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the support of the folk along the way, often people living a hard life and
having few material possessions. Even before this run started, when I
went to East Timor and saw the locals dying because they had no clean
water . . . well, you can't do or see what I have without being changed.
Today, I am a man whose life has changed dramatically, and it has
changed forever. I've always had compassion, but I am a far more
compassionate person today than I have ever been. I have promised
myself that I will dedicate the rest of my life to doing whatever I can
to help those who are less fortunate. To do anything else would be to
waste this amazing experience.
Today Eric filed a report of our progress to an explorers' website.
In part, he wrote:
In all my years as a wilderness educator and polar guide, I have
never met anybody with the physical and mental resilience that
Pat draws on daily and I regard him as one of the world's great-
est endurance athletes.
Sitting next to Scotty in the van, both tapping on comput-
ers, with Ming 5 km in arrears on the skidoo, Pat pounding the
ice behind, I stare through the windscreen towards the white
austere southern horizon and contemplate the second, and
most exacting, half of Pat's run to the South Pole.
January 8
There were some distractions today—people! Six kite skiers came
towards us from the direction of the South Pole and asked if I was 'the
runner'. Among them was Christian Eide, the current record holder
for the fastest unassisted man on foot to the pole. He was leading a
group of fellow Norwegians, skiing and kiting to commemorate the
feat of their countryman Amundsen a century ago. We shook hands
and wished each other well, though I'm sure I saw Christian tense up
when I told him I planned to eclipse his record, despite being assisted.
Felicity Aston from the United Kingdom also passed by, following
her 59-day ski from Hercules Station to the South Pole, which made
her the first woman ever to make a solo trek to the pole. What special
people they are.
Eric cooked bacon for dinner and, wow, it tasted great. I have a
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