Running a mile an hour

My tiny farm is a triangle within a diamond. The short western fence-line joins longer southern and northern sides- sealed roads, that come to a sharp point (where hoon drivers go sideways into the ditch. I go down with a cuppa and watch as they dig themselves out). An awkwardly square patch of weedy grass full of doe-eyed Jersey’s represents my single shared boundary paddock. On the other side of it, the last owner within our diamond has a triangular patch, much like mine, nibbled to the ground by spoilt horses.

Three roads with different names circuit these three properties (to see these properties, click here for the opening credits of Bass by Kayak!). When I first ran the block, I gauged the loop to be about 1.5k, and was chuffed when the dials on my old ute recorded it as an exact mile. I’ve been lapping the block ever since, enamoured with the potentials of having a beautifully symbolic loop on my doorstep. It has become, like so much on my little patch, a space to compare myself against the world, and my change-making within it. In-sinc with seasonal bouts of fencing and tree planting, grass-growing and shed building, every lap seems different, even to the point where the world, and I, are different entities on return. A lot can happen in 7 or 8 minutes.

I’ve cooked up a plan to run a marathon around the block. Naturally, it’s gonna be a bit different. To exaggerate the potential of a day, I’ll run one lap/one mile an hour, for 24 hours. And yes, to appease the distance keepers out there, I’ll run three (and a bit) laps in the first hour, making it 26 laps/26 miles (or 42.195km). The marathon itself is not the guts of this project, merely a skeleton. In between each lap, in the barn, and around the farm, I’ll be keeping busy with a variety of projects. Pottering away on building things, fixing things, cooking for the crew- and Helen (like a parking meter, or toddler, Helen needs to be fed every hour), chopping wood, attempting to play music, reading books, planting trees, blogging, and lots, lots more. I aim to fill in the 24-hour period with as much action, thinking and diversity like I’ve never done before. I’ll film it, with a band of merry people, and be showing you the highlights…