 mile race.  Team 37 are for runners who have lost 50 or more pounds and are currently running. Team 42 are for runners who have run at least 50 races in one year. (Click the link for the full list of the 42 team.)  

Runers will pick the team of their choice as long as it is not full.  There are 14 different teams (with a maximum of 14 runners per team) making up a group.  

One unique aspect of RTW4 is that one person can be on one team, two or three teams.  BUT the teams have to be in different groups.

When you run, let say five miles, these same miles only need to be entered once and they will be credited for all your teams. 

Registration is now open. "It was hard to pick just one team per group," says Michael Anderson who has done all RTW Challenges. "I could have signed up for several different teams but I decided on Team 30 having fnished at least one Boston Marathon, Team 25 West USA because I live in Bend, Oregon and Team 4 age 40-49.  Can't wait to do this again.  It has really motivated me to run a lot more. Bring it on."

Top two American’s in the Run The World Challenge which just finished are both over 70

The third Run The World Challenge sponsored by My Best Runs (MBR) has finished.  The team of 105 active runners, who ran and logged miles in 23 different countries, finished last night (January 5) in 68 days 17 hours and 18 minutes.  

The event created by MBR Founder Bob Anderson is all about running and then logging in those miles, posting photos and comments in our runner’s feed to help motivate the team and inspire others.  The team has to run/walk and then log in 24,901 miles (40,074k) to complete the challenge.  

“This is the distance around the world,” says 71-year-old Bob Anderson who himself ran and logged 297 miles. 

“Our team from around the world and ranging in ages from six to 74 did an amazing job,” says Bob.  The team logged an average of 362 miles per day and the team had to stay focused for over two months. “With our busy lives that is not easy,” says Lisa Wall a team member. 

34-year-old Eliud Lokol Esinyen from Kenya and running most of his miles in Eldoret logged the most miles with 1,298.59.  He averaged 18.9 miles daily, many days he worked out three times.  Finishing in second was 27-year-old Boaz Kipyego also from Kenya.  However he spent about five weeks in Minnesota USA running and racing.  He ran and logged in 1,129.41 miles.

First American was 74-year-old Frank Bozanich from Reno Nevada.  The previous five time national champion at 50 miles and 100k ran and logged in 1,036.19, good enough for third place.  “This is his third time around the world with us,” says Bob.  “Many people say that age is only a number and certainly age is not stopping Frank.  He told me he is running a lot slower these days because he has put a lot of miles on his body, however.  Well done Frank, on an age-graded basis this has to be the best performance,” says Bob.

There were five male runners 70 plus in the top 31 places.  In fact 72-year-old Paul Shimon placed sixth overall running most of his 893.06 miles in Winfield Kansas.  Like many of the team he had to deal with a lot of issues including the cold, snow and darkness.  

Super star Michael Wardian (photo top left) placed 8th overall and ran some of the best times including clocking 2:34:54 at the New York City Marathon.  He also ran a tough 50-miler in Israel.  He posted 651 miles  for his third trip around the world with us.  In a few weeks he is going after his world record he set in 2017 at the World Marathon Challenge.  That’s running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.  

On the women side, ultra super star 48-year-old Gloria Nasr ran and logged 422.54 miles to place first female.  Gloria lives in Paris, France.  Some of her miles were also ran in Peru when she travelled there to run an Ultra (photo upper right). She has also run the six stage race through the desert of Morocco in the past.

In second place was Kenya’s Rosaline Nyawira who currently is living, training and racing in South Africa.  She ran and logged 394.01 miles.  

Third and first America woman was 71-year-old Karen Galati who logged in 223.88 miles.  She ran most of her miles in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.  As she wrote on her profile “Better late than never to this addicting sport.”

Miles run and logged in the top five countries were USA, Kenya, Palau, South Africa and India.  The small country of Palau was in second place the first few weeks.  The Run The World Challenge group there lead by Aaron Salvador have so much spirit.  Most weekends they get together and run ten to fifteen miles.  “You can always count on us to post photos and comments too,” says Aaron. 

Our group from South Africa lead by Lize Dumon has just as much spirit.  During the challenge Lize completed her first marathon and just got over 200 for the team.  The Fourie family in South Africa has to get the top spirit award.  The two kids (Michelle age 6 and Jonathan age 7), the mom (Erika) and grandma (Johanna) posted nearly every day and collectively logged in 455 miles.  Even the dad joined in many days.  

“This was not our best RTW performance but this one has to be our toughest with many challenges,” says Bob.  “Many of our team had to deal with early cold and snow in the United States and Canada.  Our runners in Palau had to deal with heavy rain and wind. In South Africa it was over 100 degrees many days.  In California our runners had to deal with unhealthy air quality for two weeks because of the smoke from the wild fires.  A majority of our team had to deal with shorter days and run in the dark. And on top of everything there were three major holidays during Challenge3.

”I am very proud of our whole team. It is hard to stay focused on something like this for over two months but we did it.  We made it around the world.  For many of us for the third time.  There are so many more stories I want to share’” says Bob.  “Well done team.  Let’s do it again.” 

Details for the next Run The World Challenge will be announced soon. 

Count down to the third Run The World Global Run Challenge

The little country of Palau had a lot to celebrate after finishing 5th in the Run The World Global Run Challenge 2 that concluded October 12.  

Palau's team leader Aaron Salvador posted in the RTW Feed, "This is now the fruit of our labors, those sweats, early morning runs, long runs and running under the rain/heat of the sun are all worth it." 

He himself ran and logged 378 miles during the 44 day event.  Miles ran and logged in Palau totalled 1,187.  Team members only ran more miles in the countries of United States, Kenya, India and South Africa. 

Palau is located in the western Pacific Ocean.  There are mountain and sandy beaches on its east coast and grassy fields surrounded by palm trees in the north.  Current population is just under 22,000.  Aaron and team will be competing again in the up-coming RTW Challenge 3 starting October 29. 

"Our team from around the world is being put together now," says Bob Anderson Team Caption.  "We have runners of all abilities on our team.  Current and past elite runners make up our team as well as runners who have just started running.  All ages run and walk with us from age 11 to age 74." 

34-year-old team member Carmen Gair from South Africa wrote, "RTW Challenge 2 motivated me to log more mileage than I have ever done before in a similar time frame. I can’t wait to see what Challenge 3 brings. Absolutely love being part of this wonderful running community."  

62-year-old Kiranpal Singh Dhody from India will be participating for the third times says, "I love running for fitness...I try to push myself to get good timings in competitions and get podium finishes. The RTW Challenge helps me push myself."  

RTW Challenge 3 starts October 29.  It is easy to participate.  Just run, race or walk and then log these miles (k's) into your My Best Runs account.  

South Africa team leader Lize Dumon posted,  "I haven't realized how precious this RTW community has become to me. It is like an extended running family...It has become a place where I learn so much about running from reading everybody's posts and a place of immense encouragement... bring on Challenge 3."  

This event was created by 70-year-old Bob Anderson who founded Runner's World when he was 17 and published it for 18 years.  "I hope you will join our team," says Bob.  "Sign up by October 29 or join us along the way."      

Global Run Challenge Profile: Aaron Salvador lives and runs on the Beautiful Island of Palau

RUN THE WORLD: Aaron Salvador says, "Running in Palau is a great experience."  Palau is a little country made up of hundreds of islands in the western Pacific Ocean.  Originally from the Philippines 27-year-old Aaron currently is residing in Palau for the last three years. He works as a full time waiter in a restaurant.

"I love to read books, snorkeling and strolling around the islands with natural sceneries and historical sites," he says.  While in school he discovered that he had potential in running. 

"But because of the ways of life I've been apart of running due to work. But then when I came here to the Pristine Paradise of Palau I started running again and enjoy every mile." He has done a lot of 5K's, 10K's and always finishes in the top three. He also won the 2017 Palau Marathon half marathon the the 2018 full marathon. Asked about running in Palau. 

"I'm not Palauan by blood but in my heart, Palau is my home. There are lots of hills and beautiful sceneries,” he says. Aaron’s passion is running. "After reading the stories of Runners doing the challenge, it gave me reason to join this Run The World Challenge, because I was inspired.  If they can, why can't I. 

“I want to challenge myself to where my capabilities lasts, to test myself and to prove that noting is impossible. With great determination l am aiming for my goals. Ill start, i will go through and I will run until the end."  Aaron set his goal at 50 miles per week and already logged in 10 miles on the first day of Run The World.