One man and his dog complete the first 10,000 miles of their epic challenge to run the equator distance to fight childhood obesity

THEY are, quite literally, running all the way around the world!

Frome’s Jim Plunkett-Cole and his faithful border collie “Flow” have just completed the first 10,000 miles of their challenge to run the equator distance of 25,000 miles together.  As far as they know they are the first “human and dog team” to attempt the feat. 

Inspired by the pressing need to tackle adult and childhood obesity, Jim & Flow began their challenge in the Autumn of 2017, some 1,600 days ago. They have, so far, run the equivalent of just over 10 kilometres (6 miles) a day for the 4 years since they started. 

‘Along the way’, Jim and Flow visit primary schools to tell stories of their adventures outdoors in nature and wildlife, inspiring the children into a lifetime of physical activity for themselves. So far, they have directly reached an incredible 50,000 children in over 100 schools across the UK and US, including tours of schools in the West of England and Yorkshire. As well as future UK visits, Jim and Flow will be undertaking “virtual visits” to schools in 1,000 cities around the world as they cross the globe’s 360 lines of longitude together. 

Jim says: “We’re really pleased to have covered the first 10,000 miles and to have visited so many schools. Fitting it in with a regular job isn’t always easy but it’s a lot of fun and very rewarding. The children really like our amazing stories of our encounters with wildlife and nature, especially being chased by wild pigs and surrounded by alligators and mosquitoes in the Louisiana swamp! They seem to really get the simple message that you won’t experience such things for yourself if you’re sat at home watching the telly or playing video games.”