- Week 37 – Days 254–260 – Marathon 74 in Berlin, Marathon 75 in Prague with a pulled Achilles, recovering for Marathon 76 in Vienna, ending up in Bratislava and an Irish pub - Day 254 – Berlin, Germany, Marathon 74 of 196 People say running is an individual sport; I say it’s not. What do you think? Thoughts people, please! Runners compete individually but race together – be it a short run like a city marathon or a big multi-day ultra, everyone gets to the finish line with […]
- Week 36 – Days 247–253 – Bureaucracy in Vatican City for Marathon 72, a pit-stop Marathon 73 in San Marino, and preparing for Marathon 74 in Berlin - Day 247 – Vatican City, Italy, finally, a rest day I couldn’t run in Vatican City today due to the Pope speaking in the square, so my time is tomorrow. Which meant today was a day of admin, emails, interviews and sleep. Every now and then I should do some work, I suppose. For those […]
- Week 35 – Days 240–246 – An uphill Marathon 68 in Andorra, ice cream stop for Marathon 69 in Nice, Marathon 70 in Monte Carlo and enjoying the sights in Rome for Marathon 71 - Day 240 – Andorra, Marathon 68 Up and out… today was FULL, just how I like it – 18km uphill, a bitterly cold morning and a fantastic support crew. 5am alarm, followed by a barrage of ‘hit snoozes’ before squeezing my new and very tight socks over my sore feet and up and over my […]
- Week 34 – Days 233–239 – Happy Birthday me, with apple juice and steam trains, a hilly Marathon 67 in Barcelona, and a kind host driving us to Andorra - Day 233 – Great Dorset Steam Fair, UK, and it’s my birthday! It’s my birthday – presents please! If anyone wants to give my JustGiving page a boost, I’d really appreciate some birthday donations. Just Google ‘Nick Butter JustGiving’ and please donate anything you can. I really want to reach my target of £250,000 for […]
- Week 33 – Days 226–232 – Hiking and paradise in the Seychelles, followed by a very busy few days back in the UK - Day 226 – Mahé, Seychelles, Rest day DONATION PLEA: On November 11th 2019 I am due to finish this expedition and set a new World Record for being the first person to run a marathon in every country in the world. The whole point of this trip is to raise awareness and cash for Prostate […]
- Week 32 – Days 219–225 – Surf in Mauritius, surprises in Madagascar on Marathon 65, and Marathon 66 in the Seychelles - Day 219 – Mauritius, sun’s out, surf’s up, shades are on Q&A day… Today meant catching up on some much-needed blog posts, and answering some emails from you lot. If you’ve not read my blog posts, I’ve been writing a blog about my running life for about six years now, highs and lows etc… If […]
- Week 31 – Days 212–218 – Marathon 63 in Swaziland and running on sand in Mauritius for Marathon 64 - Day 212 – South Africa to eSwatini (aka Swaziland) I’ve been to Johannesburg airport more times this year than I’ve spent nights in my own bed. I still love airports though – I must be weird. A quick flight on a tiny bumpy plane and I was in Swaziland by 10am. It’s safe to say […]
- Week 30 – Days 205–211 – A stopover in Johannesburg en route to Victoria Falls, a fall at the Falls on Marathon 62, conquering fear, and bum bag highlights - Day 205 – Botswana, Looking ahead UPCOMING COUNTRIES! The rest of my year looks like this. Get involved – come and jog some miles with me. I blooming love running! But this is intense. When I get to December 2018, I’ll be halfway through. Here’s what’s coming up: SPAIN Barcelona 30 Aug 2018 ANDORRA Andorra […]
- Week 29 – Days 198–204 – Abundance of wildlife in Kruger National Park, and picking up the running again with Marathon 61 in Botswana - Day 198 – Kruger National Park, Crocodile Bridge, South Africa #JoBerg to #Kruger My 111th flight of the expedition, my second hire car and on to Croc Bridge. Today felt like one of my typical days of the trip. I mean this in the sense that I was back on a plane again. For me, […]
- Week 28 – Days 191–197 –Swapping the legs for a kayak in the Western Cape, Marathon 60 in Knysna and elephant encounters - Day 191 – Wilderness East, Western Cape, South Africa, a power cut I’ve now travelled 1,200 miles in my little hire car along the Garden Route in South Africa. Today I abandoned it for a while and went on foot and by boat to do some exploring without the hum of the Polo’s tiny […]
- Week 27 – Days 184–190 – Seeing contrasts in Africa, spotting wildlife and feeling humbled by the legacy of Nelson Mandela - Day 184 – Meseru, Lesotho to Johannesburg, South Africa, and on to Cape Town, country number 60 Balaclava lady, caves, and hiring my first car of the trip. A new world first – a marathon in every country in the world to raise £250,000 for Prostate Cancer UK #prostatecancerUK The lady in the photo is […]
- Week 26 – Days 177-183 – A run around the island of São Tomé and Príncipe, a solo run in Namibia dreaming of snow, and silence in Lesotho - Day 177 – São Tomé and Príncipe, Marathon 57 of 196 Hand-made skateboards, high-stakes card games, fishing net making and beautiful old hand-carved boats. Oh, and the most adorable kids. A marathon in every country in the world. A WORLD FIRST – all in aid of @prostatecanceruk – a new country every two or three […]
- Week 25 – Days 170–176 – Peace in Equatorial Guinea, the rules of African airports in Gabon, ending the week on the island of São Tomé and Príncipe - Day 170 – Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Marathon 55 – only 141 to go Today’s marathon is entitled ‘Peace’. A huge change of scenery, and peace at last! What a wonderfully odd place. In the past few months in Africa I have had relentless swarms of mopeds and motorbikes whizzing past me, bumping into […]
- Week 24 – Days 163–169 – Getting mugged in Nigeria, running with Peter Pan, learning street law in Cameroon, and an apocalyptic Equatorial Guinea - Day 163 – Lagos, Nigeria, Marathon 53 Father’s Day, Pater Pan, Kev and the London dream. #FathersDay… so today I must thank my dad for all the endless effort he is putting in to keeping me alive and well during this trip, not to mention the decades of patience and love he has shown me. […]
- Week 23 – Days 156-162 – Motorcycle madness in Burkina Faso, tranquility in Togo, explaining marathons in Bénin and on to Nigeria - Day 156 – Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Marathon 50 of 196 Woo-hoo, number 50 done, a run of two halves. I saw some pretty funny things on my run today, and most of them involved crazy things on motorbikes. Top of the list was a man with two butchered cows on his lap. He was seated […]
- Week 22 – Days 149-155 – From Ghana back to the UK for visas, health checks and a haircut (or not), ending the week in Burkina Faso - Day 149 – Ghana to the UK, pit stop, with great accommodation provided by @staymerino My flight wasn’t until 11.55pm so more food, a great live spoken word poetry thing in the hotel and another lazy start. I really needed it. Ugh, the joys of TAP Air Portugal! I wouldn’t usually name and shame as […]
- Week 21, Days 142-148 – Marathon 47 with friends in Sierra Leone, a beautiful run in Liberia, and running with Paralympians in Ghana - Day 142 – Northern Province, Sierra Leone, Marathon 47, and Nick Hewer (aka Nick from The Apprentice) – thanks for your kind chat! After dragging my tired and dehydrated body out of my mosquito net-covered bed at 4am, I made my way to the local football stadium in the dark. It was spitting with rain […]
- Week 20, Days 135-141 – Burned-out cars and dead animals on Marathon 46 in Ivory Coast, and meeting up with friends (old and new) in Sierra Leone - Day 135 – Guinea-Bissau, a much needed rest day A marathon in every country in the world for @prostatecanceruk and a non-running day! Here’s a little sneak peak at the video of my journey from The Gambia to Guinea-Bissau a couple of days ago. Check out the full video on @vimeo (just Google ‘Vimeo Nick […]
- Week 19 – Days 127-134 – More dogs in Senegal, breaking down on a long road trip to Gambia… then on to crowds in Guinea-Bissau - Day 127 – UK to Senegal via Lisbon A long day, but so exciting to be back on the road, even if I am a little nervous of dogs now. I left home at 5am and caught the train to Paddington. I had one of the best breakfasts at 8am, and then I hopped on […]
- Week 18 – Days 120-126 – Reasons to be cheerful: the wonders of NHS dental care, avoiding rabies and back on the road - Day 120 – Tunisia to United Kingdom, emergency pit stop to deal with dog bite and tooth infection I took the very hard decision to not risk death by rabies today. I think I called it right, don’t you! This last week has been pretty tough – not the running or the travel really, it’s […]
