Pat Farmer is Australian and definitely a long distance runner. He ran in nine months 21,000 Kilometers (approx. 13,048 miles, or approximately two marathons per day), through 14 countries, from the North to South Pole. He resisted snow storms, heat as hot as a frying pan, altitude sickness and the jungle in Panama which he had to cross under the protection of armed soldiers.
With his journey, Pat fulfilled a lifelong dream. To finance this 2 million Dollar expensive adventure, he not only had sponsors and financial help from friends, he even sold his house in Sidney to raise the necessary money. But for him it was worth it. Running around the world was a life changing experience for him.
“I realized that there is much more potential in me. It’s like this: Everybody who ran one marathon is realizing that he can overcome the biggest of obstacles. For me it was the same just on another level. I can definitely say: I’m a better man today than I was one year ago.”
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To get ready for his race Pat trained for two years. He ran and pulled tires on the beach of Sidney to get used to pulling a sled. He bathed in ice-cold water and ran in the deepest winter through the Central Park in New York. “I thought I was well prepared – until I reached the North Pole. Nothing can get you ready for minus 49 Fahrenheit and 62 mph strong wind. It was a shock.”
But besides fulfilling a lifelong dream, Pat also helped others with his Pole to Pole run. He helped to collect money for the Red Cross to support the effort to supply as many people with fresh water as possible. “We built already a well in a small village in Osttimor (South East Asia) which supplies 4000 people with clean water. Just to see this happen, the trip was worth it.” His goal is to raise an additional hundred million Dollars for this cause.
To read more about Pat’s adventures, visit Pat’s homepage: www.poletpolerun.com
