Irish Jogger Spends Night with Ravenwood Family

An Irish jogger spent the night with a Ravenwood family Monday night as part of a jog from Ireland to the west coast. Irish jogger Tony Mangan spent the night at Chris and Sandy Seipel's home in Ravenwood after jogging from Albany to Ravenwood that day, over 25 miles. He has done so without a car; he has run all of the way.

Mangan has spent 113 days on the road and has jogged for 3,136.3 miles which is the equivalent of 119.6 marathons. He says that he has been spoilt by the hospitality that he has gotten; it has been over two months since he last camped out. Most of his nights have been in homes. His experience has made him make many changes in his life; for instance, he never ate eggs before his trip and now he eats them all of the time.

He notes on his blog that the towns are further apart than back east and the roads are not as safe; for instance, there are less guard rails, dangerous bends with big dropoffs, and places where the rivers ran right up against the road with just minor barriers separating them from traffic. Among other experiences, he spent one night with Pete, a farmer who had named every one of his 80 cows. There was another experience in which an overly friendly German Shepherd dog ran with him for 20 minutes and people called the cops because they thought he was pushing a baby down the highway. The night before his Ravenwood stay, he had gotten a free night at the Countryside Inn in Albany.

Mangan is raising funds for a charity called "AWARE." They are an all-volunteer organization based in Ireland which supports depression sufferers and their families. To follow his progress, visit his website at http://www.theworldjog.com/blog/. To donate to AWARE, follow the link on Mangan's website.