I am 53 y/o ultra-marathoner and former politician Pat Farmer. I once ran from the North Pole to South Pole to raise $100m for the Red Cross and now I’m running across India in 60 days to raise money for girls’ education. AMA!

What are your favourite conditions to run in? What are your least?

By the way, the Super Bowl is on right now, so you might get a better response if you try again another day.

Edit: Thanks for answering my question. I threw a tenner to your cause.

My least favorite condition is freezing cold and in particular the wind, I believe that wind is the greatest force on this earth. It's the most difficult force to deal with, you can't see it but it pushes you around like a marble on the playground. Ideally, anything else.

What is your favourite memory/funniest story from running around the world?

I would have to say being snuck into Canadian Parliament during the pole-to-pole run. I was invited by someone to the opening of parliament and I snuck in there in my runner shorts and sweaty t-shirt. The parliamentarian security ended up booting me out, but then straight afterwards some of the ministers came out to speak with me and have their photos taken with me.

With all the miles you have ran in your life has your body had any permanent Injuries?

Pat: No.

Katie: The biggest problems he had was that he a stress fracture during the Trans-American Foot Race. Other than that, he's body is clearly built for endurance otherwise he wouldn't have lasted 30 years. The biggest ailments he's had has been obvious things like blisters, which you need to deal with.

Kevin: Hey guys, we'd be watching the Superbowl too if we had a working television. We're about to enter am internet dead zone soon so we might come back at a later day. Thanks so much for your questions and we'll talk soon. If you're able to, any support for our cause would be greatly appreciated.

That's amazing that you've raised that much. Have you had any memorable experiences while running?

Pat: Thank you. My most memorable experience would have to be when I came face to face with a black bear in Canada while I was doing my pole-to-pole run.

Katie: He was running along James Bay Road and the support vehicle hadn't caught up to him yet and a black bear came onto the road, looked at him and by the time the vehicle caught up it was gone.

What kind of running shoe do you use?

I can imagine you must have to change shoes quite regularly.

I wear Brooks Running shoes, I've found them to be the best. I've tried every make available on Earth - all the main ones, anyway. I change them about every 1000km.

Queen or David Bowie?

Kevin: Can we just answer with "Under Pressure"?

How far do you run per day? And how long does it typically take you?

Kevin: I can answer this one. Pat runs at a steady 10km/h and we dedicated about 12 hours a day to running. He generally aims for about 80km a day, but it will vary if we have commitments at schools, press conferences or function along the way. It's also very important he have regular breaks in the between and so a typical run could last the whole 12 hour block. It's a marathon, not a race, and so while he can go faster he needs to pace himself so he can get up the next morning and do it again.

What made you want to help Redcross out? What was the key reason?

There was a need in the world for clean sanitary and clean water projects and I believe that Red Cross had a good reputation of delivering in these fields.

What do you eat on days that you are planning on running long distances?

On the road, whatever we can get.

Over here in India fresh fruit is easily accessible, they got plenty nutrients. I try to get plenty of carbohydrates because it's my main fuel source. I always try and finish with lots of good fats at the end of the run if I've been unable to consume them during the day - I crave a milkshake whenever I finish.

I also have lots of chicken and vegetable soups, because I find it difficult to eat solids when I'm doing long distances. I also try and avoid spices.

Best marathon time?

For a standard marathon which is 42km, it was 2 hours and 20 minutes, which I did in Japan. For an 80km marathon, I did it in 5 hours and 30 minutes.

I'm stuck at around 2 miles for running (for the past like 3 weeks), any tips to get me farther/motivate me more??

Pat: Try something else like doing some work on a bike, or some gym work that involves skipping it. Then come back to running in a couple of weeks time. The process behind it the is not only to stay fit and healthy but to shake things up a bit.

It's easy to get into a rhythm and you need to overcome the mental barriers towards running.

Katie: As a personal trainer, from a more formal point of view what happens is you reach a plateau and you have an increase in workload that stimulates progressive - we call it progressive overload. When you plateau you're just maintaining and so you need to increase the workload somehow - you can do this by increasing distance, length, different exercises or have less rest.

You need to keep increasing the workload as to improve rather than maintain.

Good morning pat, Keep up the good work mate, Is the secret vegemite? (lol)

My secret is actually about focusing on the first step and the last step. It's also about hydration and nutrition, even when I don't want to. I treat myself like a robot because it's necessary. On all my runs I also choose a worthwhile cause.

On this run it's about raising funds for girls' education in India.

How do you keep your physical fitness? I can barely run a few kilometers without panting like a dog..

Hey /u/_Zev, we answered a similiar question here.

How many miles have you run in your lifetime? What was the most memorable run you had?

Really can't answer that.

Kevin: Saying a lot would be an understatement. It's really impossible to tell. Pole-to-pole was almost 21,000km. India is 4600km. Sydney to Melbourne is over 800km. Plus, Pat's training before a run lasts up to five hours a day.

Katie: With all the major runs he's done, plus all the smaller ones between that, it's impossible to say.

Who was your hero when you were young?

My dad.