Mangaluru, Feb 4: The ‘Spirit of India’ run by former Australian Minister and ultra-long distance runner Patrick Farmer which started from the southernmost tip of the country—Kanyakumari to Srinagar— covering a distance of 4,600 -km entered Karnataka on Thursday.
The marathon runner was given a warm welcome by the district administration with the Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim and SP Dr S D Sharanappa welcoming him florally and making him wear a Mysuru Peta, at Talapady. He was accompanied by the 40 students of Sharada Vidyanikethana from Talapady till Beeri. Later, the students of Sayyed Madani High School accomapnied him in his marathon till Thokkottu. The students of ‘The Yenepoya School’ ran along with Pat Farmer till Pumpwell, who was later joined by the students of Padua High School till Circuit House.
Speaking to mediapersons, he said “I am very excited to be running the length of India. Never before have I run in a country with such a diversity. I am sure that this will prove to be the most incredible run that I have ever done,” he said.
The Marathon run aims to inspire people to achieve their dream. “I meet the students and people during the course of my journey. My act should inspire them to achieve anything in life.”
Apart from this, the marathon aims at strengthening the relationship between India and Australia—the two great democracies of the world. At a time when there is trouble in the world in terms of violence, terrorist activities, I want to spread the message of humanity.
Apart from this, the marathon aims to raise fund for the education of poor female children in India. “I strongly believe that if you educate a girl child, you will educate a family, and in turn will educate the nation. I am raising 1,00,000 Australian dollar for educating the female children through Nanhi Kali,” he added.
Farmer and his team of 10 members will traverse through Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat before moving to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and then into Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. He is accompanied by Anupam Sharma, a well-known Indian-Australian film maker.
On his routine, he said “I start my day at 5 am , to avoid traffic congestion and wind up by 5 pm. The initial five days of the journey was difficult. Now Iam getting stronger and stronger with the passing of days.”
On his fitness, he said “I eat a good vegetarian food and also boiled eggs. I believe my own strength, which helps me to march a head,” he added.
He ran from the North to the South Pole in 2011-12 and raised more than $100,000 for Red Cross International’s clean water programmes while in 2014, he ran more than 1,300 km through the Middle East to raise money and create awareness for peace initiatives in the region.
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