The Long Run

I am running in honour of Michael Dixon McKellar

I am running as a survivor

i'm giving it all i've got

181km

of 175km

Over the Finish Line (at Last)

Today was the last day of the Distance Challenge for The Long Run 2022.

I was determined to try to finish the event as I started. Full of fear and trepidation. It's been 30 long arduous days of incredible effort, both in Wollongong and other centres.

Today I set out to replicate yesterday's course on the Gym Bike - that is 16 kilometres pushing pretty hard to get a reasonable time. Yesterday I managed to complete the ride in 35 minutes and 56 seconds for an average speed of 26.72 km/h.

Today's result was 16 kilometres at a duration of 35 minutes and 50 seconds, so a Personal Best. Average speed was 26.79 km/h. That's why they call me "Mr Consistency" (amongst other names).

Thank you to everyone for their support in honouring Michael's memory. We hope that we can improve the outcomes for families affected by this devastating disease and the funds raised will be put to very hard work by the PCFA.

The Fund Raising still has 24 hours to run, so if you haven't yet donated now is the time to do it.

Thanks again, Rod McKellar

See How They Run. See How They Run

We are fast approaching the Finish Line for The Long Run 2022.

I have been waiting for this time to arrive to see if I have anything left in the tank for a sprint to the end.

I think I can.

Today I put down a credible 16 km ride in the Gym. It took a lot out of me but I will front up again tomorrow to give it everything I've got to get to the line.

One thing's for certain, when the chequered flag drops, I will have given it all I've got.

Today's Stats:

Distance 16 km

Duration 35 minutes and 56 seconds

Average speed 26.72 km/h

Degree of Difficulty 8.0 (It is a long way!)

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A Day without Activity

Today is a REST DAY. The drive to Penrith and return to see the Eye Doctor (there's that pun again) turned out to be quite grueling. So nothing left in the tank for an attack on the Records.

However tomorrow and Friday will be a different story. My new distance target of 150km seems sure to be met, and I think I might yet surprise a few spectators.

UNTIL TOMMORROW THEN.

Don't forget to Donate before COB Friday 30th September to help us hit $1,300,000!

I Ride my Bike, I Ride my Bike

I was under the impression I had plenty of time to cruise to the Finish Line, but then I realised its all over in 3 days time.

So today I did two sessions, one a walk of 6 km, and tonight a ride of 15 km on my Bike in the Gym.

The Stats for the ride are:

Distance 15.0 km.

Duration 38 minutes and 49 seconds.

Average speed 23.18 km/h.

Degree of Difficulty 7.5.

Exercise for tomorrow is out of the question as I have to drive to Penrith and back. But hopefully I am in a good position to make it to the Finish Line on Friday.

Closing Stages of the Challenge

I thought I had plenty of time to cruise to the Finish Line. But the realization that the Finish Line will be here in 4 days as of today is a little daunting.

Tomorrow is out for any sort of exercise as I have to drive to Penrith to see the Eye Man (no pun intended).

this means that today in between Thunderstorms, Rain and Tempest I had to find time for an extensive walk effort.

I made the turning point the Novotel on Cliff Road, the farthest i have ventured to date. With Thor and his mates being lenient with me I managed to get in a 6 kilometre walk to hopefully get me with striking distance of my new Goal of 150 km.

So today's Stats are:

Duration 72 minutes neat.

Distance 6.01 kilometres.

Pace 12 minutes neat per kilometre.

Steps 7741

Degree of Difficulty 9.5 (Too many hills.)

Blog 2 for Today

Well I was stunned when I received an email from Jo Jones (PCFA) this morning advising that as of today we only have 5 days left in the Challenge. In the back of my mind I had doubled the original kilometre challenge to 144 km because my daughter has pledged $2 per kilometre and I don't want to let her off too easily.

So tonight I had to hit the Gym and ride the dreaded Recumbent Bike for 15 kilometres to get me in with a chance to reach my new Goal of 144 km.

The bike ride was 15.0 km covered in a time of 36 minutes and 11 seconds at an average speed of 24.87 km/h.

UCI May be Over but We are Still Going

Weather good. No wind no rain. Struck out to achieve another 5.0 kilometres. So set course for the Large Lighthouse but kept going past it and around to the Small Lighthouse at the Harbour entrance. Then back past Holy Sea College along Harbour Street, past Chiko's, down Crown Street and into Corrimal Street for the run home.

Not too much evidence of the 300,000 spectators that were here yesterday as the clean up continues.

Walk Stats: Distance 5.0 kilometres Duration 58 minutes Pace 11 minutes and 42 seconds average per kilometre. Steps 6,268.

Photos in Gallery.

The Rain Gods Smile on the Gong

Thankfully the day dawned bright and sunny and there was no wind (yes you heard correctly - no wind). In Wollongong of late that is rarely heard of.

So today's outdoor course took me up to the Flagstaff Hill Lighthouse, through the 300,000 or so fans thronging to see the UCI World Championship finale - the Men's Elite Race of some 200+ kilometres which started in Helensburgh and Finished in Wollongong.

I didn't get to see much of the race, but I did see plenty of the spectators.

The Stats for today are: Duration 61 minutes. Distance 5.0 kilometres. Speed 12 minutes and 17 seconds per kilometre. Steps 6326. Degree of Difficulty 6.5.

Check out the photos in the Gallery.

Bike 2 in the Gym

Today I remembered to take my camera (iPhone) and took some shots of the bike control panel for verification of my ride. Turns out the previous rider omitted to RESET the bike control panel. This resulted in me being credited with some kilometres I did not ride. So by calculation I am claiming 12.3 km instead of the displayed 19.5 km on the Control Panel. So the Stats for today's ride (corrected) are:

Duration 30 minutes. 22 minutes in the cardiac zone (Fitbit speak). Distance 12.3 km. Degree of Difficulty 4.0.

Lesson learnt. When using bike 2 in the Gym make sure the RESET button has utilised before you start riding.

See verification photos in the Gallery.

The Other Bike

Due to inclement weather again today (Friday) in the Gong I was forced to return to the Gym, this time to try a new approach - the Recumbent Bike. "Recumbent" you say. There was nothing lying down about this ride. A hard ten minutes of graft saw me cover 6.0 km at an average speed of 36 km/h. I take comfort in the fact I am not too far outside the average speed for the UCI 23 World Championship race I saw in the Gong today, only they went a bit faster but only on the downhill bits.

I can not give you any digital evidence as I forgot to take my phone to the Gym and was frankly too tired to go back upstairs and fetch it.

Not sure what the weather Gods have in store for us tomorrow, however will make sure I take the camera (phone) with me no matter what.

Wonderful Windy Wollongong

Once again Wollongong was true to form on Thursday being windy and raining to the extreme. So I had to resort to the bike in the gym once more. I did notice there is a second bike in the gym, so next time I will give that one a spin.

Stats for this ride were Duration 10 minutes; Distance 4 km; Speed 24 km/h. Degree of difficulty 6.0. Verifying image in Gallery.

Windy Rainy Wollongong

The weather today was not at all conducive to an outdoor walking course, so I opted for a bike ride in the gym instead.

The equipment was True, and recorded a ride of 10 minutes duration. Should have been longer but I am a little low on steam at present. Pace was OK at 24 kilometres per hour and I reckon I got into the cardiac zone. But my Fitbit didn't show it. I blame the operator. Check out the evidence photo in the Gallery. Degree of Difficulty 5.0.

New Parameter Developed

Today’s walk saw me tackle an entirely new course involving a hill climb to a high vantage point over Port Kembla. It also lead to me declaring a new parameter for the walk stats.

So Duration was 41 minutes. Distance was 3.4 kilometres. Pace was 12 minutes and 12 seconds per kilometre.Steps were 4297. And the New Parameter - Degree of Difficulty (DoD) on a scale of 10 is 9.5 for this walk.

This is due to a climb equivalent to ten storeys, negotiating trip hazards including pot holes, tree roots, and loose gravel; running the gauntlet of Magpies and off lead dogs.

Back in Wollongong

Tonight's walk took in part of the UCI World Championship Course and the outer of the CBD back streets.

Quite a pleasant walk in all. In spite of some extra 30,000 people in town it all seemed relatively quiet.

The Stats:

Duration 41 minutes.

Distance 3.7 kilometres

Penrith Walk

There was no walk yesterday due to long driving session form Port Macquarie to Penrith. So today's walk took me from Panthers in Penrith across the "Walking Bridge" over the Nepean River to the site of the Old Police Station at Emu Plains and back.

Check the Gallery for today's images.

Stats: Duration 53 minutes, Steps 5766, Distance 4.52 kilometres, Pace 11 minutes and 50 seconds per kilometre.

Beautiful Sunrise in Port Macquarie

Thankfully the rain gods were satisfied after having their way all night and the dawn dawned like a cracker. My walk took me around the town and around the port over a distance of 4 km. Pace was steady at 11 minutes and 50 seconds per kilometre. Steps covered was 4987. Duration was 47 minutes. I am happy with that. I hope all my Sponsors are too. We are almost to the halfway point in terms of fundraising so only need another $5000 or so to reach the target. As far as distance goes there is only another 6 km to go. And there were some who said it could not be done! But I will not stop at 72 km. There is much more to be done.

Wet Day in Port Macquarie

Well today the predicted rain came. And so my outdoor course was not available. Fortunately the Mantra has a well equipped rooftop Gyn with all the usual instruments of human torture. Having been severely stung by the Running Machine in a previous Gym encounter I opted for the slightly less ferocious bicycle. With no headwind and no tailwind the ride was unusually flat and consistent. I managed a fifteen minute ride for a distance of 5 km. Let’s hope the rain is gone tomorrow.

Further and Faster

Tonight’s walk around Port Macquarie was the longest in recent times and the fastest pace achieved so far.

Stats are: Distance 3.6 km Pace average 11 minutes and 39 seconds per km. Elapsed time 42 minutes.

Just a reminder

This Friday 16 September is Double Dollar Day. If you donate $10 it becomes $20; if you donate $50 it becomes $100. On Friday only. Thanks to campaign sponsors Telix. So donate BIG!

Port Macquarie Day 2

This morning I pulled up with a sore right fetlock. We have run out of Physio Cream but undaunted I stuck the heat pack on it for 20 minutes and set off on my walk. If I could upload my FitBit map you could see from the GPS trace I went down through town then along the waterfront and back to the Mantra Quayside.

Today's Stats: Duration 39 minutes Distance 3.2 km Average pace 12 minutes and 21 seconds per km. Steps 4155.

For those who are curious Cameron reckons that is 5 km/hr.

This Friday is Double Dollar Day

All donations I receive this Friday will be matched dollar for dollar by campaign sponsors Telix. So $100 becomes $200; $500 becomes $1000 and so on. So folks donate BIG this Friday 16 September 2022.

Beach and Burbs walk

Today's course took in Ocean Beach and the back streets of Umina.

Stats are: 2.41 km Elapsed time 29 minutes Average pace was 12 minutes and 10 seconds per kilometre. Steps 3131.

I will try and upload an image just for verification but there are no guarantees the upload will work.

A friend has asked what the average speed is in km/hr! I think it is about 4.93 km/hr. Can anyone confirm this?

For Something Completely Different

So today's course saw me walk from Ettalong Beach to Ocean Beach and return. The scenery is amazing especially at sunset. I took a photo of Lion Island at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River. just about at sunset. Great photo but you will just have to take my word for it. I am on holiday and don't have the means to put the photo up till I get home again in a week or so.

SEE THE LION ISLAND PHOTO IN THE GALLERY

Above ground at last

Today's walk was above ground for the first time in a while. The course was almost the same as the last above ground walk with the terminus at Steamers Restaurant. On the out leg there was one cloud which chose to hover above me and precipitate on me as I passed the WIN Football Stadium. The rain was not all that heavy, but did make its presence felt all the same.

Once I cleared the footy fields the sun re appeared and all was well. When I got to Steamers and turned back towards home I could see a big rain event heading my way from Dapto. [All rain events down here begin in Dapto.] It was quite a sight with dark swirling clouds and veracious winds to boot.

I figured I did not have too long to go before the storm clouds descended upon me. So I changed the planned course to make the run home a bit quicker. Boy was I glad I did. The slightly shortened route got me back to safety just in the nick of time, with me getting only moderately wet.

The stats are: distance 4.11 km; 51 min 10 sec duration; average rate of 12 min and 26 sec per km. 5,355 steps.

The accompanying photo is for Sarah.

Today's Walk in my Underground Playground

Due to copious quantities of rain in Wollongong this morning, today's walk was once again carried out in the underground playground I call a garage. The course was similar if not the same as yesterday laid out around the 5 acre (2.02 Hectare) underground car park where not too many passers by pass by. Apart from the Maintenance Man hardly anybody frequents the area.

The stats: 5.04 km avge pace 5 min 47 sec per km 30 min elapsed time.

Sorry the photo is out of focus. My camera operator couldn't make it this morning.

A Different Experience

Unable to fit in my walk until 8.37 pm tonight. By which time - you guessed it, it is pouring rain and blowing a gale.

So not to be outdone I elected to do laps of our garage. Not a big circuit I hear you say. But did I tell you our garage covers an area of 5 acres (2.02 Hectares) so a single lap equals just about a kilometre. All underground.

So the stats are 4.04 km in 22 minutes and 2 seconds at an overall average pace of 5 minutes and 27 seconds per kilometre.

Records are Tumbling

Today's course was modified a little more from yesterday's extended course. The turn around was extended to Steamers giving a return walk of 4.24 km length. In every sector the pace was better than previously achieved with the overall average being 11 minutes 45 seconds per km. Best 1.0 km sector was the 4th kilometre at average 11 minutes and 28 seconds.

Mind the Wind

Today's walk involved going a bit further up the coast. Rather than terminating at the Brewery (WIN Entertainment Centre) I extended the terminus up to the City Beach Function Centre.

First half was pretty good, managed a PB for average per km on the way out. On the way back I had what amounted to gale force head winds [to my way of thinking]. You know the kind of thing - one step forward, three steps back. Probably why the step count is way up today!

Stats 4.13 km 5,309 steps 50 min 27 sec elapsed time 12 min 12 sec min/km

Another Tough Day then a Better One

04-09-2022 Another wet and windy day in Wollongong so forced to use contingency Plan B. This is another diabolical machine invented by some deranged physical fitness fanatic in this case euphemistically called an Exercise Bike. I'll admit I am not too practiced on such a device, but to be fair I did give it a red hot go.

This time I did not have my trusty photographer with me so I did struggle to record the event.

All I can say is that when I stopped to take a photograph of the activity all the lights went out. Lesson for young players - if you stop pedaling its all over.

So, cumulatively notwithstanding lack of photographic evidence to verify it, I covered 15 km in approximately 30 minutes at an average of 0.5 km per minute.

05-09-2022 Walking a slightly modified course today. Looped around on the beach side of WIN Stadium to add a bit of length to the original course. Worked out OK. Did 3.24 km in 40 minutes 47 seconds at average 12 minutes 34 seconds per kilometre.

A Tough Day at the Office

Weather today is not conducive to the usual outdoor course what with copious amounts of wind and rain. No problem let's use contingency plan A. Go to the gym and just do the usual walk on the walking machine instead of outside in the elements.

Great plan - pity it didn't work out. I have learnt that walking machines and me are just not compatible. I could only manage just over a kilometre and my back is still killing me 12 hours later. If it is raining tomorrow we need a better contingency plan.

Second Day Already

Hit the road early this morning, well early for me anyway. Did 3.2 km in the lightning fast average time of 12 minutes and 35 seconds per km.

So this gave me a flying start and allowed me to complete 10,000 steps today too. Win, win.

Ready to do it all again tomorrow.

The First Day

Accompanied by Michael's sister Vanessa (Ness) I put in in a fair effort on day 1. We covered 3.32 km in just 54:51 minutes. A incredibly fast 16.3 minutes per kilometre.

We'll see how things develop in the coming days.

We start on Thursday 1 September

I will keep you posted how the run is progressing day by day.

First report due on 1st September 2022.

See you then.

I’m taking on The Long Run

This September, I’m giving it all I’ve got by taking part in The Long Run.

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Jenny Mckellar

Incredible effort - out of the ball park xx

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Vanessa Mckellar

So proud of your efforts Dad. What you have achieved this September is nothing short of amazing. What a perfect way to honour Michael's memory xx

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Gail Sydir

I'm honoured to donate.

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Rodriguez Lawyers

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Sharyn Hafey

Thanks for smashing out the little challenge I gave you Rod!

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John Odewahn

You're doing so well Rod - we are very proud of you - John and Anne

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Ed Gattas

Good onya Rod, you're almost there!

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Rod Mckellar

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Paul Scully

Great work Rod - go for it!

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Jim Snow

Adding to your great effort, Rod

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Diana Rasmussen

Well done Rod

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Alun Machin & Natasha Dickins

Good luck Rod!

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Peter Svehla

Go Rod!

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Cameron Mckellar

Proud of you Grandad. You’ve put in an amazing effort and we’re all cheering for you.

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Space Crew

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Ben Urban

Good job Rod 👍👍

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Andrew Mckellar

Awesome work dad. We are all immensely proud of you!

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Bill & Chris Tobin

Well done Rod, great achievmment for a very good cause and in fond memory of Michael

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Hamilton Urquhart

Congrats Rod, a wonderful gesture ... with Michael sadly loosing his battle to Prostate Cancer - yourself a survivor and more recently Andrew a survivor. I too am a survivor (Oct 2020) ... we need to spread the word! Guys, it's time to man up and be checked/tested, at the very least you owe it to your family! Cheers Hammo

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Amber Neilson

Way to go Rod you legend!

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John And Marina Sekoranja

All the very best Rod!! McKellar Ridge Wines so happy to support!

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Kerry /nick Mckay

Run your heart out Rod xx

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Leta Webb

Keep up the good work!

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Marjon Holt

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Marjon Holt

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Peter Hall

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Maz

Amazing effort!! Every little bit helps!!

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