Ultra Marathon Runner Pat Farmer - Getting Raw Ep 47

Welcome back to Getting Raw, and today I've got a really special guest, someone I'm really, really excited about that fits into the space of business and fitness, and I thought I would bring him on the show. I'm here with Pat Farmer, the person who's done the longest continuous running in the world. So he's run from pole to pole, so basically north Welcome, Pat.

G'day, mate. How are you? Very good to see you.

Thanks for having me on the show, Pat. I've been a fan of yours for a long time. So here it is. And your book, Pole to Pole, I have read twice through and it's all scrumpled. And, you know, I just really want to get the audience to understand what you've actually done. So we're basically talking about you ran Pole to Pole, North to South Pole, basically 2 marathons every day Pretty much for a year with no days off. Is that right?

That's absolutely correct. So 10 months and 13 days. So a lot of people make a big deal about, oh, you know, we ran 7 marathons in 7 days. So it's 42 Ks each day for 7 days, which is a big deal and it's hard to back up day after day. Let me put that into some sort of perspective with this event. I was doing close to 2 marathons a day every single day. So 80 kilometers or 50 miles every single day. No days off, no days off for 10 months and 13 days. So from the North Pole through the South Pole, ran continuously every single day from start to finish.

That's huge. Let's just think about it for a second. I mean, when you're— a lot of our viewers here are business entrepreneurs and they might be doing the marathon here and there. They're training up for that one marathon, that 42Ks. But I just want to repeat that again. You're running 2 marathons a day for nearly a year. And that's a huge achievement. So that's just one of the things you've done, a mini, for example. You're planning a run through India coming up. You've done peace runs in the Middle East as well. You've run around Australia.

Yes.

And I think that's where I first saw you on TV. Who's this guy running around Australia, for goodness sake?

He's crazy. Well, Australia is a big place too, you know. That was 14,000 kilometers around the whole of Australia. That was for our Centenary of Federation. So I've been running seriously ultramarathons since the 1980s, late 1980s. And so I've ran the old Sydney to Melbourne races, which were approximately 1,000 kilometers from Sydney all the way through to Victoria and into Melbourne. Then those were runs that were made famous by Cliff Young in the early days. I've raced across America from California to New York in a race called the Trans-American Foot Race. And 60 Minutes were the TV program that covered that and gave me a lot of international notoriety as a result of that. Yeah. So that was California to New York. I've run from northernmost point of Australia to the southernmost point of Australia. So that's Cape York Peninsula all the way down to the southeast cape of Tasmania. And that was for Diabetes Australia to raise awareness and much-needed funds to help people with childhood obesity and also to try and to support diabetes information in general because there were so many people walking around the streets, they had diabetes, they didn't even know that they had it.

Unbelievable. I mean, I could just sit here all day and talk about this. It's just really amazing what you've done. I mean, one of the greatest athletes in the world, I really believe, because I mean, who can actually run such a thing? And nobody's run the pole to pole like you've done. So let's just continue what we're talking about here. And a lot of it, you've just mentioned that you're running not just for yourself, but you're actually running for charities, raising a lot of money. You bring a lot of awareness to charities. Is that sort of the— I mean, when you say ultramarathon as well, I mean, you put ultramarathon to shame, I think. I mean—

Oh no, not really, because there's different categories. Like, just like with running, you know, you've got your 100-meter runners, you've got 5K runners, your 10K runners, or 10,000-meter runners. And then you move up to the half marathon and the marathon distance, which is 42Ks. Rob De Castello, who's a great mate of mine and lovely, lovely man to boot, both he and Steve Monaghetti. Both agree. Rob in particular has told me, he said, Pat, I would do 2 competitive marathons a year. A year.

A year.

2 competitive marathons a year because that's all the human body can take. So what I have to do, and he's right, that's all it can take at the absolute limit. The absolute limit. They're touching on 19, 20K an hour.

Right.

I can drop the distance back to 14, 15, 16K an hour. And as I've proved on many, many occasions, I can do those multiples thereof day after day for 6 months, 10 months at a time.

What's the mind go through? How do you actually— I mean, now it must be a habit, but how do you actually gear the mindset to— I mean, if we just focus on one run, the pole to pole, how does the mindset work when you simply just don't want to run?

Well, it's like everything, you have to have buy-in.

Yeah.

So the first thing you do, and look, this translates to business, translates to every aspect of our lives. You need buy-in. So for me to take on an enormous journey like the Pole to Pole Run or the Simpson Desert or around Australia or across America or any of the events that I've done, first thing I do is I announce to my friends and to the world, I am going to do this.

Okay.

Then I've backed myself against a wall and the only way forward is to actually make it happen. So that's the first thing. The second thing is— Accountability. Yeah, yeah. And the second thing is I've worked on credibility as well. So accountability and credibility. And my credibility goes as far as that I have finished every single thing I've ever started. So I say to everybody, it's not about winning every single event that you do. No, golfer, no tennis player, no athlete, no surfer wins every single competition that they go into. True. In fact, the best of the ones are the ones that have been there at the top, fallen to the bottom, got themselves back up, dusted themselves off, and made their way back up to the top again because they know right across the spectrum what it takes to be a real champion. So what I say to everybody, it's all about finishing every single thing that you start. So if you start something, whether it be A course in study, whether it be guitar lessons, whether it be— and that's topical at the moment because I'm having all sorts of trouble with those at the moment.

Push through.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But whether it be that, whether it be the marathon, the ultra-marathon, a swimming event, business in general, life in general, anything at all, see it through to the end. And then people look at you as a person that is a guaranteed commodity, that you will finish what you've started. So they know that they are guaranteed If an event goes for 60 days, they know they are guaranteed 60 days worth of publicity, well, because you're gonna be there at the end no matter what. And it's amazing how many great athletes, they look a little bit shabby during the course of an event, and because they start to think, I can't win, I can't win, so their injuries get bigger than what they are, they're bigger in their mind than what they are physically, and they simply pull out of the event. Whereas none of us know, and there's been great examples. Stephen Bradbury was one, with guys falling over in front of him when he was in ice skating, speed skates, many years ago. Andrew Lloyd was another, where a number of runners fell over in front of him in the Commonwealth Games and he went on to win a gold medal there. Yep. You have to be in it. You have to believe in yourself enough to get yourself through the heats to the finals. And then you have to stick with it and seize the opportunity when it presents itself. That's what makes a champion a champion, and that's what makes a winner a winner, because they identify these moments and they take them. But you have to be in the box seat in order to be able to do that, and the only way you can get in the box seat is hanging there through the tough times.

Hanging there through the tough times, that's a good one. Well, you definitely make an impact in the world. And on that topic, let's just talk about— let's just get into the business side of running and sponsorships. Because that's where a lot of our audience is as well in regards to that. I mean, just take us through, I mean, what a typical day for you is like, but also too, in regards to, I mean, we were just here, you were finishing writing a contract, ambassador deal, for example. You know, on that role, obviously, running's not free. It costs money to get in certain countries, to fly, to get this whole thing up on the road. Do you like that side of the running? Is that a big part of what you enjoy as well?

Yeah, I think, look, I don't really even class myself as a runner or as an athlete, to be quite honest with you. That's the tool that I use to be able to do the things that I love to do. Okay. And the things I love to do is being able to travel, being able to influence other people, being able to inspire and support other people and help worthy causes and help worthy people, and being able to promote worthwhile causes and companies, etc., etc. So that's the vehicle I use to do it. I suppose I'm like so many other people, I'm a business person. My commodity is Pat Farmer, the brand. And what I do is I try and market that brand as best as I can. So I need to really hang on to my values, my morality, because I need to align myself with companies that have similar thinking. I just recently received an award at an AM. So, an Australian medal for my services to politics, to ultramarathon running, and to charitable works. So, that's a big deal, you know, in the Queen's Birthday Honours. That's a big deal. It is. That means that the whole country has recognized my service to this country and to people and to humanity. So, they're the sorts— that's firstly, that's who I am as a brand. So, similar sorts of companies and other organizations are the same sorts of companies that I need to target to be able to align myself to because we're in the same way of thinking. So companies that care about humanity, companies that care about the planet, that care about the environment, that care about each other, companies that want to make a difference, companies that want to be successful through hard work, through dedication, but also want to make that success translate to other people's lives. So I target those type of companies. So first of all, There's this saying in business, you need to work out who am I to whom. So who I am is this person that I've developed over the years, Pat Farmer the brand. And to whom? Well, to anybody that has a like-minded brand or anybody that wants to connect to me to be able to bolster their own brand along those lines of integrity. And integrity, endurance, sustainability, So once you've established that, you know what your brand is, you know what your mission is, then it's a matter of going out and targeting companies and giving them what they want. And what they want is, number one, is exposure. So first thing I ever do, and I'm asked by many, many people, well, how do I go about getting sponsors? First thing you've got to do is work out, well, what do the sponsors want? The sponsors want to sell widgets or they want to sell products.

Sure.

So in order to do that, they need exposure. So what's some good advertising avenues that they can work upon to do that? It may be mainstream TV, it might be via the internet, it might be via online services, it might be through advertisement promotion just through signage on the person themselves, it might be verbally through radio. So many different means. So target what you think they would want.

Okay.

Sign the media up first and then you've got something to be able to offer your sponsors. So say for instance an ad on TV might cost $10,000 for a 30-second or a 60-second commercial. So if you were to go to a sponsor and say, I can offer you myself speaking about your product for 30 seconds on television around the same time slot, instead of you paying $7,000 or $10,000 for that, If you sponsor me $2,000, then that will help me to achieve my outcome and it will be great value for you. Seems like a no-brainer. Of course they're going to go with that. So it works really well for them if they're a like-minded company.

Amazing. And Pat, we haven't even touched on all the wonderful things you've done. I mean, 10 years in federal politics in Australia as well.

Yeah, well, that came about as a result of the running as well. Once again, you know, It's amazing how many doors open up if you're open to those doors opening.

Sure.

And what I mean by that was, I was given the opportunity to run around the whole of Australia and promote the Centenary of Federation, which was coming up in 2001. So this journey started in 1999 and it finished in the year 2000, one year out from the start of the celebrations. And my job was to promote Centenary of Federation, keeping in mind that most Australians didn't even know who the first Prime Minister of Australia was. at that time, up to that time. And so they could tell you who the first American president was, but they couldn't tell you who the first Australian Prime Minister was. So my job was to run from place to place to place all the way around this country and promote the celebrations for Centenary Federation, to reflect on our past 100 years and to look at our future on into the next 100 years and to inspire people by doing that. And I did that. So I ran, once again, approximately 2 marathons a day every single day around the country. And then I would speak at organized venues every single night during the course of that run. I spoke at schools, I spoke at council functions, I spoke at public functions. Sometimes there was thousands of people, sometimes there was a handful of people, but I spoke at these functions all the way around the country, inspiring people and getting the message out there. Yeah. And when I was finished, I concluded my journey by running into Centennial Park in Sydney, but just prior to that, I ran into where I started the journey, which was Parliament House in Canberra. I was sent off by the Prime Minister of the country at the time, another great businessman, Dick Smith. Yep. And also Angry Anderson, who was an ambassador for Centenary Federation at the time. And I was welcomed back by those 3 people once again. Prime Minister put his arms around me, and the footage was there on all the TV stations, and he said, Thank you on behalf of the whole country. Thank you. About 2 months later, he rang me up and he said, Pat, I don't know what side of politics you're interested in, but I do know that you're a person who's interested in helping and supporting people in your area. I saw what you did during the course of the run around Australia and how you inspired people. If you would be prepared to do that for us at the next federal election— Yep. Then I promise you my support and the support of the cabinet ministers. to help the people in your area if you get elected? And I thought, wow, I never in my wildest dreams thought about going into politics. Yeah. But I live on a simple philosophy. Opportunities come along in our lives. We either take them or we live on regrets. And so I thought, what have I got to lose? I'll give it a shot. If it's meant to be, I'll get elected. And if it's not, well, at least I know that that's not for me. I gave it a shot and spent the next nearly 10 years in federal politics. Did a lot of good during the course of the time that I was there.

Before we leave, could you just tell us a day in the life of Pat Farmer?

Well, I live in a beautiful location here in Sydney. I'm just— the beach is out my window there, out at Maroubra Beach. So I often run between 10 and 20 kilometers in soft sand running. That's the start of my day, usually at 5 AM through to 7 AM in the morning, and then I'll continue on from that. I'll get on with my normal business day and then later on in the evening I'll do another, either a gym session or some speed work which might consist of 400-meter sprints or sometimes 1-kilometer sprints or 100-meter sprints depending on what the length of the event is or what the event is that I'm doing. Some gym work and some multiples of step running and some other hill work as well.

And at this kind of distance and what you do, is there such a thing as a coach or is there more of mentors you need?

These days it's more of mentors. In my early days, I had wonderful coaches like Dick Telford from the Institute of Sport, a wonderful sports scientist that helped me a lot with food, nutrition, training, exercise. And he's trained some of our most successful athletes. Anna Thompson comes to mind straight away, Michael Shelley. many, many, many great athletes that he's trained in distance running. So he was tremendous and I learned a lot from him. But these days it's more about mentoring because I know the tools that I have. I know what I have to do to achieve my outcomes. But I need to continuously be inspired. So just like many people say that I inspire them, I also need to be inspired by many other people. So I often look to You know, footballers, golfers, cricket players, tennis players, surfers, all sorts of different people. Anybody that's achieved something really worthwhile with their life. Singers, artists, musicians, doctors, you know, that have worked on breakthroughs for medicines and things like that. And I'm inspired by them on a regular basis. Plus people that are just going through the day-to-day struggle of trying to make ends meet and trying to make their life success and overcome obstacles such as some cases they're paraplegics, in other cases they've had all sorts of different injuries or setbacks. And often people say to me about age, they say, Pat, you're in your 50s for goodness sakes. How long can you keep on doing this? And surely you don't appeal to that audience any longer. Yeah. Well, my answer to all of those people is that There is a demographic for everybody. There is a market for everybody. So it's a matter of tapping into that market. People my age have a disposable income. A lot of them are looking at investment properties. A lot of them are looking at retirement plans. A lot of them are looking at health and wealthy lifestyles. And so anything that taps into that is my niche market. So banking, finance, communications, all of those sorts of things. Regardless of age, there is a market out there for people to be inspired by what I do and they're the companies that I target.

Thank you, Pat. You've been an absolute inspiration. Thank you so much. I recommend you get down to read Pole to Pole for a start to really understand the journey and also then go onto your website, patpharma.com. Is that correct?

Yeah, patpharma.com has got a lot of my information.

And you'll find all the information about the upcoming India run and all the And there's heaps of documentaries and things like that. So get down there and check it out. Success leaves clues.

Thank you very much.

Thanks, Pat. Cheers, mate. Thank you.

Pleasure.

Until next time, we'll, we'll bring you another great, amazing business person.