a heck of a record

A Briton, Robert Garside, aka the Runningman, becomes officially recognized as the only person to have run across the globe.

[He] received the approval of Guinness World Records for a 48,000km six-year trek.

According to this BBC news report in 2003, the trailblazer has had a history of humble beginning. He had never stuck at one thing including dropping out of college before he went and achieved the unbelievable from 1999(?) to 2004. His record, like the journey itself, is no smooth sailing.

The Guinness verdict was a major vindication for Garside, who has been dogged by accusations of cheating by endurance runners sceptical about a man who claimed to have run through jungles and across deserts with no support team.

Others accused him of embellishing his exploits and of skipping whole sections of the run, something Garside denies.

My little drives across Japan pale in comparison. But I won't stop at that, watch out! There are so many things I want to do but by settling down only sneaky bits of craziness thereafter. Here are the things that will be quite unlikely:

• Living alone in the wilderness for an extended period of time;
• Backpacking across Europe;
• Going up Gobi desert, thru Ruissa, across Siberia, etc, etc.

One day.

Edit: I was informed by an anonymous commenter that Robert Garside's run might have been fishier than thought:
ultramarathonworld.com archived page
One wonders.