Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race

The last few days have been a little cooler, and the runners don’t have to struggle with heat. Galya has been very steady. He says if last year he was dreaming of so many things after finishing, now he’s looking forward to only one thing – to sleep to his heart’s content. Together with Asprihanal they will finish on Thursday, July 29. Dharbasana is through with his hamstring problems. He’s been running for 3 consecutive days. Yesterday he even led the day with 70 miles! Now he is pushing real hard to finish before the cutoff, August 3. Today is the 3^rd anniversary of Parvati’s singing group getting a name “Enthusiasm Awakeners” from Sri Chinmoy. Traditionally, they give a lot of presents to each runner: a T-shirt with a runner’s name, an Enthusiasm thermal mug, a few sweetmeats. In celebration of the anniversary, there were many skits performed by Asprihanal and myself, Asprihanal and Antaraloy, Purna-Samarpan, Pushkar and Dharbasana, Surasa. Purna-Samarpan: Why do birds always fly to the south in winter? Because it would be too far to run. However, the best joke belonged to Pushkar and Dharbasana. Pushakar (wearing a wig) is powdering his forehead and looking in a mirror. Dharbasana: Dear, have you decided  yet  to participate in 3100 miles next year? Pushkar: I’m making up my mind

4 years ago at this day Madhupran Schwerk (Germany) finished the 3.100 mile race with a new world record of 41 days+08:16:29.  Then we also had a heat wave, the remaining runners hit a second  heat wave in a couple of days :) I remember Madhupran pleading with his helper to come on that day to the course. His helper was so exhausted that he refused to help Madhupran 8 hours before the finish. Madhupran himself was on the verge of a collapse – he stopped sweating (his body heating system broke down). Then he gave a solemn oath to never run ultra races again. In the end everybody transcended themselvs!!! Today is the toughest day 38C and a 100% humidity. But everybody is moving forward. Asprihanal has passed the 2,800 mile mark. His finish is expected in 4 days, on the morning of July 29. Later in the evening Galya will finish,too. The last days of the race are the toughest. So, make sure to drop the runners a line!

A little after 2pm Asprihanal crossed the 2,700 mile split, later in the day at around 9.30pm Galya followed in his footsteps who is currently in the second place. Pranjal will cross the 2,700 mile mark tomorrow morning.

From morning till 5.30pm we had another runner on the course. On his birthday Arpan has a tradition to run as many miles as his age. Today he ran 58 miles(93,3 km). He chose the 3,100 mile course for a reason. In 2004, he did the 3,1000 mile race here. By the end of this humid but not really hot day, we had a thunderstorm with lots of rain. Most of the runners put on special rain-proof gear and went on running. However, some of them preferred to stay dry and waited for the storm to pass. Thunderstorms in New York area don’t last long. After 20 minutes it was drizzling.

Of course, it’s all about Galya. Who else?… This night he was determined to sleep in bed and not on a chair or in the bathroom. So, after taking the shower he made it to his bed… to only find himself sitting on the bed at 4.40am. Curtain!

Galya’s birthday was real fun! It started with all the runners congratulating him, then the Enthusiasm Awakeners joined in. A little later Nandana brought a cake, and Alakananda put in her favorite unblowable candles. Then came the phones calls from Austria from his friends and emails from Ukraine and Russia. There was so much joy! The day was hot and sticky (36C) though. The birthday boy and others did the least miles…It’s day 39 after all, and exhaustion is all too present, especially in such heat when the body perseveres and struggles at a larger scale. At night, Asprihanal crossed the 2,600 mile mark and now he’s got only 500 miles to cover. It’s such a nuisance in comparison to what has already been accomplished.

Dharbasana was hoping so much to be able to run again, but as he said, “This race is the best school for giving up all expectations”. He still has hamstring problems. Purna Samarpan has done 2,000 miles for the first time in his life. He’s been having a difficult time here. “My body is falling apart”, he jokes.

Everybody appreciated the jokes that Grahak had sent to support the runners.  I remember one: a blond bear has been trapped. He chew off his forelegs and a rear paw, but still remained in the trap.