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Day 64: The Last Step

Day 64: The Last Step

RELEASE. Srinigar, 33.1km and total distance 4416.7km The Spirit of India Run is done. Today, Pat Farmer took his last step at the Nishal Gardens in Srinagar, Kashmir to finish his epic run across India with a final total of 4400km. The Australian ultra-marathon legend embarked on his 65 day run on January 26, both India’s Republic Day and Australia Day. When he took his first step in Kanyakumari, the southern-most tip of India – where the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and th

Day 63: Light at the End of the Tunnel

Day 63: Light at the End of the Tunnel

Banihal to Anantnag, 80.7km Tomorrow was the day it would all come to a close and it was literally and figuratively uphill from here on out. The entire team was in overdrive to make things as perfect as they could be. For some of us it was the longest and most challenging journey of our lives. But Pat and the crew weren’t the only ones who would be crossing that finish line tomorrow. Thousands of people bore the weight of this run, the most historic marathon in the country’s

Day 62: Landslide

Day 62: Landslide

Patnitop to Banihal, 83km “What’s a shooting stone?” the crew photographer asked as he was hanging off the side – by this point in the journey, hanging off the side of the car felt as natural as sitting on the front porch. The driver screamed at him to get back into the vehicle in broken English; a few days ago when they were on a normal highway, it was fine for him to be out there. However, now they were on a narrow mountain road with no safety railing and a two hundred met

Day 59: Mr Energy

Day 59: Mr Energy

Gurdaspur to Pathankot, 44km Josh left us this morning. It was a sombre farewell – the evening before we brought out a cake and some candles. Pat put on John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane from a tiny speaker and we all took turns serenading him. The girls – Tania and Katie – sounded wonderful, the men of the group sounded less graceful but made up for it with enthusiasm. Josh in Hindi translates to “energy” and for the 45 days he was with us, people referred to him as Mr En

Australia Supporting the Girl Child

Australia Supporting the Girl Child

The Australian government and Pat Farmer support the girl child. The following is a message from the Australian Consulate General: The Australian Consulate General in Mumbai has provided a grant of A$20,870 through the Direct Aid Program to the K.C. Mahindra Trust’s Project Nanhi Kali to provide academic, social and material support to 6192 disadvantaged girls in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Australian Government welcomes Pat Farmer’s efforts to also raise funds for the Nanhi Ka

Day 56: Congestion

Day 56: Congestion

Ludhiana to Jalandhar, 80.5km The cars had fallen behind. They were caught in a traffic jam that was not moving. Any attempt to go around would result in them falling off the side of the road and into the ravine below. From the top of our car, as we were running down the single lane road on the way to Beas, it looking like a mass evacuation. The oncoming traffic comprised tens of thousands of cars driving towards a local Holy event in Rupnagar. It was a road under heavy const

Day 55: Rhythm

Day 55: Rhythm

Rupnagar to Ludhiana, 83.2km When Pat puts in his earphones it’s his universal sign for “I want to run alone”. At this point, unless you’re bringing him a cold drink or some important news, he doesn’t want to be disturbed. Yesterday he had his earphones in for 40km as he ran through the city of Ludhiana, pushing himself an extra five-and-a-half kilometres above his usual 80km. Music is a wonderful thing because it is indeed universal. Languages and tastes will vary across tim

Day 47: Rain

Day 47: Rain

Chhata to Baghola 66.1km The power during the concert as the storm hit. It’d been a long day, but finding shelter in the rain, in the dark, while eating cake was bliss. That morning was another border crossing. Like all the ones before, it’d been a rather chaotic transition. There were close to fifty boys who were running with Pat from 7am when we crossed into Haryana, and they nearly caused a major accident. The road towards Delhi from the border was narrow and busy. It felt

Day 43: The Girl Child

Day 43: The Girl Child

Dausa to Chhokarwara Kalan, 60km There are 110,000 young girls whose lives could be made better because of this run. Those girls, who would otherwise be locked in poverty, could grow up to be engineers, doctors or someday even the Prime Minister. “Today is International Women’s Day and on this day and, indeed, everyday since I started this run in Kanyakumari on 26 January right through to March 30 by supporting girls’ education,” Pat said. Today one of our vehicles broke dow

Day 35: Legendary Riders

Day 35: Legendary Riders

Udaipur to Rajsamand, 80km There are some situations which are so absurd and surreal, that it’s difficult to talk about; not because no one will believe us, but because when we look back even we would question our own perception of the events. But if the film crew didn’t capture it on video, we would never get to say we rode on the back of Harley Davidsons through an old city at 5 in the morning, blasting Another One Bites the Dust at full volume while the police escorted us

Day 31: Gandhi

Day 31: Gandhi

Nadiad to Ahmedabad, 60km Everyone can make a difference. We’re all pebbles in a pond, invariably creating ripples which become waves and eventually tsunamis. Pat makes a difference every day, but he may not know it yet and he may never live to see it. But he and the crew are already on hundreds of thousands of phones immortalised as warm memories. For some people, we will be nothing more than a fleeting thought – like a loud plane, flying overhead. For others, when a challen

Day 30: Respite

Day 30: Respite

Por to Nadiad, 57.2km Today was the first time Pat had ever had lunch outside the car. We were in sitting in the restaurant of Boulevard9, a luxury resort in Nadiad. Pat had ordered about four fruit smoothies and downed them all in a row. Usually, around this time of the day he’d be eating whatever he could get his hands on – that went for the crew as well. It felt strangely like a holiday. We had so much free time and we weren’t sure what to do with it. “Enjoy it while you c

Day 21: Wildlife

Day 21: Wildlife

Pen to Mumbai, 76.1km India can change by the kilometre. One moment you’re running through a tropical jungle with monkeys swinging from the trees, the next you’re encountering a herd of camels walking along the side of the road. Before you realise it you’ll be passing by fertile farmlands and major agricultural hubs before being harassed by monkeys again. It’s literally a jungle outside our vehicles sometimes, but what we find more curious than the elephants, the camels, the

Day 19: Third Eye

Day 19: Third Eye

Ratnagiri to Velneshwar, 80km Since our arrival, we’ve been blessed with the Sindoor – a red and sometimes yellow dot on the forehead – at almost every reception we’ve stopped at. The mark itself looks fine when it’s first applied, but the funny thing about ultra-marathoners is they have a tendency to sweat. When you sweat your pores open right up and everything from dirt, dust to paint carves a home in the cracks between your skin. Pat was told it was a “third eye” and w

Day 7: Opportunities

Day 7: Opportunities

Engandiyoor to Chaliyam, 80.3km “It was like walking into a gladiator stadium,” one of our crew members said. Pat and the Spirit of India team were ushered into the school grounds at Umbichy Hajee, a secondary school in Chaliyam. A marching band led Pat into what was essentially a football-field sized sandbox, where almost three thousand students and teachers gathered to meet us. In rows of twenty or more, they lined against the wall cheering and waving. Others watched from t

Day 5: Chasing Pat

Day 5: Chasing Pat

Kochi to Engandiyoor, 80.3km There’s more to this journey than just running. If that was all there was, our crew would simply hang in the air-conditioned vehicles – kindly provided by Mahindra - eating samosas while watching Pat’s shoes slowly wear out against the pavement. But our goal, which was conceived long before the first step was taken, was to showcase India in all its beauty. As Pat put it: “This isn’t the Pat Farmer Run, this is the Spirit of India Run”. (Although,

Day 2: School Spirit

Day 2: School Spirit

Poovar to Varkala Pat called today one of the most difficult days of his life. The humidity reached up to 88 per cent and the temperature remained at a steady 36 degrees. Both the doctor and the crew were on standby, and it became particularly concerning once Pat stopped sweating. A lack of perspiration is indicative of severe dehydration. Yet, Pat pushed on; we had a school to go to by 3pm and thousands of school children were waiting to greet us. We finally made it to Atti

Day 1: The first step

Day 1: The first step

Kanyakumari to Poovar, 67km Today was the official launch of the Spirit of India Run. It was also Australia Day and India Republic Day. Thousands of people gathered in Kanyakumari – the southern tip of India, where the three seas met and the sacred site where Gandhi’s ashes were kept – to see Pat Farmer off. Pat received a call from the Governor General Peter Cosgrove before the run. Mr Cosgrove told him he was a wonderful asset to both countries and asked him to carry on the

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