Where in the World is Phil The Frog?

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Planeteers help Phil The Frog travel around the planet by running with him and then sending him to another Planeteer somewhere else in the world.

Would you like the honor of running with Phil The Frog? Just email phil(at)runtheplanet.com to add your name to the waiting list, and sooner or later he will hop on over to visit you. Make sure to send us your complete mail address and your preferred phone number (as a precaution, because it is always better to have an alternative way to contact you other than e-mail, in case we need it). You do not need to participate in an official race to run with Phil: he likes daily runs too.

Phil's World Tour

Firenze, Italy
Bierbeek, Belgium
Edmonton, Canada
St. Albert, Canada/Alberta
Ames, Iowa, USA
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA
San Francisco, California, USA
Pretoria, South Africa
Hong Kong, China
Tokyo, Japan
Sydney, Australia
Melbourne, Australia
North Bend, Oregon, USA
Urbandale, Iowa, USA
Basel, Switzerland
Ouarzazate, Morocco
New York City, New York, USA
Clinton, New York, USA
Richland, Iowa, USA
Rockton, Canada
St. Gallen, Switzerland
Edenvale, South Africa
Nelspruit, South Africa
London, England
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Ponteland, United Kingdom
Preston, Connecticut, USA
Willimantic, Connecticut, USA
Redmond, Washington, USA
Farmdale, Ohio, USA
Akron, Ohio, USA
Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Torino, Italy
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Mexico City, Mexico
Taxco, Mexico
Tepotzlan, Mexico
Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Mission, Texas, USA
South Padre Island, Texas, USA
Bellaire, Texas, USA
Liberty Township, Ohio, USA
MacGregor, Texas, USA
Sterling, Illinois, USA
Rock Falls, Illinois, USA
Coal Valley, Illinois, USA
Davenport, Iowa, USA
Newcastle, Washington, USA
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Austin, Texas, USA
Morinville, Canada
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Toronto, Canada
Mississauga, Canada
Charlottetown, Canada
Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Palm Springs, California, USA
West Newbury, Massachusetts, USA
Grand Lake, Colorado, USA
Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Umea, Sweden
Copenhagen, Denmark
Warminster, United Kingdom
Jakarta, Indonesia
Singapore, Singapore
Tongduchon, South Korea
Plover, Wisconsin, USA
Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA
Mukwonago, Wisconsin, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Clayton, Missouri, USA
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Franfort, Indiana, USA
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Townsend, Delaware, USA
Smyrna, Delaware, USA
Middletown, Delaware, USA
Dover, Delaware, USA
Washington DC, USA

Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA
Carol Stream, Illinois, USA
Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Duluth, Minnesota, USA
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Broomfield, Colorado, USA
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Meeker, Colorado, USA
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA
Schiedam, Netherlands
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Oslo, Norway
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Bloemendaal, Netherlands
Schiphol, Netherlands
Haarlem, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Milano, Italy
Pavia, Italy
Krakow, Poland
Seattle, Washington, USA
Freeland, Washington, USA
Belleville, Canada
Powell River, Canada
St. Catherine, Canada
Niagara Falls, Canada
Rothesay, Canada
Halifax, Canada
Gibson, Canada
Vancouver, Canada
Surrey, Canada
Media, Pennsylvania, USA
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA
Ardmore, Pennsylvania, USA
Mosul, Iraq
Hoover, Alabama, USA
Franklin, Massachusetts, USA
Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
Brick, New Jersey, USA
Falls Church, Virginia, USA
Brooklyn, New York, USA

Phil's World Tour official races

Phil the Frog

“Trofeo Oltrarno”, Firenze, Italy
“April Fools 5k run”, Edmonton, Canada
“Boston marathon”, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
“Chronicle marathon”, San Francisco, California, USA
“Comrades Marathon”, Gauteng, South Africa
“Seringveld Safari Run”, Pretoria, South Africa
“Spar ladies 10km race”, Pretoria, South Africa
“Melbourne marathon”, Melbourne, Australia
“Des Moines Red Flannel 5 mile run”, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
“Marathon Des Sables”, Ouarzazate, Morocco
“Long Island Half Marathon”, New York City, New York, USA
“Annual Kac Run and Walk”, Clinton, New York, USA
“St. Galler Altstadtlauf”, St. Gallen, Switzerland
“Cannonball Run”, Preston, Connecticut, USA
“The Great Street Parade 5k”, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
“July 4th 5k”, Milford, Connecticut, USA
“Akron Marathon”, Akron, Ohio, USA
“Sh-Boom Shuffle 5K”, Coal Valley, Illinois, USA
“Mississauga Half Marathon”, Mississauga, Canada
“Fox Cities Marathon”, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
“Lakefront Marathon”, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
“Umemaran”, Umea, Sweden
“Susan Komen Race for a Cure 5k”, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
“Grandma's Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon”, Duluth, Minnesota
“Amsterdam half marathon”, Amsterdam, Netherlands
“Road Runners Club Milano 10.000”, Milano, Italy
“CorriPavia International Half Marathon”, Pavia, Italy
“Annual Sun Run”, Vancouver, Canada

How the Phil Exchange Works

Though it seems like a simple idea, Phil and his concept are much deeper than they appear. As self-appointed armchair Social Anthropologists we, the Run The Planet staff, would like to point out the intelligent purpose that Phil the Frog has to Run The Planet's worldwide running community. Phil should not be seen as a "cool idea" had by the Run The Planet staff. His purpose is not "just because it would be fun". As we will demonstrate, it is a very intellectual concept probably missed by many of you. After all, how could we justify sending around the world a stuffed animal, a 5 inch (13 centimeters) frog, named Phil, travelling in a pill-shaped tube, with goofy eyes and a kiss on his cheek if he did not have a purpose? Run The Planet is a serious website and Phil is not just for fun. Read the following and find out why.

Misconception - The name Phil was randomly selected for the frog.

Truth - The name Phil has a serious function to the concept of the project. The ability to rhyme the "Ph" combination with the "F" letter represents that however different runners from around the world may seem, when put next to each other they are quite similar. This helps break down xenophobia, teaching people to live together and resulting in world peace.

Misconception - The frog was picked because it is cute.

Truth - Frogs are nor here nor there, while swiftly being here then there. They are a politically correct amphibian, non offensive or threatening, and found in every part of the world. Frogs also tend to be the first living creatures to mutate, so they carry the message of the future of the planet that we run on.

Misconception - Phil travels the world because it is fun for runners to get mail.

Truth - Phil travels because he represents the precious link between Run The Planet's virtual running community and the real community. He is sort of an ambassador between Run The Planet and runners of the world. He represents the Run The Planet website, yet a runner can actually run with him. He travels to reach all the runners around the world and offers a tangible Run The Planet object while promoting the Run The Planet philosophy of running this planet of ours together.

Misconception - Phil travels in tube shaped like a pill because it rhymes with Phil.

Truth - That one is true.

Misconception - It is just plain fun to see where Phil will travel to next.

Truth - Phil morally challenges runners around the world. Both Phil and Phil's pill are cute and tempting to keep. Once a runner receives Phil he/she is faced with a decision to follow the rules and send him to someone else, or be socially deviant and keep him for selfish reasons. Phil confronts runners, face to frog. With the threat of publicly announcing the name of any runner unwilling to surrender Phil, members of the Run The Planet community are taught that it is better to follow the norms of the society than be publicly humiliated. Phil teaches that it is better to behave rather than be selfish, which could cut down on other vices such as littering.

So there you have it. And you thought he was just a frog.

Guidelines

If you receive Phil you are required to run with him, be it an organized race or just your usual workout.
Please enjoy Phil's company for just a short time. Other Planeteers are waiting for his arrival.
Once you run with him, please share the information with the rest of Run The Planet's worldwide running community and send us an e-mail message with the details of your run and how it went, plus any other comments.
It would be great to also see some pictures of you with Phil, or you and Phil running. Feel free to send them as an attachment to your Frog Log report.
Boats make Phil sick and he prefers to travel by air. When sending Phil to another country it would be appreciated if you sent him via air mail. Surface mail takes too long and Phil is worth the extra fee.
When you send Phil to another Planeteer please send us an e-mail message and let us know who, and their e-mail. This discourages evil people posing as a Planeteer from frognapping Phil.
Phil travels in his own pill, an 8 inch (20 centimeters) silver bullet which helps him not to get squished during his travels around the world.
Phil trusts every member of Run The Planet's worldwide running community and in good faith he visits the Planeteers of the world. In return he assumes that in that same good faith every recipient of Phil will follow the guidelines and pass him on to continue his journey and visit someone else. Keeping Phil for selfish reasons is a very serious offence and anyone doing so will be highlighted on a Phil's shame page, including name and e-mail, for all the rest of the world to see and comment on. Believe us, you don't want that to happen!

Phil's Frog Log & Photo Album

Phil's Frog Log - Phil invites you to read his on-line travel notebook and find out where and with whom he has been running:

Phil's Photo Album - Phil is really running the planet! See some of the great places that he has visited. If Phil ever arrives in your mailbox then send us a picture of you running with him and make his photo album grow.

Phil in the News

Phil The Frog has been featured in several articles published on newspapers all over the world:

"Phil The Frog in Urbandale" - Usa/Iowa. February 2001
"Phil The Frog visits Urbandale" - Usa/Iowa. February 2001
"Phil The Frog arrives in the Sauk Valley" - Usa/Illinois. "The Daily Gazette, Sauk Valley Sunday", 17 October 2004
"The hoppy adventures of Phil The Frog" - Usa/Illinois. "The Daily Gazette, Sauk Valley Sunday", 24 October 2004
"Phil The Frog runs with the Frogs" - Usa/Wisconsin. Sheboygan County Runners website (http://scrunner.8k.com), 2 October 2005

Phil's Collection

Phil The Frog is continually visiting new places and running friends. During his travels around the world Phil has accumulated quite a nice collection of running memorabilia, gifts and awards, now on display for everyone to see and enjoy in Phil's Collection.

Phil's "Comrades marathon" souvenir - Here is Phil, posing for us on the "Comrades marathon" bib number, the race he ran with Brian Collings on June 16, 2000.
Phil's running T-Shirt - Brian Collings from South Africa had this special running T-Shirt handmade for Phil. On the front it reads "Frog1" and on the back "Phil".
Phil's Sydney 2000 buttons - A limited edition of Phil buttons "I met Phil The Frog at the Olympics, Sydney 2000, www.runtheplanet.com" has been issued to celebrate Phil participating at the September 2000 Olympics.
Olmstead Roadrunners pencil - Phil received a souvenir pencil from the Olmstead Roadrunners program when visiting the Olmstead School in Urbandale (Usa/Iowa).
Olmstead Roadrunners shoelace gadget - Phil received a souvenir shoelace gadget from the Olmstead Roadrunners program when visiting the Olmstead School in Urbandale (Usa/Iowa).
The Great Street Parade 5k T-Shirt - Phil received a T-Shirt for participating in "The Great Street Parade 5k" when Bridgeport (Usa/Connecticut). Phil recalls how he got the T-shirt: I got to sign up for this race in Connecticut. The guy is looking down at the paperwork and says "T-Shirt size?". I answer "Frog, size 3" and - man! - does he gives me a weird look! Finally he hands me this shirt. Honestly, does it look like Frog size 3?
Frogmella - A young lady frog Phil met in the United Kingdom, in May 2003, while visiting Gail and Willie Barker.

Fine Print & Credits - The name and the concept of Phil The Frog is a trademark by Run The Planet Inc., Seattle. The stuffed animal is made and copyright by Carte Blanche Greeting Ltd., England. For all the images and logo of Phil The Frog, plus the first six travel photos, Run The Planet thanks Christian Neri and his photo studio in Agliana di Prato (Italy). For the title "Frog Log" for the Phil's travel notebook Run The Planet thanks Barb Lauff from Sterling (Usa/Illinois). No frogs have been tested on to realize this webpage.