SPD Officer Farmer plans to run 100 miles at Snowdrop race for Willard student Joey Benjamin

Will be second go at race for Springfield Police officer who suffered injury during first try
Next week, most people will be preparing to celebrate the coming of the New Year with lots of food, drink and merriment. Springfield Police Officer Matt Farmer will do so while running about 100 miles.
Farmer will be running in the 12th Annual Snowdrop Ultra 55 Hour Race & Relay, to be held from Monday, Dec. 30 through Wednesday, Jan. 1 at the Buffalo Run Park in Missouri, for his friend, Joey Benjamin, a senior at Willard High School.

Second attempt at 100-mile goal
This will be Farmer’s second time at the race. In 2017, when Joey was a 10-year-old boy battling cancer, Farmer ran in the race for him, but an injury forced him out before he reached his goal of 100 miles.
“When I reached mile 79, I developed a severe pain in my hip and groin area,” he said. “I went to the medical tent and found that my pelvis had come out of place. They popped it back in place, and I attempted to go back out, but it was too painful and had to drop out at 79.1 miles.”
Now, he said he will run again because he wants to keep the promise he made to Joey seven years earlier.
“I told Joey I was going to run 100 miles for him,” Farmer said, “and I have not fulfilled that promise.”

Farmer, Joey developed friendship during Joey’s cancer battle
Farmer met Joey through Farmer’s wife, who was Joey’s at-home tutor at the time. Before, a friendship developed.
“I met Matt … through his wife, Autumn Farmer,” Joey said. “Autumn was my at-home tutor for fourth grade. I would see Matt when I would go to Autumn‘s house; we also invited them to special events.”
Joey said Matt often helped him as he was battling cancer by helping to take his mind off his struggles.
“Matt helped me be distracted from being sick with a common interest of sci-fi,” he said.
When he found out that Farmer was going to run for him again, Joey said he was “honored, excited and thankful.”
“I am thankful to have Matt in my life, (who) is willing to run such a long distance to help raise money for pediatric cancer research,” he said.

Long race on a short track for runners
Farmer said that while the race is long, the actual track it will be run on is actually quite short, only about two-thirds of a mile in length. He said he and the runners will run as much as they can, though some participants have been known to exceed the 100-mile goal.
“Runners will take on the challenge of running as many miles as they can in that 55 hours around Buffalo Run Park, which is only .69 of a mile,” he said. “(It takes about) 145 laps to make up the 100 miles. Most (runners) will have the goal of 100 miles, but the winners will go as far as 250 miles.”
Last time he ran in the race, Farmer raised $4,000 for pediatric cancer research. He said he would like to do that again.
“Currently I have raised a little over $1,000,” he said, “but would like to reach the same amount as last time if I could.”

Race has funded scholarships for pediatric cancer patients and survivors since 2006
Farmer also said that the race has been raising funds to benefit those who have suffered from pediatric cancer for almost 20 years.
“The Snowdrop Foundation was started by Kevin and Trish Kline back in 2006,” he said. “Their mission is to give scholarships to college-bound pediatric cancer patients and survivors, while raising awareness and funding for cancer research. To date, the Snowdrop Foundation has given over $5 million in scholarships to kids across the country.”
As to how he plans to prepare for the race, Farmer said his strategy is simple and straightforward.
“(I am) running a lot,” he said. “For an ultra-race, it is a lot of time on your feet, so you have to train in that manner.”