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Jesse Riley: back in the U.S.A.

20 October 1998

The veteran journey runner says there is a marked difference between Americans and Australians in the way they view individual feats of endurance and accomplishment. "We've lost our sense of the pioneers and what they had to do to get across this country on foot. In Australia, it's the complete opposite. They're really proud of their pioneer heritage."

Riley said Americans have no general affinity with the concept of doing long endurance runs for charity, whereas the concept is alive and well in Australia and some other countries. "In America, we've built great roads for cars, not for people. This is one reason why America is so prosperous -- we've got these great roads."

"But in Australia, there is a different meaning to the roads. The real joy of Australia is that we did not get hassled. They don't have enough roads to restrict them to cars. The police wouldn't dream of stopping you on a road because you are running, even on a freeway. That's why you see them transporting mobile homes there that literally take up the entire roadway and force everyone else to aside. It has to be that way."

Riley said Australians celebrate their pioneer tradition overtly. "It's incredible. We saw exhibits commemmorating the miners who had to walk vast stretches to get to mine sites. They'd walk hundreds of kilometres in some cases, and this is something that nobody in Australia has forgotten."

Asked whether he will organize any more Trans-America road races, Riley said he has no immediate plans, mainly because of the traffic on American roads. "They're just too busy... It might happen some time but not at this stage." Instead, he is thinking next of a trans-New Zealand race, and after than perhaps another attempt to organize a trans-Australian race.

For the next month or so, Riley plans to rest and possibly us the fitness he gained in his run to attempt PRs in a few marathon or 50-mile races. Then he will return home to Key West, Florida, to go back to work and pay off loans incurred in financing his Australian adventures. He has two main jobs: one at the Pier Point Hotel and the other at a department store called Fast Buck Freddie's.

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