Pat Farmer, Australian 'Forrest Gump,' To Run From North To South Poles

An Australian athlete is launching a bid to complete what is being called the world's longest run -- from the North Pole to the South Pole -- for charity.

Dubbed the Australian "Forrest Gump," 48-year-old Pat Farmer hopes to begin the 13,000-journey, which he is calling "the greatest challenge of his life," next March. According to the AFP, the marathon veteran expects to go through more than 40 pairs of shoes and 300 pairs of socks over the course of the 11-month run, which will take him through Canada, the United States, Mexico and 10 South American countries. He will be followed by a film crew for the duration of the trip.

Reportedly inspired by a recent trip to southeast Asia, Farmer hopes to raise $100 million, which he will donate to the Red Cross and its work providing clean water and sanitation facilities in Third World nations.

See photos of Farmer training on the Sydney Opera House steps:

Comments

[LeftRight]

10:32 PM on 09/20/2010

How's he gonna get to Antarctica from South America??

[rgilley]

03:20 PM on 09/17/2010

You mean he is Real!!! Run Forest run!

[babybecks]

10:37 PM on 09/16/2010

How "cool." Thanks folks, I'll be here all week. I just flew in and boy are my arms tired!

And Kudos to Pat

[cameron d]

01:25 PM on 09/16/2010

He may not be a smart man, but at least he knows what love is.

[Carbon Forteetoo]

07:42 PM on 09/15/2010

Life is like a jar of Vegemite...

[EagleFury]

02:30 PM on 09/15/2010

If we don't slow the pace of global warming, he may be able to accomplish his feat without crossing any ice. This, of course, begs the question, how would he start from the North Pole, if the Arctic sea ice is gone....

[44jupiter]

02:30 PM on 09/15/2010

Why refer to Farmer as the Australian Forrest Gump, a dim witted fictional character who ran because he felt like it? It would be more appropriate to call him the Australian Terry Fox, who ran for a cause.

[Pandertroll]

04:09 PM on 09/15/2010

You are so right. Forrest Gump was just a pathetically awful movie that stood for nothing but American lies and myths. This guy is an Australian running for a cause.

[lightist]

02:23 PM on 09/15/2010

I want to go with you, but I've got to stay here.

[battlinbob]

02:23 PM on 09/15/2010

Not sure how he will cross from Panama to Colombia....

[LeftRight]

10:33 PM on 09/20/2010

That'd be fairly easy, there's bridges across the Canal and Panama to Columbia share a land border....

[PresidentRobertBooth]

02:00 PM on 09/15/2010

JENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Flokk]

01:40 PM on 09/15/2010

That's human agency for ya. Good luck brother.

[MsMsBurning]

01:37 PM on 09/15/2010

Is this part of that "Oprah Effect" I've been reading about?

[enhara]

01:20 PM on 09/15/2010

why not, such is life

[SpreadingTheWealth]

01:08 PM on 09/15/2010

He should have NO problem getting across the US border....it's a sieve.

[Smurfaveli]

01:39 PM on 09/15/2010

Yes. Take this story and make it about U.S. politics and issues.

[dancingstu]

04:18 PM on 09/15/2010

What's really sad is that SpreadingTheWealth was trying to be funny, but he just made himself look silly. Yes, sir, the border is like a sieve. A sieve is a filter. It let's through the things you want and it keeps out the things you don't want. Isn't that how our border should work? Alas, SpreadingTheWealth didn't think his metaphor through.

[dancingstu]

04:14 PM on 09/15/2010

Uh, yes, I suppose it is like a sieve. You do know how a sieve works, right? It filters out the unwanted parts and lets through the parts you want to go through. That's how our border works.

Maybe you should try a different rhetorical device.

[Peaceride]

12:59 PM on 09/15/2010

Good for him ... anyone willing to do whatever he/she can in order to help others is a-okay in my book.