July 13th- The Fly!

Runner: Richard Johnson
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Currently Resides: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Language(s): English, Spanish
Family: Son: Kareem, age 4
Statement: "You have to help the people in need if we are all going to survive in a decent, happy world.” – Richard Johnson, 2007

Have you ever seen the movie that came out in the 1980”s called “The Fly?” Well for those who have not all you really need to do is come out here (Siberia) for a day. You would be amazed at the size of some of these aliens. I have never seen anything like it in the United States. This is a whole other level of insects. I bought 2 fly squatters last week for the van since there is so many of them and they seem to just multiply even faster. The team used to get out of the van an walk around in between runs while waiting for our teammates to finish but now the bugs are so bad we keep the doors and windows shut. It is like having your own personnel sauna in doing so but the alternative is being bitten by mosquitoes and horse flies. We learned our lesson after the first two days of entering Siberia and now we just chalk it up to being part of the experience.

Song for the day- “Run for Your Lives” band- Saxon

runner:

Richard Johnson

BPR Diary:

August 19th

Well in about 3 hours it will be my birthday and I am still out here running my 10 miles at least everyday.

runner:

Richard Johnson

August 14th

Tonight here in Colorado we were joined by a host of guest runners. The grey team arrived to the exchange point about 25 minutes late because their guest runners slowed them down.

runner:

Richard Johnson

August 13th

This evening my friend Ken Bechtel joined me for my 10 miles run outside of Denver at 10,000ft. Ken walked across the country with me last year for the Steps Across America program.

runner:

Richard Johnson

August 6th

Today my team started the 9am-to 3pm shift. We have been on the night shift now for three weeks due to injuries, time changes, and unfortunate luck.

runner:

Richard Johnson

August 1st

Well the time has come for the Unit Blue to set foot on United States soil. We have been waiting for this day actually since we started the whole blue planet run.

runner:

Richard Johnson

July 31st

This is my 5th time to Japan and I love it every time I come. The first place I look to go is Moss Burger.

runner:

Richard Johnson

July 28th

Wow was China a rough place for the whole team to be. I know 13 of the 21 runners got sick and 4 staff members.

runner:

Richard Johnson

July 21st- Cable Television or Water?

We crossed the border into Mongolia today and it was not that bad. It took a total of about 60 minutes to leave Russia and 30 minutes to enter Mongolia.

runner:

Richard Johnson