Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

It is self evident that there are some things in this world of ours which we judge to be eternal.  They may be man made monuments forged from the sturdy elements of the earth, and it also might be the grand inspiring works of nature itself.  Most often we connect to them spontaneously and deeply.  We need make no mental note or comment, for they touch us from within, and immediately remind us that on the scale of eternity our lives and accomplishments, will unlikely be long remembered in any way whatsoever. Read more…

Results day 17, miles. Asprihanal Aalto 71.35 Total 1199.13 Galya Balatsky 67.5 Total 1142.6 Pranjal Milovnik 64.76 Total 1138.21 Petr Spacil 47.2 Total 1131.08 Stutisheel Lebedyev 65.31 Total 1097.05 Pushkar C Mullauer 67.5 Total 1079.49 Pavol Saraz 52.07 Total 1044.37 Ananda-Lahari Zuscin 52.14 Total 1043.82 Dharbhasana Lynn 68.05 Total 1000.46 Purna-Samarpan Querhammer 60.91 Total 926.92 Surasa Maier 53.78 Total 909.91

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

It’s the 17^th day, 9 p.m. Today’s weather wasn’t very hot, partly cloudy, 27-28 degrees Celsius, but nevertheless Slovak and Czech runners expressed solidarity. It was for sure a tough day for them all. Petya, Ananda-Lahari, Pavel have been walking almost all day long. Pranjal has run slower too, but he is not the guy who will be made to walk easily. He will grind his teeth rather than not running. Petya says that he ‘was boiled’ a few days ago when it was hot, and still hasn’t recovered fully. Now he feels weak. 3,100 miles is an extreme race. It is important not to defeat others but to accept everything that happens and to be on the right side of the hedge. Sometimes you need real humility not to feel down when you cannot manage to run as you want. At the same time Dharbasana has been running today like a sprinter, he is running to his cherished wish which is the first thousand miles. Most probably, he will make it there today.

My speed is not slower than yesterday. All the runners are moving quite steadily. It is evening now. People are heading home, and my favorite time of the day starts. There is a silent and calm atmosphere: a yellow lantern glow, beautiful stars, and a clear sky.

Life is wonderful!

If we lived in a world which was inhabited by Super heroes than what goes on here around a small block in Queens might be appear quite ordinary, if not darn right monotonous. That last time I looked up in the sky however I saw plenty of birds and planes but not one caped crusader streaking across the skies. The 11 runners here are not fighting crime, bending steel with their bare hands, but yet they are doing something seemingly impossible nonetheless… Read more…

It’s the 16th day, 8.52 p.m. local time. Today’s weather has been changeable. It was humid, and then the temperature went up probably to 36 degrees Celsius. Strange as it may seem, but I managed to run all along.

And I got the fastest first thousand miles of all 7 races I’ve run. 15 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes. The day has been tough for all the runners difficult. Petya has been walking almost all the day. Purna Samarpan has also been walking since the very morning. I saw Pushkar and Darbashana walking too. In the afternoon after 4 p.m. they sky became cloudy, it rained and the heat slackened. So, now we’ve got quite good conditions for running, sometimes it’s even cool. Today is the day of presents. I was happy with the good time for the thousand miles, then Dipali brought a little DVD-player. She made a compilation of previous races, mainly finishes, when Sri Chinmoy organized short honoring ceremonies for those who completed the race right here in this venue. It’s an absolutely special atmosphere. I ran with this player four laps. Memories of the past races filled my mind. No word could come from my mouth. Later my daughter sent me a congratulations video from Kyivites. It was also very unexpected and unusual. It gave me so much joy! So today is a very happy day!

Archived – click Post Title to view all. Saturday, June 26, 2010 It’s the 14th day, 9 p.m. local time. Today is not very hot, I’d say, it’s moderately hot, and  everyone has been running like a deer. Some are faster, some are  slower, but all run confidently towards their goal. This day is interesting because 25 years ago on this particular day Sri Chinmoy started his career of weightlifting by lifting up a 50 pound dumbbell.

Here in New York they have a great celebration of this event and many Sri Chinmoy’s friends from a weight-lifting world came.  At the tennis court, where he  had often trained, they put his famous bar-bell weighing 3 tones, which he had lifted with his left hand, and then in half a year in 1987 with his right hand. They displayed a lot of other exercise equipment. So, not far from our running camp a short anniversary celebration is going on. In the morning, the legendary Bill Perl  came to visit us.  He has won the Mr. Universe title many times and he was acknowledged as the best body builder of 20th century. He is a legend of body building and fitness. They were very good friends with Sri Chinmoy. Today he and his wife  spent more than hour here on the race with us taking photos and having a little talk. He is about 80 years old and he has such a kind heart and such amazing power. A lot of times he was a…