You would think with an island’s highest point being only about 260 feet above sea level that it has flat terrain, but Bermuda is an up and down island making Race #5 on The Isles Mile Challenge my most difficult race yet. Bermuda is a British overseas territory located in the northern Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the United States. In my opinion, it has one of the world’s most beautiful beaches in Horseshoe Bay and is a leader in off-shore finance.

We raced just outside the capital city of Hamilton on a warm morning. I ran a 4:49 mile on the sometimes dangerous course, but was well protected by driver, Jack Mungal.

After five weeks on the road, we were pleased to board a plane soon after the race to spend the weekend in Sarasota before venturing west to Seattle at the beginning of the week.

Stop #4 on The Isles Mile Challenge is the largest island off the coast in Maine – Mount Desert Island. With its rugged and rocky beauty, Mount Desert Island is the home of Acadia National Park and the quaint town of Bar Harbor. We arrived on Saturday with Charlie Olbrias and Scott Boucher from The Last Mile Racing Management LLC. Charlie and Scott measured the selected course and prepared us on the particulars of the race on Sunday.

I awoke at 4am to begin my warm-up for the race. The sun rises early this far to the east, so a few minutes after 5am the sun appeared. We had dry and sunny conditions, around 65 degrees, with strong winds. It was a great day to race. The race course was in Acadia National Park and was one of our most picturesque routes to date. Check out the beautiful views in our 2 minute video below:

It was very special to have Charlie and Scott from The Last Mile Racing Management LLC (www.thelastmileracing.com). They use the My Laps system to get the precise computer time with the “chip” being attached to the back of the bib number, so when your chest crosses the final mat, the clock stops. I ran a 4:39 and was happy to have my old crew with me.

We are traveling on Tuesday to Bermuda and Race #5 will be at the end of the week. We have crossed the halfway point of our tour…

I have wanted to go to Santorini for many years. We visited many Greek island in 2007, and then ran on the island of Symi in 2010, but never made our way to Santorini. On the 2012 Isles Mile Challenge, we came to Santorini and it did not disappoint. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. You are situated high up on the volcanic cliffs overlooking the giant caldera (which was created by one of the world’s biggest volcanic eruptions in 3650 B.C. toppling Minoan civilizations). Spectacular sunsets, a famous red sand beach, and archaeological digs that are still in the process of being excavated. Santorini has a variety of things to do and see, but the sights are breathtaking. Take a look at the sunset from our cool hotel room or see Santorini from our boat cruise in our short video. You will get a sense of the island’s beauty and my heavy breathing during the middle of the race.

Situated up so high on the cliffs, there is a lot of wind to keep you cool in the summer heat. We did not even have to use the air conditioning, just left the windows opens in our high perched room creating cool breezes all night. We awoke on race day at 4am and raced about 6:15am as we tried to beat the traffic on one of the busy roads of Santorini. Thanks to our trustful driver, Leftoris Poulis (pictured below), we were able to remain safe on the race course.

I ran the mile course in 4:45. I felt a bit fatigued from this third race in a couple of weeks, but was happy to complete the European leg of the Isle Mile Challenge. We now head back to the eastern time zone in the United States. We will make our way up to the state of Maine where we will meet up with one of our sponsors – The Last Mile Racing Management based out of Connecticut. The Last Mile Racing Management is the Official Timer of all our events. You probably remember Charlie Olbrias and Kyle Dunnack of The Last Mile Racing Company as they established the New England Marathon…One Mile At A Time in 2009 and followed me throughout 27 New England cities. Charlie will be measuring, timing, and protecting me in the next race at Mount Desert Island on July 22nd. We look forward to returning to the States for Race #4 before moving onto to Bermuda for Race #5.

After our race on the west coast of Ireland, we boarded a bus to Galway city, switched buses to travel across the country to Dublin, boarded a plane to Amsterdam, and then made the flight late night to Iceland. It was a long day of travel, but it was still light when we landed around midnight (as the summer months have just a few hours of darkness each day).

We had a bit of jet lag to get over, but we had a chance to train and take in a few of the beautiful sites around the capital city of Reykjavik. Thingvellir National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is a very cool place as it is the junction of two tectonic plates on the mid-Atlantic range. The division between the North American continent and the European continent is most visibly seen here in Iceland. The break in the continental divide stems over 3 miles wide and increases 2 cm. every year. We also had the opportunity to see the incredible waterfall at Gullfoss, the faithful geyser, Strokkur, and finally soak in the thermal glacier baths at the world famous Blue Lagoon. If you have not visited Iceland, please put it on your list. You will feel like you are on another planet as the natural landscapes do not disappoint.

We raced just outside Reykjavik on our first sunny day since we left the US. It was nice to race in the sunshine and I finished race #2 in 4:42. Our crew in Iceland was very friendly, especially our enthusiastic driver, Arne Thorolevison from Hveragerdi.

We continue across Europe tomorrow as we overnight in Amsterdam. Fly to Athens and then onto the Greek  island of Santorini on Friday.