Jesper Olsen finished his World Run

For the past few days news of Jesper finishing his World Run have dominated the ultra running news and various forums.

I have followed Jesper's progress ever since receiving an email from his friend in Australia, Phil Essam, asking to support Jesper on his way through Canada.

At first, his note ended up at the bottom of my inbox. I was thinking, how am I supposed to help this guy. He is probably a bit strange. I have a family, a job and very little free time to begin with...I am not able to drop everything when he runs into town.

Luckily, some friends had also picked up news about Jesper running around the world and approaching Vancouver on his way north from Los Angeles. More emails arrived in my inbox and I started to read about Jesper's mission. Still thinking, he would probably be not a very social guy...traveling via strange mode of transport around the world, I spread the word about his run, his schedule and request for support along the way.

I was relieved, that local friends around Karl Jensen and John Little got very busy planning to pick him up (running) at the border, host him, feed him, entertain. Kevin Thompson, the only guy I know personally who ran across Canada (he also attempted to row across - but that's another story), offered his expertise in developing a route that would see Jesper run safely across this great country. We all had heard about the difficult time Jesper had running north through the US. That's when my motherly instincts took over and I suggested to organize a potluck dinner at our house on the weekend of Jesper's arrival.

About 30 folks from the local running community came to the potluck. I was still expecting a slightly loopy guest of honour. And then Jesper arrived: shy, unassuming, humble, thoughtful... and not having a clue what a potluck was. For the first hour or so, he hid behind a plate of food, surrounded by the new friends who had accompanied him into town. The rest of us had a good time, but all were wondering... who is this guy, what is he doing, why is he running around the world? My husband Ean finally managed to get Jesper out of the corner he was hiding in and somehow got him to talk about his adventure. Maybe he told him that a potluck always had a guest speaker.

My apologies for ever thinking Jesper might be a bit crazy. Everybody who met him that evening and during his time on the road probably agrees that Jesper is a very normal kind of guy - well if you consider running around the world as normal.

The evening was over way to fast. We all were spellbound by his stories of the road, his adventures, difficulties, his motivations and his quiet personality.

Ever since, I have followed Jesper's reports and photos on his website at www.worldrun.org. Despite fatigue, equipment problems (Jesper pushed his few belongings in a baby jogger, recorded his run with a cell phone camera and a GPS device) and at times lacking support and human contact, he remained positive and upbeat in his daily reports.

Jesper arrived back at his starting point in London, at the Greenwich Mean Time meridian, on October 23, almost one year and 10 month after he set out to run around the world on Jan. 1, 2004.

To say "Congratulations" almost sounds lame...Here's to Jesper!