Sports Then and Now

Pat Farmer is running the equivelent of two marathons every day during his journey from pole to pole.

My family was nearly finished with our six hour journey this afternoon from Greer, South Carolina to Keysville, Virginia when we noticed an RV on the side of the road with the interesting words “Pole to Pole Run.com” plastered on the side. Soon after, we saw a solo figure wearing white and blue running along the side of the road. Not too far behind was another RV.

Intrigued, I quickly googled the web site (it’s okay, my wife was driving) and soon discovered the story of Pat Farmer and his amazing journey to raise money for the International Red Cross.

As it turns out, while our journey for the day ended just a few minutes later when we reached my parent’s home, Pat’s year-long journey is really just starting.

Imagine getting out of bed every day and your job was to run for eight straight hours. It is likely that most of us wouldn’t make it much longer than a few days before we were worn out and ready for a break.

In April, Pat Farmer, a 49-year-old former member of the Australian Parliament, started a year long journey to run from “Pole to Pole” starting at the North Pole and running all the way to the South Pole.

Already a world record holding endurance runner, Farmer decided to tackle his greatest challenge to support the great work that Red Cross does in times of crisis and to inspire others to realize that they can make a difference.

Farmer pulled a kayak during his trip through the Arctic.

There is no question that what Farmer is doing is certainly impressive and inspirational whether you are 43 like myself, or 7 and 5 like my two children. As we discussed what Farmer was trying to do, both my kids said they wanted to help (not run, but raise money) and each had several ideas floating through their heads of how they could help make a difference.

In nearly three months, Farmer has made it from the North Pole through Canada though much of that stage of the trip wouldn’t necessarily be characterized as running as he pulled a kayak through much of the terrain to navigate through breaks in the ice. Once he reached the United States he made it to New York and Washington, DC and now through most of Virginia. He will continue South through Atlanta, New Orleans and Houston before heading into Mexico and on his way to the South Pole.

By the end of his journey, Farmer will have run over 13,000 miles through 14 countries.

His typical day includes running the equivalent of two marathons (52 miles) and the plan is to run seven days a week for nearly a year until his journey is concluded.

Farmer is making this amazing trek with the goal of raising $100 million for the International Red Cross.

I encourage you to check out Pat’s story (http://poletopolerun.com/) and help him reach his impressive goal.