Pole to Pole is Pat Farmer’s diarised account of his ultra “run” from the North Pole to the South Pole in 2011-2012. I say “run” because while this amazing feat of Pat Farmer’s involved some ultra running, it also involved a lot of ice trekking, skiing, jungle hiking, climbing and clamouring. For purist ultra runners who think of ultra running as running and only running, that is definitely not what this book is about.
Pat Famer’s pole to pole adventure has been recorded as being the world’s longest ultra marathon ever “run” and there is no doubt that this physical, mental and emotional endeavour was remarkable and (so far) unsurpassed. The fact that Pat Farmer set himself this torturous challenge to raise money for Red Cross International makes it even more admirable.
The pole to pole adventure involved five stages:
Stage 1 –760km ice trek from the North Pole to Ward Hunt Island in Canada
Stage 2 – 11744km road run from Radisson in Canada via the USA, Mexico and Central America to Southern Panama
Stage 3 – 250km jungle trek from Southern Panama via Darien Jungle to Northern Colombia
Stage 4 – 9693km road run from Northern Colombia to Tierra Del Fuego
Stage 5 – 900km ice trek from Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole.
Just looking at the route it is clear that not only was it an extraordinary distance to contemplate travelling on foot, but it was also one that was bound to take in the extremes of geography, climate and risk. A lot of Pat Farmer’s book is about those aspects. For example, he describes taking a short cut in the desert in Peru which resulted in him going off course, losing contact with his support crew, running out of water, having to drink his own urine and sleeping overnight on the side of a mountain before being reunited with his crew the next day. He also describes the inhospitable jungle of Panama and Columbia where he had 19 guards to keep him safe and where the relentless wet conditions resulted in sickness and severely infected feet.
The remainder of Pat Farmer’s Pole to Pole story is taken up with descriptions of the grind and pain of banging out 65+kms (average) every day, the awkward and tedious logistics of each micro stage of the journey, the tension between him and his crew, and the joy he got from his kids visiting him a few times along the way.
While getting from pole to pole was an amazing achievement, Pat Farmer’s chronicling of his journey is less impressive. It captures the tedium of the enterprise to the point where the book is repetitive and in some places “ho hum”. This is accentuated by the diary format which essentially drives the content to be a “blow by blow, minute to minute” account. If Pat Farmer had chosen a different literary style his story may not have got so bogged down by its own structure. And while the journey was for all intents and purposes about raising money for Red Cross International (which it succeeded in doing to the tune of $100,000+), there’s also a strong “all about me” self promotion flavour to the book. Having said that, having undertaken such a mammoth enterprise to raise money for those in need, it’s probably fair enough to think you are pretty good.
Pole to Pole is an interesting book about an amazing feat for a life saving cause. However, just as Pat Farmer no doubt wished at times that his journey was shorter and less tedious, I think some readers may think similarly about his book.
For more information about Pat Farmer visit: http://patfarmer.com/about
For more information about Pole to Pole and/or to purchase a copy visit: http://poletopolerun.com/buy-book/
Elizabeth Bennett, AURA Media Relations Officer, AURA ACT State/Territory Representative
2 comments:
Good review Liz. Did he have sponsors to finance the 'ultra'?
Sounds like a crazy way to raise 100K - putting yourself at risk of permanent damage.
Who were sponsors and who were donors wasn't that clear.
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