Ultra Runner Training In Central Park For “Pole-to-Pole”
- By Duncan Larkin
- Published Feb. 8, 2011
It’s an 11,000-mile journey to benefit the Red Cross.
It’s a given that the “Big Apple” has had a brutal winter thus far, but is New York City’s Central Park an optimal place to train for a race that starts at the North Pole and ends at the South Pole?
Apparently so according to Pat Farmer. The 48-year-old Australian ultra marathoner has been training there to prepare for this feat–an 11,000-mile run that will take him 11 months to complete.
Farmer is setting out on this journey to raise $100 million for Red Cross water relief programs in third-world countries.
“The first week it was tough adapting, but that’s what I needed to do,” Farmer said of his Central Park training. “It’s the harsh reality of what I’m up for.”
He begins his journey on April 2 when he and his support crew are air lifted to the North Pole. He expects to cover approximately two marathons–52 miles–daily.
“You’re just a machine and you do the same thing day after day,” he said.“You have to treat yourself like a machine, not like a human.”
For More: New York Times
FILED UNDER: News TAGS: Australia / Central Park / charity runner / New York City / North Pole / Red Cross / South Pole
Duncan Larkin
Duncan Larkin is the news editor at Competitor.com and a freelance journalist who’s been covering the sport of running for over five years. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. His first running book, RUN SIMPLE, was released last July.