To him, the cause is the source of motivation. Patrick Farmer, ultra- marathon athlete and former Australian MP, tells Nishant Singh that he does not run for medals or prize cheques but rather for his commitment towards a cause
Disregarding his age yet again, Patrick Farmer is ready for his latest challenge — The Spirit of India Run. The 53 year-old will be running from south to north India through 10 states — covering 4600km in 60 days. He is known for his project Pole to Pole Run- world’s longest ultra-marathon from the North Pole to the South Pole - in which he raised $100,000 for Red Cross International’s clean water programmes.
This time, he is running to promote goodwill, friendship and trade between Australia and India, as well as raise funds for charities in India, including those for girls’ education. Farmer believes every girl should have basic literacy skills and education is the way to change their world.
He is impressed with India’s response to education stating that “There are more people in India with university degrees than any other country in the world.” But he is aware that there are some people who are poor and can’t afford the education of their children. “There are some people who are unfortunate to be poor and they don’t have the same opportunities in the world, just because they don’t have the money,” he added.
Sharing his journey so far, he feels that he is privileged for his amazing life in which he has had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people in the world like kings, queens, prime ministers et al. and running has been a tool to be able to do that.
He was 18 years old when he realised that for running, age is not a barrier after seeing a 60 year-old guy running a 1000km marathon race at Sydney. “That shows me that age is not a barrier. If you really want to do something, you can always find a way to do it. You just have to be determined and committed to your actions, exactly like the 60 year-old.”
To inspire people across the world, a film crew will also be capturing Farmer running from one part of the country to the other to see and share his experience with the world.
Applauding politicians across the world, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the work he is doing and for his inspiring words during his Australia visit. He feels that politicians across the globe are incredibly good speakers. However, he wants them to turn their words into actions.
“One of the things I found with politicians worldwide is that they are incredibly good speakers and so that’s a nice thing. But everybody is quite impressed with what the Prime Minister Narendra Modi sshas been talking and doing so far. Modi has been to Australia and inspired the people of Indian origin living there. But the most important is that these politicians turn their words into actions,” he continues.
It’s the cause for which he is running that keeps him motivated and dedicated towards his work. “Well, this is why I select a cause for running because If I’m just running for myself, I’m running for gold-medals, or somebody to give me a pay cheque. When we get hurt and are in a lot of pain, we just quit. But because I’m running for the young girls and their education, I will be motivated to not quit. We can get them educated, we can change their lives,” he believes.
To keep himself fit, Farmer runs for 20 kms every morning and in the evening he does a gym session which consists of light weights, sprints and a lot of aerobics. One thing he is not good at is yoga and he is looking forward to do yoga on a regular basis as he feels that relaxing his mind is as important as relaxing his body.