Denniss got some well-earned refreshment on Wednesday evening at a barbecue hosted by Tauranga Boys' College cross-country coaches and athletes, after the day's 46.9km haul from near Hamurana to Tauriko.
While he can smile at the inevitable Forrest Gump comparisons, Denniss' marathon of marathons is no wild impulse. He has clocked up 102,000km since 1983 and three years ago completed a run from Melbourne to Sydney, raising money for cancer research.
"That run was one of the reasons I decided to do this," Denniss said yesterday.
"I enjoyed being out amongst the sights, sounds and smells of the countryside so much."
The cultural aspect is a big part of the adventure.
"It's a similar experience to tourists riding motorbikes or driving in many ways.
"I've seen a lot of the world's tourist sights on previous travels. But this way, I get to see people in their natural environment in a way tourists never get to see."
Denniss' biggest daily distance so far is 62.8km.
He is aided on his journey by a support crew of two, his wife Carmel, and a close friend of the couple, who also update his website (tomsnextstep.com), including Carmel's photographs of her husband's journey.
To cope with ultra-distance running, he altered his stride about 18 months ago to land on the forefoot instead of the heel, reducing impact throughout the body.
"The mental side is the most demanding aspect," Denniss said. "Physically I think I'm on top of it. Tiredness is easy to cure with a bit of rest.
"I'm only a month in, there'll be homesickness issues, bad weather, other challenges.
"But that's countered by the fact I'm running somewhere different every day."
A sprinter in his youth before moving to distance running, he has a best marathon time of 2hrs 49mins, which he rated as "good but not great".
The record attempt is being conducted in close co-operation with Guinness World Records, whose requirements include that he runs in all continents except Antarctica, travels in a mainly easterly direction and passes through two antipodal points, for which he has chosen Wellington and Madrid.
Guinness can track Denniss' position via his Garmin GPS watch, and anyone interested can follow his progress on his website.
Before being driven to Tauriko yesterday to resume his sojourn from Wednesday's finishing point, Denniss had a warm-up run with some of the college's Year 10 and 11 cross-country team and teacher in charge of the sport, Brad Smith. The invitation to link up with the college came from cross-country coach Scott Furness.
"You've got to maintain balance with things outside running," Denniss explained. "Tonight we're staying in Okoroire, I gather it's a nice country pub. It's good to have a couple of beers or glasses of wine and a nice dinner, relax and meet a few of the locals."
He aims to fly out from Auckland to next week to begin his North American leg, and is looking forward to experiencing such sights as Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon at a jog.
Breathing well at 4000m altitude will be a challenge when crossing the Chilean Andes, and to enable an easterly crossing of Europe he must settle for a run through Morocco as his African leg.
In accordance with Guinness' stipulations, Denniss aims to finish at his Sydney starting point, having conquered the Nullarbor Plain on his traverse of Australia.
"At the end of the Melbourne to Sydney run I wanted more, but if I manage to complete this circumnavigation I'll probably feel I've done enough."
