Starting at Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India, he ended his run at Srinagar, the capital of India’s northernmost state Jammu and Kashmir at the Himalayan foothills. Farmer was running to raise funds and awareness about girls’ education in rural areas in India. He raised $33,000 US during his run. The 54-year-old ran an average of 80 kilometers over 64 days.
Farmer holds multiple world records for ultra-long distance running, and has raised millions of dollars over 20 years of running. He has run from the North Pole to the South Pole and across Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, North America, Vietnam, and now India.
“It was good to see the diversity: the deserts, the mountains, the oceans, the seas, the inlands and the people themselves,” Farmer said of India. “The scenery here changes so regularly, I can understand why they call it ‘the incredible India’. It’s a true sea-to-summit run with such extreme diversity; the different languages, the different cultures, the different religions. It’s been a struggle but it’s been fantastic and really worthwhile.”
Farmer in fact completed the run one day ahead of schedule, egged on by the anxiety of being caught in landslides in the Himalayan terrain. Farmer got off to a bad start though, when two days into the run, he collapsed because of dehydration and exhaustion. He was taken for treatment to the hospital and managed to recover and run again the same day.
The Indian Ministry of Tourism felicitated Farmer for his effort at New Delhi. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary to the Minister of Tourism was present with Farmer’s wife Tania, Chris Elstoft, Deputy High Commissioner of Australia in India, Aswani Lohani, Managing Director, Air India, and other officials. Zutshi described Farmer as the brand ambassador of “Incredible India” in Australia, referring to the Indian tourism ministry’s promotional slogan.
Farmer flew back to Sydney after his run and was welcomed by members of the Indian community in Australia and the Indian Consul General in Sydney, B Vanlalvawna. “I think that the impact, the visibility which he has generated across India will continue to have a lasting impact in the minds of people both in India and Australia,” Vanlalvawna said.
