‘Spirit of India’ run by Australian ends in Valley

The Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir run, being undertaken by Australian ultra-marathon legend Pat Farmer to raise funds for education of Indian girls, reached here on Tuesday culminating his 64-day venture.

Mr Farmer, a former member of Australian Parliament, was received by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone and Director Tourism, Kashmir Mehmood Shah.

Mr Farmer heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “Your Prime Minister has many dreams, many goals for the country.”

“He has also talked about creating clean sanitary conditions, clean water, air and environment for the people here in India. Those are tough things to do for one man but if all of us work together, those are achievable goals and that is what would make India a great nation that it can be,” he said.

The marathon, which was flagged off from Kanyakumari on January 26, culminated at the famous Nishat Garden on the banks of Dal Lake here.

“The Spirit of India Run is my way of making a difference. I feel elated to have finished this marathon at this Garden. This is a historic day for me to have finished it in Kashmir. I had never imagined Kashmir would be this much beautiful,” the 53-year-old said.

He said he would promote Kashmir as a tourist destination.

“I have already given interviews to international media especially from Australia where I talked about Kashmir’s beauty. Kashmir is very beautiful. I would definitely promote it among Australians and in other countries,” he said.

Mr Farmer said they were making a feature film about the run that will go to the Cannes Film festival and would also been shown throughout Australia.

The ex-Aussie MP and Minister said the purpose of the run was to strengthen relations between Australia and India, to raise funds for the education of girls in the country.

“My aim is to showcase to the world all that India has to offer — its religions, its culture, its languages and its landscape — and help the country to grow into the true strength of a nation that it could and should be,” Mr Farmer said.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Director General Union Ministry of Tourism Arun Srivastav, who is also part of the ‘Spirit of India’ run team, said the Centre was giving special focus on J—K to promote it as the best tourism destination.

“We are very fortunate to have witnessed history today. Farmer is a great inspiration for all of us as he ran through 12 States and one Union Territory Chandigarh,” Mr Srivastav said. -- PTI